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History of Player Recruitment,Transfer and Payment

Rules in the Victorian andAustralian Football League

Ross BoothDepartment of Economics,

Faculty of Business and EconomicsMonash University

The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was formed in 1877. In 1896,eight of the original clubs broke away from the VFA to form the VictorianFootball League (VFL), with competition beginning in 1897. From 1990,the competition became the Australian Football League (AFL). 1

Examination of this 100 year period of VFL/AFL history from 1897 to1996 reveals five distinct periods of player recruitment and transfer rules.

Early VFL — Free Agency: 1897 to 1914

There was strong competition for the recruitment of new players, hencemy use of the term free agency. However, rules existed which weredesigned to prevent a player playing for more than one club in a seasonand also to prevent a player transferring to another club without aclearance from his original club. These were rules to control the transferof players, though how strictly they were enforced is unclear

... the League’s Permit committee tried to implement morestrictly their own rule prohibiting a player appearing formore than one club in any one season and requiring that aplayer be cleared by his club before a transfer could be allowed.They also moved in 1904 to block the practice of playersmoving from Victoria to West Australia, playing for oneseason with a Western Australian Club, and then transferringback to another VFL club without benefit of clearance.2

Until 1911, players were entitled only to receive payment for expenses,but payments to players were common.

14 ASSH Bulletin No. 26 • June 1997

As in the old Association, there were ... causes for complaint:that promising players were offered improper inducementsin cash or kind to join a club or transfer from one club toanother; that players were paid money over and above theout-of-pocket expenses which were allowed by League rules... All the League clubs were guilty of ‘touting’ for recruits —among country and interstate as well as amateur and juniorclubs — and of ‘poaching’ from other League and fromAssociation clubs, except for University ... 3

Not only were the payments common, but the practice was widelyknown.

Everyone knew that players were paid ... The VFL clubs werenow enjoying considerable revenues ... except for Melbourne,which did not pay its players ... and was not among the fourleading teams from 1903 to 1913.4

The reference to ‘inducements in cash or kind to join a club or transferfrom one club to another’ and to ‘poaching’ is ambiguous with respect towhether these payments were made to players, clubs or both. In any case,eventually the VFL accepted the inevitable and permitted the payment ofplayers in 1911:

After years of shilly-shallying (sic), the VFL has ended thesham of amateurism. Players have been entitled to receivereimbursement for expenses, but the rule now deleted hasbeen that ‘any player receiving remuneration for playing,either directly or indirectly, shall be disqualified’, and thatclubs paying their players ‘shall be dealt with’. The result ofthis rule has been a situation where many players have beenpaid ‘under the lap’ by clubs or by supporters of the club.‘Follower’ in the Age says ‘what the ultimate result may beremains to be seen, but it is at least gratifying to know thatsecretaries, treasurers and committeemen will no longer haveto experience the degradation of cooking balance sheets inorder to disguise the fact that they have been wilfullyabrogating a rule of their own making and which they werepretending to observe’. Payment of players can now beconducted in the open, with the value a matter of negotiationbetween player and Committee. Any player preferring to beamateur — as many do — will be free to do so.5

This period ends when metropolitan zoning was introduced in 1915. 6

Booth • History of Player Recruitment 15

In 1910 Collingwood supported a proposal to establish aDistrict Football League. Sufficient support was notforthcoming from other VFL clubs and the proposition lapsed.The idea reappeared at League level early in the war, but inconjunction with the concept of metropolitan zoning.Collingwood strongly opposed zoning, and with good reason.Local players naturally gravitated toward the Club, andCollingwood wanted to be able to continue to attract playersfrom all over the metropolitan area. But the Club was outvotedand metropolitan zoning was introduced in 1915. Theformation of a District Football League, which was supposedto be a concomitant measure, was postponed until the warended.7

Free Agency and Metropolitan Zoning: 1915 to 1929

This period was one where each club was allocated a geographical zoneof metropolitan Melbourne from which players could be recruited. Forexample, an apparent stumbling block to Footscray’s admission to theVFL from the VFA was the jealously guarded metropolitan zones ofexisting VFL clubs. Footscray, despite its great VFA record, faced one keyobstacle — and it was a geographic one. The Footscray City Council areatook in recruiting districts already allotted to South Melbourne andEssendon.

To stave off feuds between clubs, Charles Brownlow’s subcommitteeby-passed Footscray, preferring to assess Prahran and North Melbourneas possible League clubs — since their inclusion would be less likely tospark a recruiting vendetta with existing League clubs.

... No matter how completely Footscray fans blindedthemselves to the gap in standard between League andAssociation, they could not get around the stumbling blockof recruiting. No League club was ready to give its territoryto a newcomer. When the VFL reviewed the candidates in1920, zoning districts still kept Footscray out.7

However, there was keen competition between VFL clubs for country,interstate and VFA players. Indeed, the VFA was a source of competitionfor VFL clubs for country, interstate and metropolitan recruits. The VFLand the VFA had been at loggerheads since the split of 1896, the biggestsource of rivalry being the recruiting of players.


An agreement about players’ transfers had been made in1923, but the rivals competed for recruits in the suburbs andin the country, and even interstate. And in the ‘free-for-all’approach to recruiting, the League, with its greater financialresources, not only picked the eyes out of country teams butcontinued to improve its standing and standard vis-a-vis theAssociation. But to add insult to injury, the League was alsoplundering VFA sides. VFL scouts believed that ‘ready-mades’ from the Association were a better buy than the rawrecruits from the country.9

But the notion of all players (other than ‘zoned’ metropolitan recruits)being free agents needs to be tempered.

There wasn’t much sympathy for players from commentatorsin those days. There wasn’t much pecuniary reward either,despite the frequent outbursts in the press about the evils ofprofessionalism and too much money in the game. Mostplayers received a flat 3 pounds a week. A chosen few wereenticed from one club to another or from the country formore money, but they seem to have been the exception.10

The period ends with the introduction of the Coulter Law in 1930. Fromthe time player payments were made legal in 1911, there had been noattempt to limit players wages.

Free Agency, Metropolitan Zoning andThe Coulter Law: 1930 to 1967

This period is one of metropolitan zoning, but with free agency forcountry and interstate players. Signing-on fees and transfer fees, thoughillegal, were not uncommon for country and interstate recruits. TheCoulter Law — a uniform maximum individual player wage — wasimposed.

The Depression affected football considerably. The VFL wasconcerned about ‘excessive payments’ being offered to playersand in March 1930 introduced the Coulter Law,11 whichrestricted (individual) player payments to three pounds amatch.12

Not all VFL clubs were able to pay the maximum of £3 per player (whichincreased in time with the cost of living),13 but some clubs were able to(and did) pay above the maximum.


Dyer received from Richmond supporters twice as muchagain as he earned from the Coulter payment; Carlton paid abonus for finals matches; Essendon paid 2 pounds for a win,30 shillings for a loss. South Melbourne could not pay itsplayers at all at the end of the 1930 season, but embarked ona fund-raising drive and turned its finances around.Melbourne continued its amateur tradition during the 1930s(but continued to find jobs for its players), while St Kilda andthe new VFL clubs of 1925 were caught in the downwardspiral of insufficient finances and poor performance on field.Collingwood still refused to pay its stars additional money.14

North Melbourne, one of the three newcomers to the League in 1925, hadmajor financial problems during the 1930s.

Its recruiting area was small. It had little support from localbusinessmen. In 1931 it could manage to pay its players only£l 5s per match. North had chalked up only eleven wins in116 matches in the VFL and the poor match performancesmeant very low gate receipts, which meant that there waslittle money to pay players, let alone to bid against the richerclubs for star players or promising recruits from the countryor interstate.15

Only Carlton, Collingwood and Richmond were in strong financialposition during the 1930s.

They had the backing of generous local patrons (John Wrenwas a well-known Collingwood patron and committeemember), they had the largest memberships of season ticketholders, and they attracted the biggest crowds and thereforebenefited most from gate takings. They were rarely out of thefinals during this time. Other clubs were locked into adownward spiral. St Kilda, Footscray, North Melbourne andHawthorn in particular, could not recruit good playersbecause of lack of finance. Attendances and support slumpedbecause of poor match performances, accentuating theirrelative poverty.16

Early in the 1930s, South Melbourne embarked on a large recruitingdrive, particularly from interstate.17 However, there was no formal systemof compensation (transfer fees) to those clubs who lost players.

Country clubs and interstate clubs, unable to prevent the VFLteams seducing away their players with offers of jobs and


good match payments, wanted a system of transfer feesintroduced. Weaker and poorer League clubs who lost theirplayers to the stronger clubs, or to more lucrative coachingpositions, wanted to stop this trafficking.l8

While breaches of the Coulter Law were common, most went unpunished.One exception involved Fitzroy and Haydn Bunton who was foundguilty and reprimanded for having received £2 a week when disqualifiedduring 1930. The Haydn Bunton affair

... was a ticklish situation for the VPL as it was well-knownthat all clubs had transgressed the Coulter Law whichrestricted payments, but because the VFL had no access toclub payment records there was no way it could enforce therule.19

It is unlikely that excessive match payments were ever recorded in clubaccounts.

Clubs obviously had ‘hidden revenues’ or ‘secret funds’ whichthey accumulated from patrons’ donations and used at theirown discretion to ‘induce’ players to join the club frominterstate or the country, or to persuade a discontented playerto stay with them. Unofficial groups of club supporters(industrialists and businessmen) had, in pre-war years, helpedclubs by finding jobs for players. When employment wasplentiful in the 1950s these groups turned their support in thedirection of recruitment. If the club wanted a player, theywould raise the money that would serve as an unofficial‘transfer fee’. It’s not possible to be precise about this veryimportant, unofficial financing of the game because it wasnever documented.20

When country, interstate and VFA recruits received extra money fromgroups of influential patrons in some of the big clubs, it caused discontent.

The Coulter Law was clearly being flouted when VFL clubsthought it was in their interest to do so, in order to attract orhold on to a star player, but it was also being used as a controlover the wage demands of the majority of the players. 21

A celebrated case of a player being miffed at what he perceived wasunfair treatment was South Melbourne full-forward Bob Pratt, who walkedout of his club after Round 8 in 1937.


Pratt had taken enough. Joining the club as a 17-year-old in1930, he now suffered from being seen as part of the furniture.When Crofts threw around his money in 1932 and 1933, theyoung forward had been ignored. Like other metropolitanrecruits, Pratt had sat back and wondered over the expensethat was lavished on the interstate recruits — their travel,accommodation and employment and assorted side benefits.And like other locals, namely Matthews, Brain, Hillis,Robertson and Austin, Pratt’s complaints were always metwith the argument that the Coulter Law prohibited paymentsgreater than the fixed maximum. By 1936, the Coulter Lawhad become a farce. Critics of the scheme suggested that clubofficials and supporters should also be subject to penalties forbreaching the spirit of the legislation, particularly thoseproviding ‘nominal’ employment.22

In the late 1930s, open competition between the VFL and VFA for playersreturned.

The VFA had turned its back on the 1931 clearance agreementwith the VFL in 1938 ... In this situation players could leavetheir VFL team and take up a contract with the VFA. SeveralVFA clubs made good offers and secured some League starsas coaches and players Laurie Nash went to Camberwell in1938, and in 1940 the star Collingwood full forward RonTodd went to Williamstown.23

Country and interstate clubs complained about their lack of compensationwhen losing players, and advocated a system of transfer fees which werenot forthcoming.

Ever since the 1920s animosity had been growing betweenthe country and the city over the dominating tendencies ofthe metropolis, specifically the VFL clubs. As the game grewmore popular and club revenues and patrons’ supportincreased there was a corresponding increase in recruitingactivities by League clubs in country areas. The variousCountry Leagues began to feel that the city was bleedingthem dry of their football talent and giving them little inreturn, in the way of coaching and financial assistance. Duringthe 1950s a sort of cold war developed between the VFL andthe Victorian Country Football League.24

In spite of the rise over time in the maximum payment allowable, VFL


clubs faced stiff competition from interstate clubs and were sometimesforced to break the Coulter Law to secure interstate players.

The Coulter Law has come under sustained criticism over theDenis Marshall affair. South Melbourne great Laurie Nashsays every club breaks it and Bendigo League President NoelMurphy says the Coulter Law ‘is a joke’. Given the way it isignored, its days are surely numbered. In the VFL no paymentsdirectly or indirectly are permitted to induce a transfer. It’salleged that Geelong or someone close paid £4,000 forMarshall’s transfer from Claremont.25

The VFA was also unhappy about the lack of compensation to VFA clubsthrough transfer fees. By the end of the 1966 season

The whole question of player recruitment was one whichcaused ongoing concern in the VFL boardroom. The VFA andthe country leagues were tired of losing their best playerswithout compensation in most cases. The VFA demanded theintroduction of transfer fees for players going to Leagueclubs and the VFL responded by scrapping the clearanceagreement that had been in force since 1951.26

Country football officials were just as upset. Until 1968

... VFL clubs competed for the services of country players viasigning-on fees and the offer of employment in the city; andwhere they were playing for a country club the VFL club hadto pay a transfer fee to secure the services of the player. Itshould be noted that both signing-on and transfer fees wereprohibited by the VFL, but, despite this, ‘cheque-book warfare’had been the rule of the game, and generally speaking theVFL clubs who were prepared to spend the most money,were able to secure the services of the best country players.27

The VFL’s view was obvious in the Football Record which described thesituation as '... fast becoming chaotic, with country players, who arereally hardly more than novices, asking fantastic sums of money to joinVFL clubs’.28 Some thought the country clubs were powerless.

There was nothing the country clubs could do about thefrantic auction sales. The free market favoured the richer VFLclubs, but the competition between clubs forced up the priceof players. Country clubs were drained of their best talentand got nothing in return.29


However, in the 1960s prior to country zoning, inter-VFL club transfersand interstate recruiting needs to be put into perspective. Club loyaltywas held up as an important value. There was consequently littlemovement of players between clubs.

Since there was no country zoning, there was frequentcompetition for the top country players. The use of lucrativesigning-on fees and gifts such as motor cars were the usualmethods by which players were recruited. Interstate recruitingwas not prevalent, although from time to time senior interstateplayers were enticed to come to Australia’s premier league.30

In 1967, the VFL introduced a system of zones for the Victorian countrysideand southern New South Wales.

Free Agency, Metropolitan Zoning, Country Zoning,Transfer Fees and Various Player Payment Schemes: 1968-84

The new features of this period include the addition of country zoning tocomplement metropolitan zoning, the transfer fee system and variousschemes to control player payments. Country zoning was implementedin 1967, so from the 1968 season country recruits were zoned to a particularVFL club.

The League’s preferred solution was a zoning scheme whichdivided the state into 12 zones with each one allocated to aclub. The idea was for each club to control its zone for adetermined period (three to five years) and be responsible fordevelopment of the game in that zone. No player could berecruited from outside the zone, and a transfer fee would bepaid to the club of each recruit ... Zoning stayed in force forthe next two decades even though the idea of rotating zonesnever materialised.31

The Victorian Country Football League did not want the scheme, but itcould not hold out forever.

The VFL has implemented its system of zoning for therecruitment of players. Victoria and the Riverina are nowdivided into recruiting areas allocated to the League clubs,who cannot look outside their own zones for new talentemerging in ‘the bush’. The scheme was approved by the VFLCommittee last September, despite strong opposition fromthe country leagues, and is now in force for the next three


years. The allocation was a matter of pot luck, literally. Clubnames were placed in the Premiership Cup and the 12 zonesin its lid, and a draw conducted. St Kilda, Carlton, Footscrayand North Melbourne seem to have fared best. The zonestheoretically the ‘weakest’ have gone to Geelong, SouthMelbourne, Hawthorn and Richmond.32

Minor changes to country zones were made in 1972, the aim being tocreate zones which contained roughly the same number of young males.The criteria used by the VFL to determine the boundaries were localgovernment boundaries; the spread and density of population; and theage distribution of the population over ail regions.33 The quality of zonesvaried considerably and some VFL clubs were unhappy with their allottedzone.

Draft changes to country recruiting zones released by theVFL have some clubs ‘hopping mad’ although they are mostlyminor alterations. Major country league alignments, such asFootscray with the Latrobe Valley League and Carlton withthe Bendigo League remain the same. Clubs which have nothad prime recruiting zones were hoping to improve theirpositions, but have not. And Richmond have gained nothingin addition to the poor Sunraysia League and would lose theMallee to Essendon.34

With the introduction of country zoning, the VFL and the VCFL reachedan agreement that no player could transfer to a VFL club withoutpermission from his country club. Country clubs could now command atransfer fee. However, this placed country clubs at a disadvantagecompared with interstate clubs because interstate clubs could bargainwith all VFL clubs on a transfer fee for their players, whereas the bargainingpower of a country club was limited. The country club’s bargainingpower was limited to simply delaying permission to transfer.35 In anycase, the effectiveness of zoning is questionable because

... even if the VFL could create zones of equal value, the richclubs could still counteract the spirit of zoning by using theirwealth to secure the services of the best players, by eitherbuying them from poorer VFL clubs or by securing the servicesof players who play with interstate clubs.36

At the end of 1971, the VFL allowed transfer payments to be madebetween VFL clubs for the transfer of players.37 Before this, the inability to


exchange players for cash had limited player mobility.

Players who moved to other clubs were usually regarded as‘rejects’ and player swaps occurred very infrequently. Theplayer exchanges that did occur usually have beenaccompanied by a ‘black market’ transfer fee.38

Eventually, the practice of buying and selling players without theirconsent became common. There was no obligation on a club to discuss aproposed transfer with a player.39

A significant event in this period was the short-lived experiment withthe ten-year rule in 1973. Under this rule, a player who had given at leastten years’ service was eligible to transfer to any other VFL club of hischoice. Stewart argues that the rule was a recognition by the VFL of thelegally fragile nature of its transfer regulations. This rule was rescindedin 1974, because the VFL was concerned by emerging wage pressures atclub level. The Players’ Association, which was formed in 1973, favouredthe ten-year rule since it provided greater flexibility of player movements.40

The VFL and the VFA have had agreements on transfers at varioustimes, but in the late 1970s and early 1980s League and Association clubsbid freely for one another’s players. However, the open market wasrestricted by the VFL requiring its member clubs to refuse employment toany VFA player who had crossed without permission until two yearsafter he had ended his association with the VFA. 41

Changes to interstate recruiting were made during this period. Until1970, VFL rules prevented VFL clubs from paying both transfer fees tointerstate clubs and signing-on fees to players from interstate. The practicewas so widespread, that in 1970 the VFL changed its rules to adjust withthe times, allowing VFL clubs to offer signing-on fees and contracts tointerstate players. However, VFL clubs were still prohibited from makingsimilar offers to zoned players.42

Until 1982, each club was able to recruit two interstate players a year,subject to the satisfactory negotiation of a clearance and/or transfer feewith the player’s interstate club. One result, already mentioned, was thatinterstate recruits were able to bargain with twelve clubs and negotiatemore attractive contracts than zoned players who could only negotiatewith one club.43

By the late 1970s, it was generally agreed that interstate recruitingwas out of control. Escalating transfer and signing-on fees were creatingfinancial problems for the VFL, while interstate clubs were concerned


about the loss of their best players to the VFL.44

In 1982 the VFL introduced a drafting system. Interstate players, whohad played 100 games with their club, could be drafted by VFL clubs at astipulated fee, with choice in the draft being in reverse order to the end-of-season ladder. Each VFL club was only allowed to draft two playersper year but clubs were allowed to trade draft choices and draft players.45

The VFL continued to seek to place limits on the income that playerscould earn. Match payments under the Coulter Law were adjusted inresponse to average weekly earnings and the cost of living until 1969. 46

During the 1970s senior players in particular became disenchantedwith their payments. Between 1970 and 1978 a sliding-scale of regulationmatch payments (based on number of games played) was used.47 Rule 11was in effect a seniority rule in that ‘... the VFL specifies one wage,depending on the number of games played ... which is both a minimumand a maximum. No allowance is made for skill differences.´48

Rule 11 was broken in several ways and then weakened. Clubs usedto offer incentive payments (for winning and for placement in best andfairest awards); supporters offered donations to winning teams and clubsplaced their star players on contract.49

Over time the exceptions to Rule 11 grew. Payments to captains, vicecaptains, seven-year players and interstate recruits were unrestricted,board and travelling allowances could be varied at the discretion of theclub, and contracts could be negotiated between players and their club.50

In 1979, the VFL decided to modify its rules covering player paymentsand to implement a formal system of maximum player payments, whichwould cover all senior players. Based on a complicated point system, thescheme aimed to compress player payment relativities.51

In December 1979 the VFL introduced a kind of wage freeze,‘a radical new payment scheme’ designed to ‘bring sanityback into the game’. The controversial proposal, approved bythe clubs, puts all players under contract to the VFL, freezesall present players’ contracts, abolishes the players’ appealsboard, bans signing-on fees for players transferring betweenVFL clubs, and limits the amounts payable for club best-and-fairest awards. It introduces a sliding scale of payments on apoints system. Each point earned — based on age, gamesplayed, finals appearances, attitude and so on — is worth$80. The scheme benefits young players and averageperformers but drastically cuts the pay of the stars. The most


a top player will be able to earn under the new scheme wouldbe between $16 000 and $18 000, and that is if the player iscaptain of a VFL team, has played more than 200 games,appeared in at least ten finals matches, won a club best-and-fairest, and is rated tops in attitude. Clubs have been told theformula is the only way to save the game from bankruptcy.Clubs found guilty of breaching the new scale can be fined upto $30 000.52

The scheme was introduced at the beginning of the 1980 season, retainedin a modified form in 1981, and withdrawn at the end of the season. Thescheme was ineffective in curbing wages growth, partly because contractplayers were exempted. In its place the VFL introduced a scheme wherebyplayers who had reached 40 games were free to negotiate with their clubson future payments. Players with fewer games were to be paid accordingto the number of games played.53

The Foschini case was a landmark which heralded the end of thisperiod.54 In 1983, Mr Justice Crockett of the Victorian Supreme Courthanded down his decision in the ‘Foschini Case’.

Silvio Foschini, a South Melbourne/Swans player who didnot wish to live and play in Sydney, had a clearanceapplication to the St Kilda club refused. He took legal action,claiming restraint of trade. Unlike previous cases, whichwere always settled out of court, the Sydney Swans, whobelieved that St Kilda, by illegally approaching players hadundermined the stability of the club, refused to negotiate.Crockett judged that the VFL’s zoning, clearance, transferand poaching rules were illegal, and constituted anunreasonable restraint of trade on professional footballers.The VFL was subsequently forced to limit its restrictions onplayer movement between clubs. Although the zoningregulations were retained, players were able to become freeagents upon expiration of their employment contracts withc1ubs.55

Salary Cap and National Player Draft: 1985 to 1996

Following the Foschini case, significant changes were made to the VFL’splayer rules. Players who had played out their contracts were now free toseek employment with other clubs, though the club which lost a playercould be compensated by the club obtaining the player.56


In 1984, the twelve VFL clubs (one being the Sydney Swans) appointedan independent Commission with the power to control, among otherthings, the player rules. Each of the clubs retained their metropolitan andcountry zones, but a team salary cap ( a maximum team wages bill) wasintroduced in 1984 in time for the 1985 season. 57

The VFL Commissions ‘Establishing the Basis for Future Success’report of 1985 recommended a draft system of recruiting as one of the keyelements to achieving greater on-field

evenness in the competition. Metropolitan zoning within Victoriawas maintained but senior and junior lists were introduced with eachclub being permitted only 50 players on each. Junior lists containedzoned players aged between 15.5 and 19 years. 58

The first national player draft was held at the end of the 1986 season intime for 1987, which coincided with the entry of Brisbane and West Coast.Victorian country zoning ended in 1986 (eighteen years after itsintroduction in 1968) with players going into the draft pool. Metropolitanzoning was maintained for the eleven Victorian-based clubs.59

The national draft was modelled on the interstate player draftintroduced at the end of 1981. In both the 1987 and 1988 seasons, eachclub, with the exception of the West Coast Eagles, was allowed to draftfive players from Victorian country or interstate leagues. Positions on thedraft were determined in terms of the reverse order of how teams finishedon the VFL ladder in the previous year. The club which finished last hadfirst choice, the premiers last choice, and the process repeated five times.Clubs were also able to trade draft choices for existing senior list players,and a club which drafted a player had a ‘hold’ on his services for threeyears.60

West Coast has never had a reserves team and Brisbane fielded only asenior team in 1987 and 1988. A moratorium was placed on the recruitmentof players from Western Australia and Queensland in both 1987 and 1988to assist West Coast and Brisbane establish their player lists. The Eagleswere allowed a senior training list of 35, the majority of whom wererecruited from WAFL clubs, with a small number of VFL players whohad been originally recruited from Western Australia. The Brisbane Bearswere allowed a senior list of 40 most of whom were recruited from VFLclubs, plus a small number from South Australia and Tasmania.61

From September 1988 Victorian-based clubs and the Sydney Swanswere allocated zones from which they were entitled to recruit a limited


number of local players, Brisbane Bears was allocated Queensland andWest Coast Eagles could recruit from registered WAFL players.62

In November 1988 all VFL clubs, including the West Coast Eagles,were entitled to participate in a national player draft of players from theVictorian country, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory,South Australia, Tasmania and from overseas. Each club was allowed todraft eight players, an increase from the five allowed in previous drafts.Each club, including the West Coast Eagles, was allowed to draft only oneplayer from the WAFL. Small transfer fees were paid to clubs whoseplayers were drafted by VFL clubs, with the amount increasing with thenumber of senior games played in the VFL. This limit on transfer fees wasintended to substantially reduce the costs of VFL clubs. The 1988 rulesallowed clubs to trade draft choices for senior listed players (the exchangemust have involved solely the players involved with both clubs), butclubs were not allowed to exchange draft choices for cash. Changingsenior lists during the season was not permitted.63

A pre-season player draft was introduced in 1989 (in time for pre-season 1990)64 for uncontracted senior list players, plus those playersdelisted from senior training lists. Each club was entitled to four choices.The only obligation was that the financial requirements specified by theplayers fit within the club’s salary cap and 1988 rules required suchplayers to provide details concerning their financial requirements. For1989, all clubs were allowed a senior list of 52, unless not fielding areserves side in which case the senior list was limited to 40. 65

A non-compulsory mid-season draft for previously listed AFL playerswas introduced in 1990.66 The Adelaide Crows entered the competition in1991 with special concessions giving them access to SANFL anduncontracted former SA players on AFL club lists. Victorian clubs weregiven their last chance to list metropolitan zone players with theannouncement that metropolitan zoning would end, having beenintroduced in 1915. In 1992, Adelaide participated in the national draftwith all states/territories involved for the first time.67

Amendments to the AFL’s player rules were made during 1993, intime for the 1993 national draft and the 1994 season. The period playerswere to be bound to clubs was reduced from 36 months to 24 months.68

The AFL draft nomination form was introduced with the requirementthat players must turn seventeen during the year of the draft and comefrom an approved competition. Special draft concessions were introduced


to the three bottom teams (Sydney, Brisbane and Richmond) recognisingtheir competitive difficulties over the previous four years. Sydney andBrisbane were also given priority selection for up to three New SouthWales and Queensland players respectively. AFL clubs nominated lists of52 with the exception of Sydney and Brisbane which had 60 players. Thelast mid-season draft was held in 1993.69

For 1994, AFL lists were reduced to 42 players, except Sydney whichwas allowed 50. All AFL clubs were allowed supplementary list players(State League listed players). The State League list was introducedprimarily to allow the eleven Victorian-based clubs to continue to operatetheir VSFL senior teams (commonly known as Reserves teams).70

A minimum salary operated in 199471 and 1995, comprising a seasonbase of $7500 and a senior match payment of $750.72 In November 1995,the AFL and the AFLPA signed a collective bargaining agreement (CBA)for the period 1996 to 1998. The agreement set out a minimum seasonbase payment and a minimum senior match payment for listed players of$15 000 and $1000 respectively in 1996, increasing to $20 000 and $1500 in1997.73

Fremantle participated in the AFL competition from 1995, with aplayer list of 50 in 1995, 46 in 1996 and 42 in 1997 (the same as for otherAFL clubs in 1997 except Brisbane and Port Adelaide). Significant featuresof the player rules for the admission of Fremantle included: the ability tolist a certain number of WAFL players and up to ten delisted AFL playersprior to the 1994 national draft; a number of priority selections; and (priorto the 1995 pre-season draft) the ability to list (over a two-year period ) upto twelve listed, uncontracted AFL players. No AFL club was allowed tolose more than two players to Fremantle, and AFL clubs were entitled tofinancial compensation and the right to nominate another player.74

In order to establish its player list for 1997, Port Adelaide was entitledto select up to four AFL listed but out-of-contract players prior to the 1996national draft, any number of SANFL players (provided the maximumlist size of 46 was not exceeded) and five priority choices in the 1996national draft.75

Sydney, having finished second in 1996, lost the concession of beingable to include up to three NSW/ACT players as pre-draft selections onits list for 1997. However, Sydney was allowed to include two NSW/ACT players on its list instead of one player from another state in Round1 of the 1996 national draft if it so wished. 76


The merger of the Brisbane Bears FC and the Fitzroy FC meant that theBrisbane Lions did not participate in either the 1996 national draft or the1997 pre-season draft. The Brisbane Lions were entitled to a list of 44players, eight of whom had to be former Fitzroy players. The salary capfor the Brisbane Lions was extended (by diminishing amounts) for 1997,1998 and 1999.77

With the increase in the draft age from seventeen to eighteen as at 1January 1997, and 1996 being a transitional draft year, each club wasentitled to list one seventeen-year-old player.78

Conclusions

Officially there was an ‘amateur’ competition until 1911, though verystrong suspicion of under-the-table payments. The period of 1897 to 1914was one of strong competition for new players, hence my use of the term‘free agency’. Transfer rules did exist for existing players. Uncertaintyremains as to how effectively these transfer rules were enforced, and thefrequency of any signing-on fees and/or transfer fees.

The period from 1915 to 1929 was one where each club was nowallocated a geographical zone of metropolitan Melbourne from whichplayers could be recruited. However, there was keen competition betweenVFL clubs for country, interstate and VFA players. The period ends withthe introduction of the Coulter Law in 1930. Until 1930, there was noattempt to limit the wages of individual players.

The period from 1930 to 1967 is one of metropolitan zoning, with freeagency for country and interstate players. Transfer fees and signing-onfees, though illegal, were not uncommon for country and interstaterecruits. Employment is also a strong inducement. The Coulter Law — auniform maximum imposed on each individual player’s wage — wasimposed. Despite the maximum wage being adjusted upwards throughthe period, it becomes much more difficult to enforce with the passage oftime.

The new features of the period from 1968 to 1984 include the additionof country zoning to complement metropolitan zoning, the transfer feesystem and various schemes to control player payments. This period isone of continuing metropolitan zoning, but now also country zoningwhich was introduced for the 1968 season. In 1970, transfer fees, signing-on fees and contracts were allowed for each club’s two permissibleinterstate recruits. At the end of 1971, transfer payments were allowed for


exchanges of players between VFL clubs. The ten-year rule was invokedfor a short period from late 1972 to early 1974 which allowed free agencyfor players who had given a decade of service. The VFL Players’Association (VFLPA) is formed in 1973. Various player payment systems,more flexible than the Coulter Law, and mostly based on experience,were tried over the period which was generally one of significant increasesin player payments, well above those prescribed. Player contracts becameincreasingly common and transfer fees were prevalent into the early1980s. An interstate player draft was introduced in time for the 1982season. Concern was raised over the validity of the VFL’s zoning, transferand player payment rules, which culminated in the Foschini case in 1983.The watershed was 1985, the first season to be played under a team salarycap.

The AFL Commission was appointed in 1984 and the salary cap wasintroduced for the 1985 season. Zoning was phased out during thisperiod with country zoning ending in 1986 and metropolitan zoning in1991. The first national player draft was held in time for the 1987 season.Drafted players were ‘bound’ for three years, later reduced to two years.Player lists were also introduced at this time. Recruiting concessions aregiven to new clubs (Brisbane, West Coast, Adelaide, Fremantle and PortAdelaide) to help them form their player lists. In 1993, special draftconcessions were given to the three bottom teams with competitivedifficulties, Sydney, Brisbane and Richmond. A minimum wage wasintroduced in 1994. Special draft and salary cap conditions were to applyto the Brisbane Lions for seasons 1997-99 after the Brisbane-Fitzroy mergerof 1996.

NOTES:1 Since 1996 the VFA has competed as the VFL.2 L Sandercock and I Turner, Up Where Cazaly? The Great Australian Game,

Granada, Sydney, 1981, p. 57.3 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 57.4 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 58.5 Australian Football League, 100 Years ol Australian Football: The Complete Story of

the AFL, Viking, Ringwood, 1996. p. 76. 15 May 1911.6 The literature is not in agreement on this date. For example, R Pascoe, The Winter

Game: The Complete History of Australian Football, Text Publishing Melbourne,1995 p.76) agrees with Stremski’s verslon that‘Metropolitan zoning was introduced in 1915, against the opposition of clubs suchas Collingwood which were beginning to recruit more widely’.In contrast. there are two authors who claim that metropolitan zoning began with theformation of the VFL. Sandercock and Turner (Up Where Cazaly? p. 212) suggest


that ‘it was the unremitting competition for players, and the effect that this had onthe rewards which players could command (even though these were not paidopenly), which led the original eight VFL clubs to agree to the division of theMelbourne metropolitan area into exclusive recruiting zones In 1896. The sources ofthis restricted recruiting were amateur and school clubs; the VFL was a specialproblem.’B Stewart. The Australian Football Business: A Spectator’s Guide to the VFL,Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, 1983 p. 79) concurs with the above view stating that‘metropolitan zones were introduced in 1897. the year of the formation of the VFL’.However, the AFL’s Coaching Update (Mar. 1994 p. 2) affirms 1915 as the yearmetropolitan zoning commenced.In 1991, ‘Victorian Clubs were given their last chance to list metropolitan zoneplayers with the announcement that metropolitan zoning would end after being firstintroduced in 1915’.

7 Richard Stremski. Kill for Collingwood, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1986, pp. 70-1.6 J Lack, C McConville, M Small and D Wright, Unleashed: A History of the Footscray

Football Club, Aus-Sport Enterprises, Footscray, 1996, p. 77.9 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 94.10 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 96.11 The Coulter Law was named after Melbourne delegate Gordon Coulter. E C H

Taylor, 100 Years of Football: The Story of the Melbourne Football Club, MFC,Melbourne, 1958, pp. 101-02 reproduces the final draft which was accepted by theLeague in its entirety. It read:1. The payment or offer of payment of any lump sum of money or equivalent

thereto to secure or retain the services of any player is prohibited.2. The rate of payment to League players, with the exception of the captain and/or

coach, shall not exceed £3 per player per premiership match.(a) Payments lo an emergency shall not exceed £1/10/- per match, and

payments to other players on the list shall not exceed £1 per week.(b) Sustenance payments to Club players out of employment shell not exceed

£3 per week.(c) Payments by Clubs to intending metropolitan players shall not exceed lo/-

per week, and to intending country players £2/10/- per week. plus travellingexpenses.No payments to be made before March 30, but in the case of players fromother States before February 1.Payments to injured players lo be at the discretion of the Clubs, but mustnot exceed £3 per week, plus loss of wages less Insurance.Any bonus which may be declared by Clubs shall not exceed £2 perpremiership match per player.In the event of the establishment of a Provident Fund, no payments to bemade from the fund until the player retires from the game or receives hisclearance.If he should return and wishes to play again he must obtain permission fromthe VFL.

3. If any Club or Club official, or if any player or players have acted contrary to anyof the clauses of this rule, and if such charges be sustained by the decision ofthe arbitrators, a penalty of £250 can be imposed for the first offence and theforfeiture of all premiership points registered by the Club or Clubs concerned upto the dale of the offence.In the case of a second offence the Clubs position as a member of the VFL willbe immediately reviewed.Any player found guilty of any action contrary lo the provisions of the rule may


be disqualified at the pleasure of the League.12 R Holmesby and J Main, This Football Century, Wilkinson, Melbourne, 1996, p. 67.13 Taylor, 100 Years of Football, p. 102.14 Pascoe, The Winter Game, 1995, p. 109.15 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, pp. 105-06.16 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 107.17 See M Branagan and M Lefebre, Bloodstained Angels: The Rise and Fall of the

Foreign Legion, the authors, Melbourne, 1995.16 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 107.19 Holmesby and Main, This Football Century, p. 91.20 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, pp. 144-5.21 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, pp. 122-3.22 Branagan and Lefebvre, Bloodstained Angels, p. 118.23 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 121.24 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 138.25 Australian Football League, 100 Years of Australian Football, Viking, Ringwood.

1996, p. 226, 11 June 1964.26 Holmesby and Main, This Football Century, p. 167.27 Dabscheck, ‘Sporting Equality: Labour Market vs Product Market Control’, Journal

of Industrial Relations, June 1975, p. 181.26 Holmesby and Main, This Football Century, p. 167.29 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 178.30 B Stewart, ‘The Economic Development of the Victorian Football League 1960-

1984’, Sporting Traditions, vol. 1, no. 2, May 1984, pp. 9-10.21 Holmesby and Main. This Football Century, p. 167.32 AFL, 100 Years of Australian Football, p. 240, 16 Apr. 1968.33 Stewart, The Australian Football Business, 1983, p. 79.34 AFL, 100 Years of Australian Football, 30 Aug. 1972.35 Sandercock and Turner. Up Where Cazaly?, p. 79 and B Dabscheck. ‘Silvio

Foschini and the Sydney Swans’, Australian Quarterly, Autumn, 1984, p. 66.36 B Dabscheck, ‘The Labour Market for Australian Rules Footballers’, unpub. MEc.

thesis, Monash Uni. 1973. p. 75.37 Dabscheck, ‘Labour Market for Australian Rules Footballers’. p. 76.38 Dabscheck, ‘Labour Market for Australian Rules FoolbaIlers’, p. 77.39 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 215.40 Stewart, The Australian Football Business, p. 76.41 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?. p. 214.42 Dabscheck, ‘Labour Market for Australian Rules FootbaIlers’, p. 76.43 Dabscheck, ‘Silvio Foschini and the Sydney Swans’, p. 66.44 Stewart, The Australian Football Business, p. 82.45 Dabscheck, ‘Silvio Foschini and the Sydney Swans’, p. 66.46 Stewart, ‘The Economic Development of the Victorian Football League’, p. 25.47 Stewart, The Australian Football Business, p. 87.48 B Dabscheck, ‘The Wage Determination Process for Sportsmen’, Economic Record,

Mar. 1975, p. 55.49 Dabscheck, ‘The Wage Determination Process for Sportsmen’. p. 56.50 Dabscheck, ‘The Wage Determination Process for Sportsmen’, p. 55; Sandercock

and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, p. 204; Stewart, The Australian Football Business,pp. 86-8.

51 Stewart, The Australian Football Business, p. 93.52 Sandercock and Turner, Up Where Cazaly?, pp. 208-09.53 Stewart. The Australian Football Business. p. 89.54 See Dabscheck, ‘Silvio Foschini and the Sydney Swans’.


55 Stewart, ‘The Economic Development of the Victorian Football League’, p. 21.56 B Dabscheck, ‘Abolishing Transfer Fees: The Victorian Football League’s New

Employment Rules’. Sporting Traditions, Nov. 1989, p. 67.57 Coaching Update, Mar. 1994, p. 1.56 Coaching Update, Mar. 1994, . 1.p.59 Coaching Update, Mar. 1994, pp. 1-2.60 Dabscheck, ‘Abolishing Transfer Fees’, 71.p.61 Coaching Update, Mar. 1994, p. 2 and Dabscheck, Abolishing Transfer Fees’,

p. 71.62 Dabscheck, ‘Abolishing Transfer Fees’. p. 72.63 Dabscheck, ‘Abolishing Transfer Fees’, pp. 72-3.64 AFL ‘96 (100 Years of Australian Football, pp. 160 ff) shows the first pre-season

draft occurred in 1990.65 Coaching Update (Mar. 1994 p. 2) and Dabscheck, ‘Abolishing Transfer Fees’,

pp. 72. 74-5.66 Coaching Update (Mar. 1994 p. 2).67 Coaching Update (Mar. 1994 p. 2).68 AFL, Amendments, Player Rules, Season 1994, June 1993.69 Coaching Update (Mar. 1994 p. 2).70 Coaching Update (Mar. 1994 p. 2, 5).71 Jim Durnan, AFL, 13 Aug. 1993, AFLPA 2 May 1997.72 ‘I’m worth $65,000, says Grant’, Herald Sun, 28 Oct. 1994, Daryl Timms.73 AFL and AFLPA, Collective Bargaining Agreement, 6 Nov. 1995, p. 11.74 AFL Player Rules (2/9/94), Section 4, pp. 13-18.75 AFL National Draft, 1996-97, A Football Record Guide, p. 17.76 AFL National Draft, 1996-97, A Football Record Guide. p. 16.77 AFL National Draft, 1996-97, A Football Record Guide, p. 18.78 AFL National Draft, 1996-97, A Football Record Guide, p. 6.

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