1870 Victorian football season

1st senior season of Australian rules football in Victoria February 2020 December 2017 1870 MelbourneCarlton.webp 270px A match between and 5 vicunaffiliated 1 1st Challenge Cup win white 1871 Victorian football season 1871 The 1870 Victorian football season was the inaugural senior premiership season of Australian rules football in the colony of Victoria.1870 https://www.blueseum.org/1870 Blueseum 10 April 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20241002142554/https://www.blueseum.org/1870 2 October 2024 The competition was played during the winter of 1870, consisting of matches between metropolitan football clubs in Melbourne.1870 Chronology https://www.tigerlandarchive.org/tiki-index.php?page=1870+Chronology Tigerland Archive 10 April 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20241210054822/https://www.tigerlandarchive.org/tiki-index.php?page=1870+Chronology 10 December 20241870 – Remembering the Forgotten Years https://www.footyalmanac.com.au/almanac-footy-1870-remembering-the-forgotten-years/ The Footy Almanac 10 April 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20230522032054/https://www.footyalmanac.com.au/almanac-footy-1870-remembering-the-forgotten-years/ 22 May 2023 15 May 2023 The premier club was , while was the disputed winner of the Challenge Cup.Club Timeline https://www.melbournefc.com.au/history/year-by-year Melbourne Football Club 10 April 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20250406174835/https://www.melbournefc.com.au/history/year-by-year 6 April 2025Blucher Peter Our history: South Melbourne foundations https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/10080/our-history-south-melbourne-foundations Sydney Swans 10 April 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20221112063806/https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/10080/our-history-south-melbourne-foundations 12 November 2022 11 May 2017 Historical status Although Australian rules football had been played in some form during Melbourne winters since 1858, the 1870 season is conventionally considered to be the first season of senior football competition in Victorian history, or at least the first season for which a premiership can be officially allocated. The convention of 1870 being the inaugural premiership was applied retrospectively: in 1889, The Argus newspaper first published a table of historical premiers, and second and third-placed teams, dating back to 1870. In the article adjoining the 1889 table, it was commented that the haphazard nature of scheduling, frequency of cancelled matches, and overall lower standard of play made it difficult to assign a premiership for the seasons played between 1858 and 1869.The Argus Melbourne, VIC 5 The Football Premiership 23 September 1889 The VFL's official publication, the Football Record, also showed this table from its inception in 1912 until 1918. From 1919 to 1923, this table was replaced with a table that showed the top four club placings since 1897, and two supplementary tables showing cumulated placings for the periods 1897-1918 and 1870-1918. These supplementary tables were omitted from the 1924 editions of the Record, and did not reappear after that.Wilson Caroline History of the AFL could be turned on its head https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/history-of-the-afl-could-be-turned-on-its-head-20140620-zsglu.html The Age 12 April 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20230929215206/https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/history-of-the-afl-could-be-turned-on-its-head-20140620-zsglu.html 29 September 2023 20 June 2014 Since 2016, the AFL Commission has formally recognised the highest level of Victorian football back to 1870 as senior: this applies to both the unaffiliated era from 1870 to 1876 and the Victorian Football Association era from 1877 to 1896. However, February 2026 yes, it maintains a distinction between the seasons from 1870-1896 and the history of the VFL/AFL from 1897 onwards, requiring statistics and achievements from these periods to be delineated,http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-06-09/afl-knocks-back-cats-bid-for-extra-flags AFL knocks back Cats' bid for extra flags 9 June 2016 Australian Football League Travis King while at the same time allowing clubs to recognise their 1870–1896 statistics and achievements in their own histories.AFL Commission will allow clubs to recognise their history outside the VFL/AFL In September 2025, the matter of the statistics and achievements from the 1870-1896 seasons reached the AFL Heritage Committee: the approval of the AFL Commission is required before any official changes are made to the AFL's records.Cotton Ben Bold proposal to rewrite AFL premiership tally, add seven Cats flags ramps up https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/geelong-cats/afl-2025-colin-carter-proposal-to-add-vfa-premierships-to-official-club-tallies-afl-heritage-committee-most-premierships-records-latest-news/news-story/2ff946f11a64ad5adce63898b4d0383a Fox Sports 14 January 2026 https://web.archive.org/web/20260114075356/https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/geelong-cats/afl-2025-colin-carter-proposal-to-add-vfa-premierships-to-official-club-tallies-afl-heritage-committee-most-premierships-records-latest-news/news-story/2ff946f11a64ad5adce63898b4d0383a 14 January 2026 25 September 2025 1870 season Five clubs participated in senior football during the 1870 season: the city's principal clubs (Albert-park, , and South Yarra), and a new club representing the Hobson's Bay Railway, which was playing its first season of senior football after three years of competing at junior level.The Australasian 13 Football Chatter 2 July 1870 The five clubs competed in specific matches for the Challenge Cup, and for the premiership (based on all matches played during the season). Challenge Cup In 1870, the South Yarra Football Club purchased and put up a new trophy, known as the Challenge Cup (sometimes as the South Yarra Presentation Challenge Cup to differentiate it from previous challenge cups donated by different organisations), for competition. South Yarra was the permanent holder of the previous Challenge Cup, having won it in 1866, and decided it would be appropriate to provide a new trophy for competition. The rules related to the presentation of the new Challenge Cup were as follows:The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 652 21 May 1870 VIII 216 The South Yarra Presentation Challenge Cup South Yarra would be the initial holder of the cup. Any match between the holder of the cup and another senior team would be played for the cup. In a cup match, the winner of the match would take possession of the cup, and the incumbent holder would retain the cup in the event of a draw. A club would become the permanent holder of the cup if it won the cup four times in a row without a loss (but with no limit on the number of drawn games during that streak); until that time, the cup would remain a perpetual award. Other stipulations relating to Challenge Cup games were that they were required to be controlled by central umpires, rather than by the team captains, and that no player was allowed to play for more than one club in Challenge Cup games during the year. Albert-park took possession of the Cup in the first game against South Yarra, and never relinquished it. However, the fate of the Cup became controversial when Hobson's Bay Railway forfeited its 11 June match against Albert-park due to lack of players: Railway declined to play when only fourteen of its selected twenty turned up on the day of the match.The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 332 J. Hacker (honorary secretary of the Hobson's Bay Railway Football Club) 10 September 1870 IX 232 The "walk-over" and the Challenge Cup Conventionally, such a game would simply be considered a no-contest, but with the Challenge Cup at stake, Albert-park took to the field and scored two goals against no opposition as a formality and claimed a walkover victory. Such an outcome had never been seen before, one sportswriter commenting that "in connection with football, the idea of a walkover is simply absurd and unprecedented."Leader Football 6 August 1870 10 Having counted the walkover as its second Cup win, Albert-park subsequently claimed permanent possession of the Cup with its fourth win of the year on 20 August. However, the walkover victory was not recognised by South Yarra (as cup donors) or the other clubs, who all argued that the match was a no-contest rather than an Albert-park victory, and that another win was required to claim permanent ownership of the Cup. Albert-park argued that enough procedural requirements, such as the appointment of umpires and the pre-game coin toss, had been carried out for the game to be considered official,The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 300 C. Crooke (treasurer of Albert-park Football Club) 3 September 1870 IX 231 Albert-park v. Railway while Railway denied that these procedures had been carried out. Albert-park also argued that it was entitled to claim victory because Railway had declined the options of playing short or fielding other club officials or members who were present. Ultimately, the dispute was unresolved: there was no central body which could make a binding ruling on whether or not the walkover counted as a victory, and neither side conceded its opponent's point. Albert-park played only one further game for the season, a draw against , but it refused to put the Cup up for contest in that match. Albert-park was denied the chance to become the undisputed permanent holder of the Cup on 6 August, when its return match with the weak Railway club was cancelled due to inclement weather. Albert-park ultimately gave the Cup back to South Yarra at the end of the year, but maintained its position that it had won the Cup outright and was donating it in its capacity as the Cup's owner.The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 492 Fair Play 15 October 1870 IX 237 Football – retrospect of the season South Yarra maintained its position that Albert-park had not won the Cup, and had forfeited its position as incumbent holder.The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 684 3 June 1871 X 270 The Challenge Cup The following table lists the final results of all Challenge Cup games. 1870 Challenge Cup games Saturday, 28 May South Yarra 1 A Albert-park 3 St Kilda Cricket Ground The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 716 Fair Play 4 June 1870 VIII 218 Football Saturday, 4 June Albert-park 0 D 0 Emerald Hill Ground 1,500 The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 748 Fair Play 11 June 1870 VIII 219 Football Saturday, 11 June (walkover, disputed) Albert-park H Hobson's Bay Railway Emerald Hill Ground The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 779 Fair Play 18 June 1870 VIII 220 Football Saturday, 18 June 0 D Albert-park 0 Royal Park 300 The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 812 Fair Play 25 June 1870 VIII 221 Football Saturday, 9 July Albert-park 2 H South Yarra 1 Emerald Hill Ground 450 ALBERT- PARK v. SOUTH YARRA FOR CHALLENGE CUP https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/138065801 The Australasian 10 April 2025 12 16 July 1870 Saturday, 16 July 0 D Albert-park 0 Melbourne Ground 2,500 The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 108 23 July 1870 IX 225 Football Saturday, 23 July Albert-park 0 D 0 Emerald Hill Ground 3,000 The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 140 Fair Play 30 July 1870 IX 226 Football Saturday, 6 August (cancelled due to rain) Hobson's Bay Railway V Albert-park Lonsdale GroundThe Australasian Melbourne, VIC 173 6 August 1870 IX 227 Football The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 204 Fair Play 13 August 1870 IX 228 Football chatter Saturday, 13 August Albert-park 1 D 1 Emerald Hill Ground 2,000 The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 236 Fair Play 20 August 1870 IX 226 Football chatter Saturday, 20 August South Yarra 0 A Albert-park 2 Melbourne Ground 2,500 The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 267 Fair Play 27 August 1870 IX 230 Football chatter In its match against on 4 June, scored a goal in the first half, but it was later annulled after a head count discovered that Albert-park had 22 men on the field. The game ended in a 0–0 draw. Premiership Although it had claimed the Challenge Cup and was undefeated during the season, Albert-park was not recognised as premier club for 1870: instead, , which was also undefeated, was the premier. While Melbourne had a very similar record to Albert-park, the two matches between them were drawn, with Melbourne having a better head-to-head record against third-placed : Melbourne had played four matches against for two wins and two draws, while Albert-park's three matches against were drawn (their three wins coming against the winless South Yarra). Albert-park's claim to the Challenge Cup was helped in large part by the fact that it was the first team to play against South Yarra during the year; had South Yarra played its first game against Melbourne, Melbourne would have been in a strong position to win the Challenge Cup as well as the premiership. Senior results The following table shows the five clubs' senior results during the year: all matches played among the five Challenge Cup teams, plus matches that Melbourne played against the Police and against the 18th Royal Irish Regiment. Albert-park's disputed walkover victory against Railway is not included in the table. main WDL true none none MEL P Premiers ALB Albert-park CAR SYA – South Yarra HBR – Hobson's Bay Railway 7 0 4 3 0 5 2 2 5 0 5 0 0 3 0 P green1 complete The Australasian Melbourne, VIC 524 Fairplay 22 October 1870 IX 238 Football: Retrospect of the Season, Concluded1870 Carlton season, including game v South Yarra played on July 16 Notable events The practice of stopping play at half-time and changing ends was first introduced in the game between and on 11 June. Prior to this, teams had changed ends after each goal was scored. References Category:Victorian football seasons Victoria