Wanted! A Vision for the VFL

The Preston Bullants are gone. The first traditional VFA club to permanently fold since a spate of them went under in late 80’s early 90’s.

And as sure as night follows day, when the comments bemoaning the loss appear online, comes the common as dirt suggestion: Split the reserves teams off into an AFL reserves competition, and send the stand alone clubs back to a restored the “traditional” VFA.

I’m here to tell you that idea is madness. It will destroy what’s left of the traditional clubs and leave behind only a soulless reserves competition that no one cares about.

The VFA of the 1970’s is dead and buried. It’s not coming back. Those bemoaning about the loss of Preston, shouldn’t complain about the entry of reserves teams and AFL team alliance, which actually breathed life into a tired competition.

What is right to point out however, is a seemingly complete lack of vision for the VFL, whether that’s from the AFL who runs the competition, or a shared vision from the clubs themselves.

One of the disappointing things about Preston’s exclusion is that it comes at a time when another stand alone club, Frankston, is going gang busters with crowds not seen at Kars Street since.. well..ever.

And having attended Frankston’s thrilling semi final win against Casey Demons recently, under the brighter than the sun lights at Frankston Park, I couldn’t help but notice the contrast between the raucous Frankston crowd on the hill and thrilling game of footy and the anodyne comments made earlier in the year by AFL Head of Footy Operations Manager Laura Kane when asked about the future of the competition.

Now this is not another Laura Kane knocking article, she’s copped enough criticism this year, instead it’s about drawing a contrast between what the AFL is saying about the competition and the passion that’s coming from the fans.

In an interview with head Channel 9 footy reporter Tom Morris, when asked about creating an AFL reserves comp, Kane said:

“We’re looking at the structure of the VFL or the East Coast Competition at the moment its ever evolving its just changed recently with the announcement of St Kilda entering their own team, we’re working really closely with the SANFL and the WA football commission over there to make sure whatever we do has national relevance and consistency and so its one idea put forward, we want to see the pathway strong in all states of the country.”

So other than giving absolutely nothing away, most notable was the lack of any sort of vision or excitement for the league, her referring to it as the ‘East Coast’ competition, and describing it as a ‘pathway’

Now I can only assume that this bureaucratic answer is the official line from the AFL, and concerningly shows the League HQ are deeply undervaluing the entire competition in terms of what it is now and what it could be.

A Vision for the VFL

To know where the future of the VFL lies is its important to understand where the league has come from.

The VFL today should actually be seen as the continuation of 3 former competitions.

The VFA as the formal continuation of the competition with the same premiership cup, medals as well as including traditional VFA teams along with pre-1897 split clubs.
The reserves with AFL clubs fielding a 2nds teams.
The old VFL with the traditional suburban venues, the VFL name and logo.
We can can even add a fourth for VFLW as a continuation of the original premier women’s footy comp the Victorian Women’s Football League.

By looking at the current VFL through that prism, we can now vision the VFL to take the best of those competitions, and have a VFL that is now seen, not as an ‘East Coast’ development pathway, but as the pinnacle of Victorian football, where there are real stakes for fans, that adds fabric of the game, that drives deeper fan engagement, expands touchpoints, and increases financial stability.

To get fans to actually care about the VFL isn’t just a simple as saying so. For years the competition has been squeezed by the AFL at the top, and by local leagues at the community level.

But there are signs. The Western Bulldogs celebrating their 2025 VFL premiership with a commemorative merchandise show how it can celebrated and used to engage the wider fanbase. Big crowds down at Frankston show how the community can embrace a stand alone team.

Ultimately whether the VFL is seen as a strong, worthwhile competition in its own right will be up to the fans, but it won’t happen without a strong push from the AFL and clubs.

Five Steps to Make It Happen

Grand Final at the MCG.
If the VFL is going to be the pinnacle of Victorian Football the Grand final needs a venue worthy of the title, and lets face it, Princes Park doesn’t cut it.

Previous Grand Finals at at Marvel stadium were well attended, I’m not sure why they stopped them, but holding it at the MCG would really give it a sense of occasion.

A joint VFL-VFLW Grand Final on the Sunday before the AFL Grand Final could become a big day in the Victorian footy calendar and play a big part in the overall narrative of the season, attracting both fans of competing clubs and neutrals.

With right clubs I reckon you’d be looking at a crowd between 20 - 30k, on par with the SANFL and WAFL Grand Finals.

With AFL Premierships harder and harder to come by, not to mention actually be able to get a ticket to the game, adding another Premiership experience for fans would go along way to deepening their engagement with the club.

A big MCG Grand Final would help build the narrative of an important competition, hark back to the glory days of the old VFL and hopefully create a halo effect that would draw fans, sponsors and even players to current VFL clubs.

Restore the original logo.
You can’t deny logo’s are an important part of any organisation’s image and there aren’t many stronger, more iconic logos in football than the original VFL logo. Certainly on par at least (or better in this Victorian’s mind) with the timeless SANFL ‘S’ & WAFL Black Swan in the ‘W’.

But the current mangled VFL logo is a shadow of its former self, a cookie cutter shield with the ‘V’ cut off by lettering and the AFL logo shoehorned in.

Restoring the Big V logo on jerseys and grounds, would help signify the return of an important stand alone competition and again hark back the VFL of old.

Bring in Adelaide and Port Adelaide.
This might sound counter initiative given the emphasis I’m putting on the literally capital V part of the Victorian competition.

But it’s the inclusion of AFL teams, even those from interstate that have been such part of keeping the VFL competition alive for the past 30 years.

The VFA/AFL Reserves merger lifted the standard of a morribound competition, whilst AFL vs stand alone club matches bring local supporters of both teams out to grounds for a unique contest in a chance to see AFL listed players up close. .

On the other hand the existence of Adelaide and the recasting of the Port Adelaide Magpies as the Powers reserves team has always been an uneasy fit for the SANFL, with their paternalistic requirements to field a reserved team. The two clubs would be welcome in the VFL as another AFL team that would draw local crowds and bolster interest.

Some might argue the competition is already too bloated with more teams than round, but large competitions with Swiss system fixturing are common in other sports, (think the new UEFA Champions League format).

Plus there would be some wry humour in Port Adelaide finally joining the VFL some 30-40 years after they first wanted to, and the Adelaide jumper sporting the logo of a competition they refused to join unless it became the AFL.

Keep improving the fixture.
Of all the other success factors, fixturing seems the most pressing. Saturday night VFL especially with Frankston vs AFL teams has been a success but the rest of the VFL fixture can look pretty patchy.

Whilst acknowledging it is probably the hardest fixture to coordinate with the AFL fixture, interstate travel and match times, there seemed to be quite a few unnecessary early starts and even clashes between VFL and AFL teams from the same club

Whilst home matches under broadcast quality lights might be out of reach for most stand alone clubs, consistent days/times for home matches can help build a regular crowd over the season.

A few other things to consider would be a full slate of Friday night and Saturday night matches, promotion of unique local rivalries like Footscray v Williamstown, Gold Coast v Southport, St Kilda v Sandringham (perhaps even Sydney v Port Melbourne!) and specific big match dates like the traditional Collingwood v Essendon VFL match on ANZAC weekend.

Review, Research, Plan
Finally whilst the above are just 4 ideas to kick things off, areas such as facilities, promotion, fan engagement, talent will all need a deep dive and data backed solutions. Finding out what the current barriers are to fans getting involved with the VFL and what the opportunities are is critical.

Different types of clubs and different communities will have different needs but the costs of market research will be beyond individual clubs. But a program funded by the AFL coupled with a clear vision and a long term strategic plan could set the competition up for a decade of growth.

Unlocking the value of the second biggest footy competition in the country that’s based in the biggest footy state country will hopefully see less stand alone clubs going under and more big crowds and passionate fans at the VFL.