Baseball Victoria - Victorian Baseball Union Split

Victorian Baseball Union Split

Since before the First World War Baseball curtain-raisers to League football had been an institution. The Victorian Baseball League A-grade competition fixture was aligned with the Victorian Football Association fixture and under this system every A grade team also had the backing of a District Cricket Club with all of the resultant benefits.

In 1896 football in Victoria was split into two sections when eight of the thirteen Victorian Football Association clubs (Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St Kilda and South Melbourne) broke away to form the Victorian Football League (VFL). This league soon became to be the dominate of the two especially given all twenty Victorian Football Association premierships to that stage had been shared by six of those eight clubs. The VFA continued to be an independent body, with only five of its original clubs (Footscray, North Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Richmond and Williamstown) – but within five years it had expanded to ten clubs, a size it maintained until the 1920s. This split had a significant impact on Victorian Baseball.

For several years after football split the Victorian Baseball League debated the need to restructure its constitution to recognize the split between the VFA and VFL. At each annual meeting of the VBL a portion of the business was dedicated to the allocation of teams between A and B grades, following a basic relegation and promotion system. In 1915 this meant that A Grade consisted of six teams playing on league football grounds and four on Association grounds. This caused it to be near impossible to organize a fair fixture of home and away matches matching teams with their respective football club. Further exacerbating the problem was the fact that the VFL played on better grounds to larger crowds.

At a special meeting of the Victoria Baseball League on March 25, 1915 the executive committee submitted a proposition to split the league into one division of “League” clubs and one of “Association” clubs. Each section was to compete for its own pennant, the winners to play one game at the end of the season to decide the championship and the right to hold the Frank Laver shield. However a sufficient majority to pass the changes to the constitution was not secured.

A Grade delegates contended that they had little voice in the management of the League, being frequently out-voted by the B and C grade delegates. With a feeling of certainty that baseball affairs in Victoria were not controlled by the administrative officers and responsible clubs, the seceding clubs unanimously agreed that there was only one step to take. The Victorian Baseball Union was formed by Fitzroy, East Melbourne, Melbourne, South Melbourne, Carlton, Richmond, St Kilda and Collingwood. The Union included every major office holder of the Victorian Baseball League (with the exception of one member of the executive committee).

In 1925 the League and the Union settled their differences and amalgamated into the Victorian Baseball Association (VBA) under the Presidency of Len Johnston.