History
Women's football was organised as an alternative lifestyle recreational activity with the formation of the Victorian Women's Football League in 1981 with four teams competing at open level.
In 1995, Sal Rees caused controversy for applying for the 1995 AFL Draft. The draft was later amended to disallow women from taking part.
The VWFL grew quickly, increasing dramatically the number of players and participating teams with a Division 3 added in 2001.
In 2002 VWFL player Debbie Lee made headlines for pushing to play against men in the made-for-television team the Hammerheads. She has commented, "My whole idea with the Hammerheads was to promote women's football. At no point in time did I really think I was going to play against the men, and frankly it wouldn't really have been smart for me to do that. My whole idea was to cause a bit of activity."
An U17 Youth Girls Competition was established by Football Victoria in 2004 primarily to provide a pathway to the VWFL. This was following legal action taken against them in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (following a complaint to the Equal Opportunity Commission) by junior players Penny Cula-Reid, Emily Stayner, and Helen Taylor.
In 2005 the VWFL celebrated its 25th birthday and created a reserves competition for Division 1.
In 2006, the league posted a $6000 loss, however this was turned around in 2007 with a $19000 profit was posted at the end of 2007. 2007 saw five divisions (Premier seniors & reserves, North West, South East & Country) and 27 teams (from 20 clubs) and culminated in an Australian crowd record for women's Australian rules at the 2007 Grand Final held on 19 August at the Preston City Oval in Melbourne. Two finals matches were also held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the first time.
The work done by the VWFL Media Manager Leesa Catto was instrumental in increasing media coverage across the competition. A significant partnership was negotiated with the Leader News group and weekly coverage was captured across the Melbourne Metropolitan area. Events like the participation of two VWFL players Shannon McFerran and Daisy Pearce in the E. J. Whitten Legends Game also helped lift the profile of the league.
Read more about this topic: Victorian Women's Football League
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