MJFA The VAFA was founded in
1892 as the
Metropolitan Junior Football Association (
MJFA). Ten clubs competed in the
inaugural season −
Alberton,
Brighton,
Collegians,
Edlington,
Footscray District,
South St Kilda,
St Jude's,
St Mary's,
Toorak-Grosvenor and
YMCA. Edlington withdrew from the competition after two games, with extra games played against
Holy Trinity by teams that were initially scheduled to play Edlington.
MFA name change On 27 March 1900, the MJFA decided on a change of name to the
Metropolitan Football Association (
MFA). MJFA president
Lawrence Adamson believed that his association was now a senior competition and the "junior" label no longer applied. Adamson brokered a deal that the existing MFA (of 1899) became the MJFA, giving his MJFA (of 1892) the "Metropolitan Football Association" name. Despite this, various newspaper reports from 1900 until 1912 still use the MJFA (or simply "Metropolitan Junior Association") name when referring to Adamson's competition. Most consensus is that "MJFA" in this time period refers to the now-VAFA, and the VAFA's official history continues to use the MJFA name until 1912.
MAFA In
1912, the MJFA became the
Metropolitan Amateur Football Association (
MAFA). Prior to
World War I, apart from its core function of delivering a competition for amateur footballers, the MAFA also provided a
de facto second-level competition for the VFL. The
1915 home-and-away season was originally scheduled to end on 26 August. However, due to the impacts of
World War I, the MJFA decided at a meeting on 26 July to curtail the home-and-away season four weeks early. Prior to the final games held in round 14, some clubs had already struggled to find players as a result of enlistments. Following the conclusion of the season, officials from the VFL sought to have the MAFA become a reserves competition to the VFL for the
1916 season. At least two clubs –
Beverley and
South Yarra – reported the MAFA that they had been "approached" about becoming reserves teams to and respectively. By 1922, the association was divided into 2 sections of 8. Only four years later, three sections were established: Section A with 10 clubs and Section B and C with 8 clubs each.
VAFA and growth In 1933, the MAFA changed its name to the
Victorian Amateur Football Association (
VAFA). Competition was ceased for the
Second World War (as it had after the Great War). Restarting in 1946 with 27 clubs in three sections, by 1947 34 clubs were competing over three sections. 1948 saw 35 clubs spread over four sections. In 1954 the MAFA established a fifth section for its 48 senior clubs. As well as an end to the geographic split, the
2000 season also saw the renaming of
D Section,
E Section,
F Section and
G Section to
Division 1,
Division 2,
Division 3 and
Division 4 respectively. In
2010, A Section was renamed to
Premier Division, B Section was renamed to
Premier B and C Section was renamed to
Premier C. Starting in 2017, the VAFA has operated a women's competition in addition to the men's. At the end of the
2023 season, Division 4 was abolished after Ivanhoe and Old Paradians were accepted into the
Northern Football Netball League (NFNL). ==Inter-league and interstate games==