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YEARS 1980 - 1999     


     Today and in years past most workplaces would run a footy tipping competition. Participants would pay a small entry fee to take part and the fees would go towards prize money at the end of the home and away season.
 
     This competition began back in 1980 with about 25 participants paying $20 upfront to enter. The rules of the competition in that first year were very basic and simple to follow. There was no weekly prize; all the prizemoney was allocated to the entrants that finished first, second and third at the end of the home and away season. Participants would enter their tips on a footy fixture by crossing out the team they expected to lose, and these fixtures were sourced from pubs or newsagents. The Age, CUB and TAB were some of the organisations that provided fixtures for the general public. All tips had to be submitted by closing time on Friday afternoon, usually around 5 p.m.  
 
     On Friday night all tips would be placed into a sealed envelope and locked away in a safe in the presence of another co-worker. On Monday morning all tips would be checked and scored again with a co-worker. Results were typed up (on a typewriter back then) and displayed on the office notice board. At the conclusion of the home and away season (22 rounds) the entrant with most winners collected the first prize, with those finishing second and third also awarded some prize money.
 
     In 1980 all games were played on a Saturday afternoon at one of the following venues: Victoria Park, Kardinia Park, Western Oval, Princes Park, Waverley Park, Windy Hill, Arden Street, Lake Oval, Moorabbin Oval, Junction Oval and the MCG. The VFL (Victorian Football League) as it was known back then, comprised 12 clubs, all of which were based in Victoria. A crowd of 113,461 saw Richmond win the Grand Final, defeating Collingwood by 81 points. If you love footy stats then visit this website: https://www.afltables.com

     In the following years the competition structure remained unchanged and participation rates remained steady. In mid 1983 and due to a change in work place meant that for the competition to continue former workmates took on the administration. Remaining a participant of the competition posed no problem, as tips were phoned through each week by closing time. 
 
     At the start of the 1982 season South Melbourne moved to Sydney and in their first home game they defeated Melbourne by 29 points.

     In early 1984, a presentation of the competition that was born in 1980 was made to those that were running the competition at the new work location. The format of the competition was approved and given the go ahead for the 1984 season. A new entry form for lodging selections was designed and printed for entrants to use. Along with prize money at the end of the home and away season a weekly prize for tipping the highest score for the round was introduced. The entrant with the nearest prediction to the highest score picked up a small prize. It was popular and it encouraged entrants to lodge their tips. A weekly report was prepared and posted on the office notice board. Notice boards took on a whole new look come footy season time displaying information relating to the competition. The entry fee to join the competition was around $25 and approximately 30 participants took part.
 
     Essendon won the flag in 1984, defeating Hawthorn by 24 points.
 
     From 1985 on the competition would develop further and offer much more than just prize money at the end of a season. Though the rules would not change much in the coming years they would in time need to be formulated and presented in print form for all participants. Setting down rules in print became necessary as many co-workers that had moved to other workplaces signed up to the competition year on year. External interest in the competition started to grow substantially, resulting in greater numbers taking part. It was no longer looking like the office tipping competition that it started out as. The competition's administration was no longer bound to an office; it travelled wherever my workplace happened to be and a much wider audience expressed interest in joining the competition.
 
     In 1987 the Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles joined the now national competition comprising 14 teams.

     The growth of participation in the 80's resulted in more prize categories, and in order to make the prize money all worthwhile an increase in the joining fee was necessary. By the time the 90's had arrived entry cost rose to $30 and in 1997 it went to $35. The competition was now heading to new heights as one thousand dollars first prize was guaranteed for the first time in 1998. That year the competition boasted 115 entrants. Here are the other prizes that were on offer in 1998: second and third placings, weekly highest score, Upfront tips, Winning margin, Grand Final contestants, Premiers, Pick a draw, most 8 winners, Brownlow Medallist, Midfield, top of page 2, consecutive 8 winners and zero winners. New tipping forms were designed for entrants to complete and the weekly report was now being prepared on Excel spreadsheet which made things a whole lot simpler. Copies of the report were also posted to participants each week who had joined from far and wide. The computer really made the management of the competition far easier to administer but there were even better things to come. 

     There was more change on the horizon and in 1990 the competition became know as the "AFL" (Australian Football League). formerly the VFL (Victorian Football League). In 1991, the Adelaide Crows were added to the national competition and we went from a top 5 to a top six format on the ladder, then a top 8 in 1994. Fremantle joined in 1995 making it a 16-club competition. In 1997, Fitzroy would merge with the Brisbane Bears and Port Adelaide Power would join the competition. Adelaide won the flag in 1997, defeating the Saints by 31 points and went back-to-back in 1998, defeating the Kangaroos by 35 points. 

     As the end of the 20th Century drew near the competition's popularity grew rapidly with people from around Victoria joining. When 1999 rolled around the competition would see 142 people join. This number was now a new participation record; was it also a sign of things to come as we headed towards a new century?

     The Kangaroos closed out the Century by defeating the Blues by 35 points.

 

YEARS 2000 – 2020

 

When the clock ticked over at mid-night on the 31st of December 1999 everyone with a computer held their breath fearing a massive computer systems failure, a global crash that would turn the world upside down. Alas, the “Y2K” event did not eventuate to everyone’s relief. We refilled our glasses and stubbie holders and celebrated the beginning of a new Century. The year 2000 had arrived.
 

After 20 years, the Football Tipping Competition had well established itself as one of the best going around. A high participation rate in the previous few years saw an increase in the number of prizes and prize money. Changes were about to come thick and fast for the competition. The administration base would also shift midway through 2000, as it transitioned from a workplace to a private home setting.
 

The participation numbers in 2000 grew to 148, each paying $35.00 to join. Many, if not all, of those (142) that took part in 1999 signed up again with a good number of new entrants also joining. There were 38 prizes on offer for the 2000 competition, most notably the first prize which carried a purse of $1,200.00 guaranteed.
 

The newly completed Colonial (Marvel) Stadium opened its gates to the public for the first time in 2000. Essendon hosted Port Adelaide and won by 94 points.
 

Methods for lodging tips remained unchanged, as the phone, fax, email and in person lodgment of selections survived the move of the competition to private administration. Distributing results to entrants on a weekly basis in coming years would become costly; the internal mail system of the workplace was no longer available. Photocopying and posting application-to-join forms along with tipping kits at the beginning of each year was also a cost the competition had to bear.
 

Essendon comfortably won the 2000 Premiership Cup by 60 points over Melbourne.
 

Over the 2001 pre-season work began in building a webpage to host the competition. In the first few rounds we began testing the site to make sure it could deliver information and results in a speedier way. This now new “Footy page” was launched in Round 3 of 2001, and although it had some limitations it was the start of a new era for the competition. The mailing of weekly reports to entrants continued, and we also began to email reports directly to entrants. The Footy page had arrived, and so too its popularity.
 

Participation for 2001 remained high even though the entry cost increased by $5.00 to $40.00. People automatically signed up year on year with many electing to leave prize money with the administrators for following years. There were a number of entrants that did drop out, but they were soon replaced with new entrants. One entrant after an absence of about 5 years saw that the competition was still active and rejoined without hesitation. The competition now boasted a marquee supporter base which had all the signs of growing larger. So it was that in the years to follow growth and support remained strong.
 

In a move that could have backfired badly for the competition the 2003 cost of entry went from $40.00 to $50.00. The response was positive and instantly the number of prizes jumped also to an all-time high of 55. Of the 103 entrants that took part, 30 collected a prize and $1,000.00 was again guaranteed first prize. Plans to further increase the number of prizes had always been the aim and along with increased prize money participation levels remained high.
 

The Brisbane Lions won the 2003 Grand Final by 50 points over Collingwood, a fourth consecutive Grand Final win.
 

The years of 2004, 2005 and 2006 saw more stable and strong growth in the competition.
 

The Sydney Swans won the 2005 Premiership Cup, defeating the West Coast Eagles by 4 points in a classic. The win broke a 72-year drought for the Swans.
 

When 2007 rolled around and owing to a substantial rise in people signing up to the competition, it was decided to look at increasing the number of prizes yet again. Eighty prizes would be on offer as 145 people from across Victoria and interstate joined. 
 

In 2007 Geelong won the Premiership Cup, breaking a 44-year drought. They defeated Port Adelaide in a one-sided affair by 119 points.
 

The 2008 year saw more people join. The competition’s Footy page was now being well utilized and consequently fewer reports were being sent by post. This freed up more money to be directed to prizes and enabled a further increase in prizes, which now reached 84 for the first time.
 

The competition reached a milestone in 2009 with 150 people signing up. It was a great result and endorsement for the competition as one of the best going around. In the 1990s, the vision for the competition was to have a maximum 160 entrants take part. Would we see this in coming years? …only time will tell.
 

Collingwood and St Kilda drew in the 2010 Grand Final, and it stunned many people. In the replay Collingwood prevailed by 56 points. The drawn game threw a number of public and private events into chaos.
 

Participation waned in 2011 through to 2015. The cost of entry for 2011 rose to $55.00 and saw a boost in prize money across all the prizes, which now stood at 86. One third of entrants were now picking up a prize.
 

Geelong broke through with their 3rd Premiership Cup in 5 years in 2011 and in the following year the Sydney Swans claimed another Cup with a 12-point win over Hawthorn. Hawthorn bounced back the following year winning the next 3 Premierships (2013, ‘14 and ‘15).
 

The Gold Coast Suns were admitted into the AFL competition in 2011, and in the following year Greater Western Sydney were admitted.
 

The 2015 game between Adelaide and Geelong was called off by the AFL as a result of the death of Adelaide coach Phil Walsh. It shook many people across the game and country. If that wasn’t bad enough for the competition the Essendon supplements saga which emerged in 2013 came to a head in early 2016. The club suffered on and off the field with sanctions.
 

In the years 2016 to 2018, participation numbers dropped away and this led to a few of the prizes being suspended. The prize money that was available in these years was used to prop up other prizes, to keep them at a high level.
 

Now! How could anyone forget the 2016 Finals series? The Western Bulldogs arguably played and won the best set of finals in living memory to reach the Grand Final. They went on to defeat the Sydney Swans by 22 points and win their 2nd Premiership Cup; their 1st being in 1954. We all fell in love with the Doggies that year.
 

The competition was now fast approaching its 40th anniversary. After a few lean years interest in the competition was on the up and in 2019 we saw numbers reach 123. It was heartening to see so many of the regular entrants promote and bring new people into the competition — the good times were here again.
 

A new Footy page website was launched in Round 5 of the 2019 competition, a far better alternative to the old site and offered so much more for entrants. Everyone was now able to see everything on the site pertaining to the competition. The only thing missing was the ability to lodge tips through the webpage.
 

The season ended with Richmond winning the 2019 Grand Final, defeating Greater Western Sydney by 89 points.
 

In the leadup to the 40th anniversary of the competition in 2020 plans were being laid out for a super celebration of the competition. The year started out nervously as the Coronavirus arrived on our shores and spread across the globe. Not since the Spanish flu of 1918 has humankind faced a pandemic of this magnitude. It was named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, having first been detected in China in late 2019.
 

By the time March rolled around the virus started to spread quickly throughout communities across Australia. It would affect many sporting events and the first to suffer was the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park. This event was cancelled on the day it was scheduled to start. There was now much uncertainty about the start to the 2020 AFL season: would it go ahead or was it doomed?
 

Decision time loomed on whether to go ahead with the Tipping Competition. After weighing up some decisions made by the AFL it was decided to cancel the 2020 competition because of so much uncertainty surrounding the start. The decision left many entrants disappointed but there was also a complete understanding of why the decision had been made.
 

March 22: The AFL announces the immediate suspension of the AFL and AFLW seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The AFL season is closed after the opening round and the AFLW halted after the first week of finals and the AFL Commission decides that no premiership points will be awarded.
 

June 11: AFL season resumes with entire fixture revised after Round 1. From Round 5 onwards, all matches were played outside Victoria. Players, umpires, and staff were accommodated in hubs interstate. During the first five rounds, fans were not permitted to attend 32 of the 44 scheduled matches. In all other cases, match attendances were restricted for safety reasons. One hundred games were played during a 67-day span, encompassing Rounds 7 – 18. Quarters were reduced from 20 minutes to 16 minutes plus time-on in 2019. For the first time, the AFL Grand Final was played at night and at a non-Victorian venue, the Gabba in Brisbane. AFL award nights, including the Brownlow Medal, were held as virtual events.
 

Richmond overcame Geelong in the second half of the 2019 Grand Final to win by 31 points.
 

So it was that the 40th anniversary of the Tipping Competition would have to wait another year to celebrate the milestone. Would the 2021 season go ahead? Only time would tell. COVID-19 had changed much of our way of life forever.
 

A golden star has been placed alongside the names of those 2021 entrants that have unbroken participation of 20+ years. Keep an eye out for it.
 

“Stay Safe.”