The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) was the oldest and largest

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

league for women in the world, consisting of 47 clubs from

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, across seven divisions and a total of over 1,000 players. The VWFL complied with the

laws of Australian football The laws of Australian rules football were first created by the Melbourne Football Club in 1859 and have been refined over the years as the sport evolved into its modern form. The laws significantly predate the advent of a governing body for t ...

. The official ball, a Sherrin, used by the VWFL, was a custom-made size 4.5 ball.

History

The Victorian Women's Football League was formed in 1981 with four teams competing at open level. In 1995, Sal Rees caused controversy when she nominated for the 1995 AFL Draft: the nomination was subsequently voided, with the AFL amending its Draft rules to prevent any repeat of this incident. The VWFL grew quickly, increasing dramatically the number of players and participating teams with a Division 3 added in 2001. In 2002 VWFL player

Debbie Lee Deborah "Debbie" Lee (born 1974) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. She has campaigned for recognition of women's Australian rules football in Australia, giving up a WNBL career to focus on developing the sport. She was ...

made headlines for pushing to play against men in the made-for-television team the

Hammerheads ''The Club'' is an Australian reality television show about an Australian rules football sporting side, the ''Hammerheads'', which was screened on the Seven Network in 2002 for one series. It was seen as a way for Seven to stay involved in foo ...

. She has commented, "My whole idea with the Hammerheads was to promote women's football. At no point in time did I really think I was going to play against the men, and frankly it wouldn't really have been smart for me to do that. My whole idea was to cause a bit of activity." An U17 Youth Girls Competition was established by

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 ...

in 2004, primarily to provide a pathway to the VWFL. This was following legal action having been taken against them in the

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) was formed by the ''Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act'' 1998 in the state of Victoria, Australia. As part of the Victorian Justice system the Tribunal sits 'below' the Magistrat ...

(following a complaint to the Equal Opportunity Commission) by junior players

Penny Cula-Reid Penny Cula-Reid (born 2 February 1988) is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. Prior to being signed for the national competition, she was a multiple premiership player in ...

, Emily Stayner, and Helen Taylor. In May 2004, the first VWFL game was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with the Melbourne Uni MUGARS defeating St Albans SPURS on

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...

. A second game was played at the MCG later in the same year featuring Melbourne Uni MUGARS against the St Kilda SHARKS reserves teams. In 2005, the VWFL celebrated its 25th season, and created a reserves competition for Division 1. In 2006, the league posted a $6000 loss, however this was turned around in 2007 with a $19000 profit being posted at the end of 2007. 2007 saw five divisions (Premier seniors & reserves, North West, South East & Country) and 27 teams (from 20 clubs), and culminated in an Australian crowd record for women's Australian rules football at the 2007 Grand Final held on 19 August at the

Preston City Oval The Preston City Oval is an Australian rules football stadium in Cramer Street in Preston, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne. It has a main grandstand and the ground is capable of holding around 5,000 spectators. The Ground The ground was the ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Two finals matches were also held at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

for the first time. The work done by the VWFL Media Manager Leesa Catto was instrumental in increasing media coverage across the competition. A significant partnership was negotiated with the Leader News group and weekly coverage was captured across the Melbourne Metropolitan area. Events like the participation of two VWFL players

Shannon McFerran Shannon McFerran (born 13 June 1979) is an Australian rules football player in the Victorian Women's Football League. She currently plays at St Kilda Sharks women's football team. Playing career McFerran began playing for a St Albans FC boys' ...

and

Daisy Pearce Daisy Pearce (born 27 May 1988) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition. Often regarded as the face of women's Australian rules football, Pearce has served as Melbourne c ...

in the E. J. Whitten Legends Game also helped lift the profile of the league. The VWFL integrated into

AFL Victoria AFL Victoria (formerly Football Victoria) is the state-level sport governing body for Australian rules football in the state of Victoria, Australia. Under the organisation's jurisdiction fall 115 leagues — including the Victorian Football Le ...

in 2013. At the end of the 2016 season, it was announced the VWFL would be dissolved, with the forty-seven clubs and sixty teams of the VFLW would joining ten Victorian community leagues in 2017, along with additional clubs and teams from a further eighty clubs that had expressed interest in joining women's Australian football competitions. AFL Victoria would retain management of the ten-team

VFL Women's VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football Le ...

league, with the remainder of the expected 150 teams to play in regional leagues.

Media coverage

In 2010 VWFL media coverage was captured across a range of mediums including; ;Print: ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Leader'', ''Star News'' and Fairfax Community Network ;TV: Channel 31 ;Radio:

774 ABC Melbourne ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR. Most Local Radio stations in Victoria sim ...

3AW 3AW is a talkback radio station based in Melbourne. It broadcasts on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station. The station is owned and operated by Nine Entertainment Co. Hist ...

SEN 1116 1116 SEN (call sign 3AK) is an Australian radio station in Victoria. Owned and operated by Pacific Star Network, it broadcasts a sports radio format from Lower Plenty to Greater Melbourne. First broadcast on 29 November 1931 as 3AK, the stat ...

Clubs

Premier Division Division 1 * Bendigo * Cranbourne FC * Darebin * Diamond Creek * Eastern Devils * Knox * Melbourne Uni * North Geelong * Seaford FNC Division 2 * La Trobe Uni * Motmorency FC * Pascoe Vale * Port Melbourne Colts * Redan FNC *

St Albans Spurs The VU Western Spurs are a Women's Australian rules football club who compete in the Northern Football League (Australia) and the AFL Masters Victoria competition . Based in Footscray, they play home games at Henry Turner Oval. They were form ...

* Whitehorse Division 3 * Bayswater Football Club * Cranbourne Football Club * Deer Park * Endeavour Hills FC * Kew Football Club * Mordialloc FC * Seaford FNC * St Kilda Division 4 * Brunswick Renegades * Chirnside Park FC * Fitzroy-ACU * Hallam Football Club * Melbourne University * Port Melbourne Colts * South Morang FC East Division * AFL Gippsland * Ajax FC * Bulleen Templestowe AFC * Endeavour Hills FC * Knox FC * Motmorency FC * Rosebud FC * Seville Ranges FFC West Division * Bacchus Marsh * Jacana Football Club * Kyneton FC * Manor Lakes * Melton Centrals * Sunbury Lions WFC

Facts and figures

Division One/Premier Division

Source:

Premier Reserves

Premiers: North West Conference

2012 Bendigo
2011 La Trobe Uni
2010 Sunbury Lions
2009 Sunbury Lions
2008 Heidelberg Tigers
2007 Hadfield Hawks
2006 Diamond Creek Demons

Premiers: South East Conference

2012 Hallam Hawks
2011 Hallam Hawks
2010 South Mornington Tigerettes
2009 Scoresby Magpies
2008 Scoresby Magpies
2007 Yarra Valley Cougars
2007 Eastern Lions
2006 Berwick Wickers

Premiers: Country Conference

2007 Melton Centrals
2006 Geelong Cheetahz

Premiers: Division Two

2005 Lalor Bloods
2004 St Kilda Sharks
2003 Melbourne University Mugars
2002 East Geelong Eagles
2001 Hadfield Hawks
2000 North Heidelberg Bulldogs
1997 St Kilda Sharks

Premiers: Division Three

2006 Yarra Valley Cougars
2005 Yarra Valley Cougars
2005 Diamond Creek Demons
2004 Berwick Wickers
2003 Surrey Park Panthers
2002 Mordialloc Redbacks
2001 Ferntree Gully Kangaroos

VWFL Life Members

2009 Leesa Catto
2009 Bron McGorlick
2008 Kerryn Stephen
2006 Chyloe Kurdas
2005 Di Smith
2004 Belinda Bowey
2003 Sally Rees, Rohenna Young
2002 Debbie Lee, Kerry Saunders
2001 Nicole Graves
2000 Lisa Hardeman (Who the premier div best on ground medal is named after)
1999 Ann Rulton (who the Volunteer Award is named after)
1998 Julie Allen
1997 Dianne Vaux
1996 Bernadette Marantelli
1995 Coral White
1990 Jan Wilson, Janet Graham
1983 Helen Lambert (who the Premier div Best and Fairest is named after - she is also the founding President of the League)

250 Games (as at end of 2011)

Debbie Lee (East Brunswick Scorpions/Sunshine YCW/VU-St Albans Spurs)
Kerry Saunders (Darebin Falcons/St Kilda City)
Belinda Bowey (St Kilda Sharks/Keysborough)

References

External links

*
VCAT ruling (PDF)

Analysis of VCAT ruling
{{Navbox , name = VWFL , title = Clubs in the Victorian Women's Football League , navbar = plain , list1 =

Berwick Women's Football Club{{· Bellpost Hill{{· Corio{{·

Darebin Falcons The Darebin Women's Sports Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is based in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and primarily notable for its Australian rules football team which competes in the highest-level Victorian state league – the VFL Women's (VF ...

{{· Deakin Devils{{· Diamond Creek Women's Football Club{{·

East Geelong East Geelong is a residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. At the , East Geelong had a population of 3,862. The post office opened on 6 June 1921. An earlier Post Office dating from 1871 was later renamed Moolap West. The 81-hect ...

{{· Eastern Lions{{·

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

{{· Hadfield Hawks{{· Lalor Bloods{{·

Melbourne University Mugars Melbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University, is an Australian rules football club based at the University of Melbourne. The club fields two teams, known as the "Blacks" and "Blues", who both compete in the Victorian Amat ...

{{· Melton Supergirls{{· South Mornington Tigers{{·

North Ballarat North Ballarat Football & Netball Club, nicknamed ''The Roosters'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based at Mars Stadium in Ballarat. The club currently fields senior, reserve and Under 19 sides in the Ballarat Football Lea ...

{{· North Heidelberg{{· Parkdale Vultures{{· Parkmore Pirates{{·

{{· St Kilda Sharks{{· Sunbury Lions{{· Surrey Park Panthers{{· Yarra Valley Cougars

Women's Australian rules football leagues in Australia Australian rules football competitions in Victoria (Australia) 1981 establishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 1981