After having been reduced from ten clubs to eight in
1925, the association sought to admit two clubs into its senior ranks to return to ten. In January 1925, the association decided to admit
Camberwell from the Sub-district Association and
Preston from the
Victorian Junior Football Association. Camberwell had been one of the leading sub-district clubs for years, and had previously applied to join the association on several occasions. The town of Preston had previously been represented in the association from
1903 until
1911 by a senior Preston Football Club, but this club had ceased to exist
de jure, having amalgamated with
Northcote prior to 1912. During the same time period, there was a separate junior-level Preston Football Club (once known as
Preston Districts) competing in the
Victorian Junior Football Association, and it was this Preston club which was now being admitted to the association. However, when Northcote and the former Preston amalgamated, much of Preston's personnel and assets – including its trophies and pennants – were transferred to the junior club, providing a continuity between the two senior Preston clubs. As such, the Preston club admitted to the association in 1926 was considered a
de facto continuation of the previous club.
Geelong was struggling off-field, and moved from its original home of
Kardinia Park to the West Geelong ground to seek greater support. The Victorian Junior Football Association, which had been affiliated with the V.F.A. since 1924, took a step towards becoming a dedicated seconds competition for the V.F.A. in 1926 through a re-alignment of its divisions. Under the realignment: the "V.F.A. section" of the V.J.F.A. consisted solely of junior clubs which were effectively seconds teams for the V.F.A. senior clubs (except
Geelong); and the "V.J.F.A. section" consisted solely of stand-alone junior clubs with no V.F.A. connection. The transition was ultimately completed in 1928 when the "V.J.F.A. section" was abolished.
Withdrawal of Brunswick Following a match against Northcote on 3 July, Brunswick captain
Wally Raleigh and teammate T. Hassett reported to the club secretary that a boundary umpire had used abusive language towards them during the match. It took almost two months to resolve the charges, and on 18 August, the association found the boundary umpire not guilty; and, it found Raleigh and Hassett guilty of having made a false charge against the boundary umpire, and deregistered both players until 31 May 1927. At a special meeting on 20 August, the committee and members of the Brunswick Football Club decided to withdraw the club immediately from the association in protest at the suspensions. Its final two matches for the year, against
Camberwell on 21 August and against
Preston on 28 August, were awarded to its opponents by forfeit, and Brunswick was expelled from the association as punishment. Several clubs submitted applications to replace Brunswick in the association, including Carnegie,
Kew, Werribee and
Yarraville. The
Brunswick Council, keen to see football played on the venue which it had spent significant money to upgrade, applied for the re-admission of Brunswick to the association on the club's behalf. The association advised that it was in favour of re-admitting Brunswick, provided an entirely new committee be appointed; and, in January 1927, after the former committee resigned, Brunswick was formally re-admitted. Brunswick had requested that Raleigh and Hassett be permitted to appeal their suspensions, but the association rejected this request; Raleigh retired, and Hassett left to coach in Dimboola. ==Ladder==