1883 Victorian football season

1883 Victorian football season
Date	21 April – 29 September 1883 [1]
←  1882 1884  →

The 1883 Victorian football season was the 14th senior season of Australian rules football in the colony of Victoria. ^[2]

Clubs

Founded

Two future Australian Football League (AFL) clubs − Fitzroy and Footscray − were founded in 1883. ^[3]

Club	League	Ref
Fitzroy	VJFA	[4]
Footscray	VJFA	[5]

VFA

Main article: 1883 VFA season

Geelong won the Victorian Football Association (VFA) premiership for the fifth time, making it the club's fifth VFA premiership in just six seasons, and the second in a sequence of three consecutive premierships won from 1882 to 1884. ^{[6] [7]}

VJFA

1883 VJFA season
Date	21 April – 29 September 1883 [1]
Premiers	Waverley 1st premiership
←  1882 (pre-VJFA) 1884  →

The 1883 VJFA season was the inaugural season of the Victorian Junior Football Association (VJFA). ^[a] The competition was officially established on 26 April 1883, with eleven clubs − Albion, Brunswick, Emerald Hill, Footscray, Fortrose, North Park, Richmond, South Park, South Yarra, Star of Carlton and Waverley − represented at the inaugural meeting. ^{[9] [10]}

Waverley were the premiers, only losing two of its 20 matches for the season. ^{[11] [12]} South Park secretary McKinery disputed this, saying his club was the only one entitled to the premiership. ^{[13] [14]} Britannia, Brunswick, Clifton, Fortrose, Normanby, Northcote, North Park, Powlett, Royal Park, Sandridge, Star of Carlton, Toorak and Williamstown were also named as the season's top clubs. ^{[15] [16]}

Club records

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D
1	Waverley (P)	20	9	2	8
2	South Park	18	12	2	4
3	Star of Carlton	16	9	2	5
	Northcote	19	13	5	1
	Sandridge	17	11	5	1
	Brunswick	20	7	7	5
	Britannia
	Clifton
	Fortrose
	Normanby
	North Park
	Powlett
	Royal Park
	Toorak
	Williamstown

Source: ^{[1] [17] [18] [19] [20]}
(P) Premiers

Ballarat District

Albion Imperial was the premier club in the Ballarat District competition for the second consecutive season. ^[21] Victoria Imperial was the premier junior club. ^[22]

During a match on 15 September 1883, Ballarat Imperial captain John Williams Mills was struck in the abdomen, but played out the remainder of the match against Albion Imperial . ^[23] However, he died the following morning. ^[24]

Club records

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA
1	Albion Imperial (P)	8	4	4	0	24	23
2	Ballarat	9	1	6	2	16	24
	Ballarat Imperial	6	2	3	1	12	22

Source: ^[1]
(P) Premiers

Notes

1. At the time, the term "junior" was used to describe open age football of a lower standard than senior football, rather than under age football. ^[8]

References

1. Pennings, Mark (28 May 2014). "A Golden Era Begins: Football in 'Marvellous Melbourne', 1877 to 1885" (PDF). QUT. Origins of Australian Football (Volume II). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
2. Goal Post (10 October 1883). "FOOTBALL". Sportsman. p. 4. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
3. "Chronology". AFL.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 May 2025. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
4. "The Unofficial History of the Fitzroy Football Club". ABC Listen. 23 May 2024. Archived from the original on 15 July 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
5. "Western Bulldogs Hall of Fame event returns". Western Bulldogs. 1 May 2023. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
6. Collings, Tom (15 July 2019). "Geelong's Premiership History". Geelong Football Club. Archived from the original on 6 December 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
7. Riley, Michael (11 August 2019). "The Evolution of 'the Premiership' 1870−1888". Hidden Footy Histories. Archived from the original on 3 June 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
8. Gigacz, Andrew (5 June 2023). "Still snarling: 140 years on". Western Bulldogs. Archived from the original on 4 June 2025. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
9. "The Victorian Football Association". The Age. 27 April 1883. p. 3. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
10. Pindar, Peter (28 April 1883). "FOOTBALL GOSSIP". The Australasian. p. 14. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
11. "Waverley v. Star of Carlton". The Australasian. 29 September 1883. p. 14. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
12. R. M. G. (1 October 1883). "THE JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP". The Herald. p. 2. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
13. "Victorian Junior Football Association". The Argus. 17 September 1883. p. 10. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
14. "JUNIOR FOOTBALL". Sportsman. 3 October 1883. p. 4. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
15. Pindar, Peter (6 October 1883). "The football season of 1883". The Australian. p. 14. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
16. "Victorian Junior Football Association (Vic)". Footypedia. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
17. Foster, J. (24 September 1883). "THE JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP". The Herald. p. 3. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
18. Pearson, Charles (26 September 1883). "THE JUNIOR FOOTBALL PREMIERSHIP". The Herald. Retrieved 25 July 2024. I beg to state that the Waverley have not yet claimed the premiership. But if the Waverley is not defeated on Saturday next by Brunswick, I certainly claim that the Waverley are premiers on the ground that they will have played nineteen matches, and will have only suffered two defeats.
19. "Evansdale Football Club statistics 1883". Early History of the Hawthorn Football Club 1873–1935. 1998. Archived from the original on 16 August 2004. Retrieved 16 August 2004.
20. "1880s". Williamstown Football Club. 24 June 2024. Archived from the original on 5 June 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
21. "THE GRAND FINAL". The Ballarat Star. 26 September 1921. p. 6. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
22. "JUNIOR FOOTBALL". Sportsman. 17 October 1883. p. 4. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
23. "A FATAL FOOTBALL ACCIDENT". The Age. 18 September 1883. p. 6. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
24. "Another Death in the Football Field". Weekly Times. 22 September 1883. p. 5. Retrieved 6 June 2025.