University

Affiliated: VFA 1885-8; Metropolitan (Amateur) Football Association 1893, 1905-20; VFL 1908-14; VFL junior competition (precursor of the VFL Reserves) 1919-20

VFL Home Grounds: East Melbourne Cricket Ground 1908-10; Melbourne Cricket Ground 1911-14

ABOVE: Round 5 action from the 1909 season: University (dark jumpers, white shorts) versus Geelong at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground in a game which the Students won by 35 points.

Formed in 1859, University Football Club is one of Australia's oldest. Indeed, it seems likely that only Melbourne and Geelong pre-date it. In 1885 University was admitted to what was then Victoria's premier competition, the Victorian Football Association, but in four seasons of involvement the club's record was poor. All told, it managed just 5 wins and 5 draws from a total of 70 matches played, with 4 of the wins coming in the same year (1887). In 1888 the writing was on the wall for the club when, on several occasions, it proved incapable of raising sufficient players to field a team, and was forced to forfeit matches.

University endured a similarly hard time during its brief initial stint in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (precursor of the Victorian Amateur Football Association) in 1893, but when it resumed in the competition after a twelve year break in 1905 the club was much better organised, and boasted quite a large number of talented footballers. As a result, it was competitive from the start, and it was not long before it had developed into the competition's pre-eminent force. In 1906 the side lost only one game for the year en route to the premiership, and the following year, watched by 5,000 spectators at the University Oval, it scored a 9.12 (66) to 8.4 (52) victory over Brighton in the decisive match of the year.

Winning MJFA premierships was all very well, but University had loftier ambitions and made a succession of applications to join the VFL. Finally, in 1908 its persistence paid off and University, along with VFA club Richmond, gained admission to Australian football's pre-eminent competition.

With its seconds side still participating in the MJFA, University's senior combination commenced life in the 'big league' against the previous season's wooden spooners, Essendon. If there had been any lofty expectations among the Students they were soon obliterated; Essendon won by 11 goals, 14.11 (95) to 3.11 (29). The following Saturday, though, University broke through for its first ever VFL win, although given that the opposition was provided by fellow newcomers Richmond the achievement was widely downplayed. However, when the Students overcame St Kilda - which had competed in the finals in 1907 - a fortnight later people sat up and took notice. Further wins followed in round 6 (Melbourne) and round 8 (Geelong) and suddenly the debutants were looking a good outside bet for the finals. They eventually finished 6th (out of 10), with an 8-10 record and, statistically, the 3rd best forward line in the competition. It had been a commendable and highly promising start.

The side continued to prove highly competitive in 1909 (W7-L9-D2, 100.1%) and 1910 (W10-L8, 101.5%), but in 1911 the club received a kick in the teeth from which it never recovered as the VFL decided, on a 16-4 majority, to rescind its rule prohibiting payments to players. Melbourne and University were the only clubs to vote against the measure (all clubs had two delegates each).

The writing was on the wall for the Students. In 1911 they won just 1 game, finishing last. It was an identical story in 1912, and then in the club's final two seasons, 1913 and '14, they failed to record a single win. All told the side lost every one of its last 51 games to finish with an overall VFL success rate of 22.2% (compared to 48.1% over its first three seasons).

There can be little doubt that University's career in Victoria's elite football competition was severely impeded and, ultimately, destroyed by the move towards professionalism, although it is probably also fair to suggest that the onset of war accelerated the club's demise. Nevertheless, the fact remains that for seven seasons University made a contribution toward football at the highest level. It may not have won any premierships or, indeed, even qualified for the finals, but the club managed wins against all of the other teams in the league bar Collingwood (with which it drew), and produced several accomplished players, including eight VFL representatives.

After the war many of the club's better players joined Melbourne, which shared the Students' amateur propensities. University's senior team participated in the VFL's junior competition in 1919 and 1920, finishing runners up to Collingwood both years, but in 1921 it re-joined the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association (see footnote 1), where its own reserves team was already participating. Known initially as 'University A', the team later took the name of 'University Blues', with the reserve side becoming known as 'University Blacks'. Both teams remain proud members to this day of the Victorian Amateur Football Association, as the MAFA became known in 1932, with the Blacks having actually performed better, in terms of premierships won, than the Blues.

Footnotes

1. The Metropolitan Football Association added the descriptor 'Amateur' to its name in 1911, by way of a response to the VFL's overt move toward professionalism. Return to Main Text

UNIVERSITY

Footnotes