The VFL Sub-Districts (VFLSD), sometimes referred to as the Victorian Sub-District Football League (VSDFL), was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

competition played in the state of Victoria and managed by the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL), now known as the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). The competition was preceded by the Melbourne District Football Association (MDFA) and succeeded by the

Metropolitan Football League The VFL Sub-Districts (VFLSD), sometimes referred to as the Victorian Sub-District Football League (VSDFL), was an Australian rules football competition played in the state of Victoria and managed by the Victorian Football League (VFL), now known ...

(MFL). The Sub-Districts included a number of "thirds" teams for senior VFL clubs, prior to the introduction of the VFL thirds (later VFL/AFL under-19s) in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

. A similar competition, the VFA Sub-Districts, also existed at the time of the VFLSD and was managed by the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFA).

History

MDFA

The Melbourne District Football Association (MDFA) was formed in the 1900s. The MDFA appears to stopped play during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, although a different competition (known as the Melbourne Junior Football Association) was formed in April 1918. It is possible that MDFA clubs including and Moreland joined this competition for the 1918 season.

VFLSD

At the end of the 1924 season, the VFL took over the MDFA and replaced it with the VFL Sub-Districts, officially called the Victorian Football League Sub-Districts Association. W.H. Smith was elected as the new league's inaugural president, and the first game was played on 2 May 1925 between Oakleigh and Dandenong.

Public Service A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing available to private busin ...

won the inaugural premiership in 1925, with a total of ten clubs competing in the competition the following year in 1926. The competition was split into two in 1927. In 1927, there was a further split with the introduction of "First Grade North" (Division 1 North), "First Grade South" (Division 1 South), the "unallocated Second Grade" (Division 2) and the similarly-named "Seconds Grade" (the latter being a reserves competition, largely for the "Second Grade"). The winner of the North and South sections would go on to play in a grand final for the overall VFLSD premiership, while the winners of Division 2 and the Seconds (Reserves) Grade also played each other. In 1929, Division 2 was also split into North and South sections. Fairfield and

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

drew in the 1929 grand final, with the replay won by Kew. The clubs again drew in the 1935 grand final, with that replay won by Fairfield in a game that resulted in four players being suspended for fighting. Like in the senior VFL competition, the

Page–McIntyre system The McIntyre system, or systems as there have been five of them, is a playoff system that gives an advantage to teams or competitors qualifying higher, by allowing higher qualified teams to lose more games or series before being eliminated compa ...

was introduced in 1933, replacing the Argus finals system. However, it appears the Argus system (or a similar system) returned in 1944, as ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' noted grand finalist

East Brunswick East Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York metropolitan area and is located on the southern shore of the Raritan River, directly adjacent to New Br ...

" adthe right of an extra game" after losing a final to Richmond District the week before.

MFL

In 1950, the VFL Sub-Districts was succeeded by the Metropolitan Football League (MFL). Following the conclusion of the

1958 VFA season Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thi ...

, the

Prahran Football Club The Prahran Football Club (), nicknamed the Two Blues, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Armadale, Victoria, Armadale. It has played at Toorak Park since 1899. As of 2025, the club competes Premier C division ...

was expelled from the VFA for failing to meet the minimum home ground requirements, and was replaced by the Sunshine Football Club, which had been runners-up in the MFL in 1958. Prahran subsequently spent 1959 competing in the MFL's A Grade, winning the premiership with just a single loss for the season, and the club returned to the VFA in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

Clubs

Dozens of clubs competed in the MDFA, VFL Sub-Districts and MFL.

Premiers

won the most known Division 1/A Grade VFLSD premierships, with a total of five.

MDFA premiers

VFL Sub-Districts premiers

Division 1 North premiers

Division 1 South premiers

Second Grade premiers

This premiership was contested by the winner of the unallocated "Second Grade" (Division 2) and the "Seconds Grade" (reserves competition), and later the winner of Division 2 North and Division 2 South.

Division 2 premiers

Division 2 North premiers

Division 2 South premiers

Reserves premiers

MFL premiers

Best and fairest

The

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award in the VFL Sub-Districts and the MFL was known as the Clota Medal (sometimes referred to as the Clota Trophy). The award was named Marcus Clota, a former vice-president of who served as the VFL Sub-Districts president until his death on 25 December 1940.

Notes

References

External links

Inaugural VFL Sub-Districts season fixture from 1925
{{Aussie Rules in Victoria Defunct Australian rules football competitions in Victoria (state) SubDistricts Sports leagues established in 1925 1949 establishments in Australia Sports leagues disestablished in 1949 1950 disestablishments in Australia