1914 MAFA season

1914 MAFA season
Date	26 April − 19 September 1914
Teams	10
Premiers	South Yarra 3rd premiership
Minor premiers	South Yarra 3rd minor premiership
Wooden spooners	University 2nd

The 1914 MAFA season was the 23rd season of the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association (MAFA), an Australian rules football competition played in the state of Victoria.[1] The season began on 26 April and concluded on 19 September, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season, followed by a three-week finals series.[2]

South Yarra won the MAFA premiership for the third time, defeating Collingwood District by 22 points in the 1914 MAFA Grand Final.[3]

Association membership

At the end of the 1913 season, Hawthorn applied and was admitted into the Victorian Football Association (VFA), leaving the MAFA.[4][5] They were replaced by Elsternwick, which had been competing in the Federal Football Association (FFA), keeping the size of the MAFA at 10 clubs.[6][7]

Ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	Pts	Qualification
1	South Yarra (P)	18	16	2	0	64	Finals series
2	Collingwood District	18	15	3	0	60
3	Leopold	18	12	6	0	48
4	Fitzroy Juniors	18	11	7	0	44
5	Collegians	18	9	9	0	36
6	Elsternwick	17	8	8	1	34
7	Carlton District	18	6	11	1	26
8	Beverley	18	5	11	2	24
9	Caulfield	18	3	15	0	12
10	University 2nd	17	2	15	0	8

Source: [8][9][10]
(P) Premiers

Finals

At the time, the MAFA used the Argus finals system, which gave the club that finished first on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season (the minor premiers) the right to challenge the winner of the finals series for the premiership.[11]

Although they lost the semi-final to Fitzroy Juniors, South Yarra had the right to challenge.[12] Thus, Collingwood District (who defeated Leopold in the other semi-final) played Fitzroy Juniors in a preliminary final, with the winner of that match playing South Yarra in the grand final.[13][14]

Semi-finals

	Semi-finals
Saturday, 5 September (1:00pm)	Collingwood District 8.10 (58)	def.	Leopold 6.9 (45)	Melbourne Cricket Ground	[15][16][17]
Saturday, 5 September	South Yarra 5.12 (42)	def. by	Fitzroy Juniors 9.11 (65)	Victoria Park	[18][19][20][21]

Preliminary final

	Preliminary final
Saturday, 12 September (1:00pm)	Collingwood District 11.16 (82)	def.	Fitzroy Juniors 2.9 (21)	Melbourne Cricket Ground	[22]

Grand Final

	1914 MAFA Grand Final
Saturday, 19 September (1:00pm)	South Yarra	def.	Collingwood District	Melbourne Cricket Ground	[23][24][25][26]
	2.8 (20) 8.15 (63)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.6 (18) 5.11 (41)
Moyes 4		Goals
Moyes, Rudd, Phillips, Flintoftt, Marshall, E. James, J. James		Best	Penrose, McCarthy, Downs, Mutch, Reilly, Farnan, Waterson, O'Keefe, Kerlie, Gray, Franklin
		Reports	Unnamed player (striking)[27]
The grand final was held as a curtain raiser to the Victorian Football League (VFL) preliminary final between South Melbourne and Carlton.[28]

Teams

South Yarra B: Bryne Hart Carbarns HB: Harris Plowman Sweetland C: Sandford Christian E. James HF: Hanson Richardson Hosking F: Flintoff Moyes Phillips Foll: Rudd Marshall (c) J. James

Collingwood District B: Charlie Mutch A. Andrews Arthur Joseph HB: Ernie Tait Roy Franklin Bert Thorpe C: Roy Waterson (c) Johnny Downs Bert Roberts HF: Harry Kerley Con McCarthy Pat Farnan F: L.P. Reilly Fades Jack Hutchinson Foll: Thomas O'Keefe Roy Gray Arthur Penrose

Notable events

• A match in August between Beverley and Leopold had a delayed start after the central umpire appointed for the match was unable to attend. Beverley allowed "one of the Leopold men" to act as central umpire, assisted by two boundary umpires.[29]
• South Yarra full-forward Moyes kicked close to 70 goals for the 1914 season.[27]

References

1. Umpire (28 August 1914). "The Juniors". The Herald. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
2. "1914 Reserves". Blueseum. Archived from the original on 2 October 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
3. "Premier Section Finals Series". Victorian Amateur Football Association. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
4. "Football – Association meeting". The Argus. Melbourne. 29 October 1913. p. 13.
5. "Football – new Association club". The Argus. Melbourne. 4 December 1913. p. 12.
6. "History". Elsternwick Amateur Football Club. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
7. Daffey, Paul (7 July 2010). "Taking on opponent No.142, the Wickers show they have tickers". The Age. Archived from the original on 26 July 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2024. ELSTERNWICK Amateur Football Club was not long formed when it joined the Metropolitan Amateur Football Association, which became the Victorian Amateur Football Association in 1914.
8. "METROPOLITAN". The Argus. 24 August 1914. p. 5. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
9. Umpire (28 August 1914). "The Juniors". The Herald. p. 4. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
10. "Metropolitan Association". The Prahran Telegraph. 29 August 1914. p. 2. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
11. "SOUTH YARRA WINS MINOR PREMIERSHIP". The Age. 30 August 1909. p. 11. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
12. Observer (14 September 1914). "FOOTBALL". The Argus. p. 5. Retrieved 15 October 2024. they have yet to meet South Yarra, who have the privilege of a second game
13. "FINAL MATCH". The Age. 10 September 1914. p. 11. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
14. "METROPOLITAN". The Herald. 11 September 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
15. "METROPOLITAN AMATEUR ASSOCIATION". Weekly Times. 5 September 1914. p. 19. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
16. "COLLINGWOOD DISTRICT BEAT LEOPOLD". The Age. 7 September 1914. p. 7. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
17. "METROPOLITAN AMATEUR ASSOCIATION". Weekly Times. 12 September 1914. p. 19. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
18. "Metropolitan Association". The Prahran Telegraph. 5 September 1914. p. 2. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
19. "FOOTBALL". The Argus. 7 September 1914. p. 13. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
20. "Metropolitan Association". The Prahran Telegraph. 12 September 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
21. "SEMI-FINAL GAME". Record. 12 September 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
22. "FINAL GAME". Winner. 16 September 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
23. "GRAND FINAL GAME". Winner. 23 September 1914. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
24. Umpire (18 September 1914). "The Juniors". Trove. The Herald. p. 3. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
25. "METROPOLITAN AMATEUR ASSOCIATION". The Age. 21 September 1914. p. 13. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
26. "METROPOLITAN ASSN". Sporting Judge. 26 September 1914. p. 4. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
27. "Metropolitan Amateur Association". The Argus. 30 September 1914. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
28. "METROPOLITAN ASSN". Sporting Judge. 19 September 1914. p. 4. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
29. "METROPOLITAN". Trove. The Argus. 3 August 1914. Retrieved 26 July 2024.