Victorian Women's Football League

Victorian Women's Football League

Most recent season or competition:
Sport	Women's Australian rules football
Inaugural season	1981
Replaced by	VFL Women's
No. of teams	31
Country	Australia
Headquarters	Melbourne, Australia
Most recent champion(s)	(2016)
Most titles	Scorpions (11)
TV partner(s)	C31
Official website	Victorian Women's Football League

The rucks reach for the ball after the umpire (in orange) has balled it up. Taken at the 2005 VWFL Division 1 Grand Final - Melbourne University MUGARS (black and blue) def. Darebin Falcons.

Melbourne University player jostles for best position in a marking contest.

Darebin Falcons Player is wrapped up in a gang tackle by two Melbourne University opponents in the 2006 WVFL senior women's Grand Final. The field umpire (in orange) is about to signal "holding the ball" to penalise Darebin and award Melbourne University a free kick.

The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) was the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world, consisting of 47 clubs from Victoria, Australia across seven divisions and a total of over 1,000 players.^[1]

The VWFL complied with the laws of Australian football. 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 for applying for the 1995 AFL Draft. The nomination was voided, and the draft rules were amended by the AFL to prevent a 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 made headlines for pushing to play against men in the made-for-television team the Hammerheads. 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 was established by Football Victoria in 2004 primarily to provide a pathway to the VWFL. This was following legal action taken against them in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (following a complaint to the Equal Opportunity Commission) by junior players Penny Cula-Reid, 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. A second game was played at the G later in the same year featuring Melbourne Uni MUGARS against the St Kilda SHARKS reserves teams.

In 2005 the VWFL celebrated its 25th birthday 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 in Melbourne. Two finals matches were also held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground 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 and Daisy Pearce in the E. J. Whitten Legends Game also helped lift the profile of the league.^[2]

The VFLW integrated into AFL Victoria in 2013.^[1] At the end of the 2016 season, it was announced that the forty-seven clubs and sixty teams of the VFLW would join 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.^[3][4] AFL Victoria would retain management of the ten-team VFL Women's league, with the remainder of the expected 150 teams to play in regional leagues.^[5][1]

Media coverage[]

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

Print

Herald Sun, The Age, Leader, Star News and Fairfax Community Network

TV

Sunrise, Channel 31

Radio

774 ABC Melbourne, 3AW, SEN 1116

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
• 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[]

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)

See also[]

• List of women's Australian rules football leagues

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• VCAT ruling (PDF)
• Analysis of VCAT ruling