Football Victoria is delighted to announce the release of its dedicated History and Heritage website, comprising of more than 100 pages of rich content that explores various aspects of the game across a period of 140 years.
The culmination of 15 months planning, design and research, the FV History and Heritage website brings together many of the stories that have laid the foundations of the game we know today and honours the legacy of the pioneers that have achieved much over decorated and distinguished careers.
The FV History and Heritage website includes nine distinct sections:
- History and Heritage News – Summary news feed.
- FV Historical Committee – profiles on the current members of the Historical Committee, which has played a vital role in protecting football’s legacy in Victoria.
- The Story of Football in Victoria – an abbreviated history of the game authored by esteemed historians Roy Hay and Ian Syson. Originally published in 2009, it has been updated and is now available for the first time in digital form.
- Hall of Fame – detailed biographies on all 28 inductees to Football Victoria’s prestigious Hall of Fame.
- Life Membership – short biographies on over 200 Life Members honoured by Football Victoria and its historical predecessor bodies.
- Representative Teams – records for Football Victoria’s Senior Men’s and Women’s representative teams, including detailed match line-ups for stand-alone matches and full squads for national championship teams.
- League and Cup Honours – the complete honour roll for the NPLM, NPLW, Dockerty Cup and Nike FC Cup, incorporating records dating back to 1909 and summaries of each competition.
- Personal Honours – a comprehensive honour roll for Football Victoria’s top-flight personal honours, along with several historically significant awards.
- FV Football History on Facebook – a link to Victoria’s Football History, a public group dedicated to sharing the game’s history with the football community.
Much of what can be found on the FV History and Heritage website is owed to the efforts of historian John Punshon. In the absence of official records, John took it upon himself to research the history of football in Victoria in the 1990s, spending thousands of hours at the State Library of Victoria trawling through local newspapers. John’s efforts over a quarter of a century have brought a rich depth to the game’s statistical records, and he was formally recognised for his work earlier this year when honoured with Life Membership.
Football Victoria History and Heritage Coordinator, Tony Persoglia, is excited that these records are now available via one dedicated website.
“There have been various independent websites which have showcased these records in some form or another, but they have not always been easy to find and can be difficult to navigate. Bringing together the work of some of our most dedicated historians such as John Punshon and Mark Boric, has enabled us to share a rich tapestry of our history with the broader football community.”