For almost 100 years, the AFL competition has been deemed to start in 1897, the year in which eight clubs seceded from the Victorian Football Association to form the Victorian Football League. This revision of history ignores the years between 1870 and 1896 when 11 of today’s AFL clubs not only participated in the VFA competition but won every premiership!
Author Colin Carter’s extensive research makes it crystal clear that the VFL’s founders, the VFL clubs, as well as journalists and commentators of the time, agreed 1870 to be their competition’s inaugural season. These forgotten years need to be reclaimed because a lot of important football history has been ignored or misplaced.
Football’s Forgotten Years outlines why these foundation years must be included in the AFL competition’s history, and the champions and administrators who set up the game in those years be recognised for their pioneering achievements.
This book is an important document in the never-ending history of Australian football, and, in particular, its formative years in Victoria.
