The 1909 Victorian soccer season was the first competitive season of

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in the

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n state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, under association with the governing body of

Football Victoria Football Victoria is the state governing body for soccer in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the sport's national governing body. History Football Victoria began operation in 1884 under the name Anglo Australian F ...

. The season consisted of one league made up of six 'district' teams from

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that was known as the 'Amateur League'. This league season is recognized as being the first season of first tier Victorian state soccer that is now formally recognized as the

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, in which Carlton United were crowned as the inaugural premiers. The calendar season also saw the commencement of the

Dockerty Cup The Dockerty Cup is an annual association football knock-out competition open to all Victorian clubs across the Victorian football league system. The tournament is named after the former president of Football Federation Victoria Harry Dockerty. ...

, in which Carlton United defeated St Kilda 2–1, making United first club in the state's history to achieve both respective accolades in the same season.

League establishment

As interest grew from what was referred to as the 'British Association' sport, local businessman Harry Dockerty placed advertisements in both local Victorian newspapers

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

and The Argus in mid–1908 to unite all local enthusiasts of Association football (soccer). On 3 August 1908, the modern Victorian league system was established with the intention of commencing a competitive league in 1909. Along with a competitive league, a cup tournament was also established and was named the 'Challenge Cup', but was eventually renamed as the

. There was no league final series to determine the league champions, nor a league cup tournament involving teams from the upper side of the premiership ladder. The first final series of any kind implemented by

was introduced in the 1913 season for the second tier league, with finals being introduced for the first division league in the 1915 season. The league was scheduled to consist of eight local clubs from Metropolitan

, being Albert Park, Carlton United,

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

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, South Melbourne, St Kilda and Williamstown, however only six of the clubs actually competed. In the recess between the last practice matches in September 1908 to the pre-season practice matches of April 1909, Albert Park was never mentioned in local media until early 1910, while it appears that South Melbourne was the second team to seemingly withdraw, despite playing practice matches only weeks before the season's commencement. In the following season of 1910, a club named 'South Melbourne' that would later rename to 'Albert Park' (and later as 'Glenroy'), competed from 1910 through to 1934. It is possible that this may be the same club or both the original Albert Park and South Melbourne clubs had merged, however this remains unknown. When a second division was established in 1910, a team under the name of 'Albert Park' competed but lasted only a solitary season. it is also unknown whether this particular 'Albert Park' was the same one to appear in 1908 or to be somehow connected to the 'South Melbourne' team that would later rename to 'Albert Park'. Of the six clubs that competed, only Prahran still presently exists under the identity of 'Brighton Soccer Club'. While Carlton United, Fitzroy, Melbourne United, St Kilda and Williamstown all eventually folded, Prahran amalgamated with Brighton prior to the 1988 season, where the club's senior male squad presently competes in the

Victorian State League Division 3 The Victorian State League Division 3 is the sixth tier soccer competition (behind the National Premier Leagues) in Victoria, Australia, and the seventh nationally, including the A-League. It is conducted by the Football Federation Victoria ...

, the sixth tier of Victorian soccer.

Overview

Dockerty Cup

The calendar season also saw the commencement of the

, then known originally as the 'Challenge Cup', as the Federation's Cup tournament. The first ever competitive match took place at the Gardens Reserve in Williamstown on 24 July 1909, the same venue as the first ever first tier league match, in which the home team being Williamstown, were defeated 5-2 by St Kilda. In the grand final, league premiers Carlton United defeated St Kilda 2–1, making United the first club in the state's history to achieve both respective accolades in the same season.

Premiership season

The first ever competitive league match recognized by

took place on 8 May 1909 at the Gardens Reserve in Williamstown. Hosted by Williamstown, St Kilda defeated the home team 3-0. The biggest defeat of the season was to be won by St Kilda over Williamstown again, this time by ten goals finishing at 10-0 during the sixth round of the season on June 12 1909 at Middle Park. The eventual inaugural league premiers was to be the undefeated Carlton United, finishing ahead of St Kilda by five points being exactly two wins and one draw ahead.

League Tables

1909 Victorian Amateur League

References

{{AUS fb state Vic

Football Federation Victoria Football Victoria is the state governing body for soccer in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the sport's national governing body. History Football Victoria began operation in 1884 under the name Anglo Australian ...

1909 in Victorian soccer Soccer in Victoria (state)