1959 VFA season

78th season of the Victorian Football Association December 2017 December 2017 1959 1959VFAseason.png 175px 16 Williamstown 10 Williamstown 8 white 1958 VFA season 1958 white 1960 VFA season 1960 The 1959 VFA season was the 78th season of the Victorian Football Association (VFA), an Australian rules football competition played in the state of Victoria. The premiership was won by the Williamstown Football Club after it defeated Coburg in the Grand Final on 10 October by 35 points. It was Williamstown's tenth premiership, taking it past to become the club with the most premierships won in VFA history, a title it held until it was passed by Port Melbourne in 1976. It was also the fifth of five premierships Williamstown won in six seasons between 1954 and 1959, and the club's fourth consecutive minor premiership. Association membership Prior to 1959, the Prahran Football Club was expelled from the Association for failing to meet the minimum home ground requirements, and was replaced by the Sunshine Football Club. As such, the Association membership numbers remained constant at 16. Expulsion of Prahran Throughout its history, the Prahran Football Club had played its home matches at Toorak Oval, which it leased throughout the winter from the City of Prahran. At the time, each Association club played a Seconds match on its home venue on weekends when the firsts team was playing away – the practice of playing Seconds games as curtain-raisers to Firsts games was not established until 1980. On 4 March 1959, the Prahran Council announced that it was seeking tenders to let Toorak Oval to a separate sporting body on alternate weekends during winter – such that the Prahran First Sixteen would play its home matches there, and another sport would be played there when the Prahran Firsts were playing away. The Council was primarily seeking to improve its financial return on the venue: it cost the city £2,000 to maintain and operate the ground annually, and it received only £60 from the football club in rent for the entire winter, and the gate takings from Seconds matches were meagre;The Sun News-Pictorial Special talks on Toorak Oval 53 5 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC but, it received comparatively enormous offers of £440 from the Jugoslav United Soccer Team and £660 from the Victorian Rugby Union to lease the ground on alternate Saturdays during winter.The Sun News-Pictorial No compromise on lease by VFA 59 12 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC This was not the first time that other codes had made attempts to share occupancy of Association venues; in 1954, the Prahran council had turned down an offer of £800 from J.U.S.T. to lease Toorak Oval on alternate weekends,The Argus Soccer £800 refused 15 16 February 1954 Melbourne, VIC and Hakoah made unsuccessful attempts to share the Camberwell Sports Ground with Camberwell in 1955 and 1956.The Argus 16 Two clubs face expulsion from V.F.A. 15 November 1955 Melbourne, VIC Dave Anderson The potential to lose access to Toorak Oval for Seconds games was a problem for the Prahran Football Club, because the VFA constitution included a requirement that all clubs' Firsts and Seconds must play their matches on the same home ground on alternate weekends – with the exception of Brighton, which had a decades-long arrangement to share Elsternwick Park with the Elsternwick Amateur Football Club.The Sun News-Pictorial VFA decision soon on Prahran players 61 18 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC On 6 March, the Association confirmed that it would expel Prahran if it could not meet these requirements. The Association's hardline approach was based on a slippery slope argument, that allowing one council to seek a more lucrative deal for alternate Saturdays would result in all councils eventually taking the same action; access to better venues would be a fillip for rugby, soccer and other sports which were in direct competition with the Association, and would therefore be detrimental to the Association's long-term popularity and viability.The Sun News-Pictorial Prahran must go, if – VFA 55 7 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC In two weeks of negotiations, the council offered the Prahran Seconds the use of Como Park, and offered to provide temporary fencing to bring the venue to Association standards;The Sun News-Pictorial Council's offer gives Prahran new chance 60 24 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC and alternatively suggested that the Prahran Seconds could play a curtain-raiser to the successful bidder – but the Association rejected both suggestions. The Prahran Football Club also increased its own offer to the council from £60 to £175 to lease the ground for the entire winter.The Sun News-Pictorial Prahran to offer £175 in rent 51 13 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC On 16 March, the Prahran Council formally agreed to lease Toorak Oval to the Victorian Rugby Union on alternate Saturdays, and the Association Board of Management unanimously agreed to expel Prahran.The Sun News-Pictorial Prahran expelled by VFA 61, 64 17 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC The Association made clear that it would welcome Prahran back as soon as it was able to secure a ground for the entire winter, and the club ultimately came to an agreement with the council in October 1959, with rent of £100 per year; as such, Prahran's expulsion lasted only for the 1959 season. Prahran spent the 1959 season in the Metropolitan Football League (MFL), and won its premiership.The Sun News-Pictorial Prahran gets Toorak Oval 52 6 October 1959 Melbourne, VIC Permission was given for Prahran's players to be cleared to other clubs in Melbourne, under a gentlemen's agreement that they be cleared back to Prahran when the club was re-admitted to the Association.The Sun News-Pictorial Sunshine gets 'all clear' from VFA 403 26 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC Admission of Sunshine With Prahran expelled from the Association, the Sunshine Football Club lodged an application to replace it. Sunshine's application was first reported on 24 March, and was accepted unanimously by the remaining members of the Association on 27 March.The Sun News-Pictorial Sunshine coach still awaiting clearance 43 28 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC The Association had made overtures to a club based in Sunshine as early as the central ground dispute of 1934,Sunshine Advocate Sunshine, VIC 16 February 1934 1 Senior football squabble may help Sunshine and the club had actively been seeking admission to the Association for the previous eight years.The Sun News-Pictorial Sunshine is ready for the word 'go' 55 25 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC Sunshine was a large club in a strong growth area of Melbourne's west, which operated two teams in the Metropolitan Football League (MFL) and three teams in the Footscray District League and had more than 200 registered players. It was runner-up in the MFL in 1958. It played its home games at Selwyn Park, which was up to Association standard and had a recently built £20,000 pavilion. Sunshine's playing uniform in the MFL consisted of blue and white hoops, identical to Moorabbin's guernsey. The clubs were not drawn to play each other until late in the season, so Sunshine played in its hoops until July, when it switched to a navy blue guernsey with a white yoke, and plain blue socks.The Sun News-Pictorial Moorabbin? No, it's Sunshine Scot Palmer 57 15 April 1959 Melbourne, VICThe Sun News-Pictorial Sunshine to lose its hooped look Scot Palmer 59 5 June 1959 Melbourne, VIC Rule changes The Association reduced the number of players on the field from eighteen per side to sixteen per side from the 1959 season; the two wingmen were the positions eliminated from the game under the new system. Each team also had two reserve players.The Sun News-Pictorial VFA will play 16 a side 62 17 March 1959 Melbourne, VIC The change lasted for 33 seasons; it was not until 1992 that the Association returned to the national standard eighteen-a-side rules.The Sunday Age (Sport Liftout) Melbourne, VIC 18 Phil Cleary 8 April 1992 VFA goes home to fans The Association had previously played sixteen-a-side between 1912 and 1918.The Australasian 3 May 1919 Football – the opening day 807 Melbourne, VIC J.W. CVI 2770 Home-and-away season The home-and-away season was played over twenty weeks. As in 1958, the clubs were split into a north-of-the-Yarra section and a south-of-the-Yarra section for the fixturing: in the first fourteen rounds, each club played home-and-home against the other seven clubs in its section;The Sun News-Pictorial Moorabbin stays top – but it had a scare Scot Palmer 34 25 May 1959 Melbourne, VIC then, each club played against clubs from the opposite section over the final six rounds.The Sun News-Pictorial North sides shocked South in VFA Scot Palmer 40 3 August 1959 Melbourne, VIC The clubs were arranged into a single combined ladder including both northern and southern teams, and the top four clubs then contested a finals series under the Page–McIntyre system to determine the premiers for the season. Ladder main WDL Q true points y 4 2 WIL Williamstown SAN Sandringham OAK Oakleigh COB Coburg MOO Moorabbin YAR Yarraville MOR Mordialloc PMB Port Melbourne BRU Brunswick BOX Box Hill NBU Preston DAN Dandenong SUN Sunshine NOR Northcote BRI Brighton CAM Camberwell 17 3 0 2159 1339 P 16 4 0 2064 1340 16 4 0 2021 1364 16 4 0 1983 1420 15 5 0 2060 1266 14 6 0 1960 1351 12 8 0 1878 1566 10 9 1 1861 1644 9 10 1 1746 1675 8 12 0 1596 1623 8 12 0 1502 1967 6 14 0 1618 1921 6 14 0 1329 2072 3 17 0 1499 2276 2 18 0 1365 2195 1 19 0 1041 2663 Premiers #CCFFCC A A A A 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for. complete The Sun News-Pictorial 7 September 1959 Coburg routed in 40-pt. loss 46 Melbourne, VIC Scot Palmer Finals Semi-finals Semi-finals Saturday, 12 September Oakleigh 7.14 (56) A Coburg 12.11 (83) St Kilda Cricket Ground 9,000 The Sun News-Pictorial 14 September 1959 Coburg burst put Oakleigh down 43 Melbourne, VIC Scot Palmer Saturday, 19 September (postponed) Williamstown V Sandringham St Kilda Cricket Ground The Sun News-Pictorial 21 September 1959 VFA rivals say "no" 51 Melbourne, VIC Scot Palmer Saturday, 26 September Williamstown 11.14 (80) H Sandringham 7.16 (58) St Kilda Cricket Ground 14,000 The Sun News-Pictorial 28 September 1959 Williamstown in Grand Final 43 Melbourne, VIC Scot Palmer Preliminary final Preliminary final Saturday, 3 October Sandringham 13.18 (96) A Coburg 14.16 (100) St Kilda Cricket Ground 22,000 The Sun News-Pictorial 5 October 1959 Coburg storms way to G. Final 53 Melbourne, VIC Scot Palmer Grand Final 1959 VFA Grand Final Saturday, 10 October Williamstown 2.8 (20) 6.13 (49) 6.14 (50) 15.21 (111) Cullinan 7, Maloney 2, Mazouris 2, Callahan, Evans, R. Jones, Pelly Cullinan, for striking Bigelow in the third quarter H Coburg 1.1 (7) 5.6 (36) 9.9 (63) 11.10 (76) Byron 2, Carr 2, Jordon 2, Shaw 2, Goullet, Huntington, Matthews Gleeson (groin) St Kilda Cricket Ground 26,000 The Sun News-Pictorial 12 October 1959 Williamstown flew away with the flag 47 Melbourne, VIC Lou RichardsThe Sun News-Pictorial 12 October 1959 Best since 1884... now for record 47 Melbourne, VIC Scot Palmer Allen Awards The leading goalkicker for the season was Denis Oakley (Sandringham), who kicked 113 goals in the home-and-home season, and a further six goals in finals. The J. J. Liston Trophy was won by Bryan Waters (Dandenong), who polled 49 votes. Waters finished ahead of Kevin Dillon (Brunswick), who polled 38 votes, and Jack Coughlan (Oakleigh), who polled 32 votes.The Sun News-Pictorial 10 September 1959 Dand'nong winner in Liston 40 Melbourne, VIC Scot Palmer Port Melbourne won the seconds premiership. Port Melbourne 14.6 (90) defeated Moorabbin 12.13 (85) in the Grand Final, played as a curtain raiser to the firsts Grand Final on 10 October.The Sun News-Pictorial Melbourne, VIC 12 October 1959 Port got there, but only just 36 Notable events Wednesday night football, which had been a feature of the early rounds of the 1957 and 1958 seasons, did not return in 1959. The Brunswick Council regraded the Brunswick Cricket Ground during the 1959 season, so the Brunswick Football Club could not play there. During the season, Brunswick's Firsts shared Northcote Park with Northcote, with the clubs playing home games there on alternate Saturdays. Considering the circumstances, Brunswick's Seconds team received permission to play at a different ground to the firsts, Allard Park in East Brunswick; confusion over this, particularly amongst southern teams, led to the Brighton Seconds team forfeiting its last match of the season to Brunswick because half of the team arrived at the wrong venue.The Sun News-Pictorial 7 September 1959 A team divided falls! 46 Melbourne, VIC Scot Palmer The club trained on a reserve adjacent to its traditional home, which notably had no goalposts installed on it.The Sun News-Pictorial Brunswick missed far too many "sitters" Scot Palmer 43 16 June 1959 Melbourne, VIC Camberwell suffered the heaviest loss in its history to date, losing 1.8 (14) to 24.24 (168) by 154 points against Oakleigh on 20 June.The Sun News-Pictorial Box Hill gets "new look", topples Moorabbin Scot Palmer 34 22 June 1959 Melbourne, VIC The second semi-final between Williamstown and Sandringham on 19 September was postponed due to overnight rain making the ground unplayable. The VFA's contingency plan was to shift the game to Thursday 24 September, Show Day holiday, to avoid the need to extend the season and interrupt the St Kilda Cricket Club's preparations for the district cricket season; however, Williamstown and Sandringham successfully appealed to play the game on Saturday 26 September and extend the season by one week, on the grounds that it would have been unfair for the losing team to have only one day's rest before the preliminary final.The Sun News-Pictorial 23 September 1959 VFA semi-final at St Kilda 64 Melbourne, VIC Scot Palmer See also List of VFA/VFL Premiers References Category:Victorian Football League seasons VFA