Episode 20: Then there was four
How do you run a league and a season of football when more than half the clubs refuse to play? 1916 was the year when a majority of VFL clubs said football was a distraction from the war effort and others argued that it provided a welcome relief and entertainment for the working man. And it would be an opportunity to raise money for the Patriotic Funds. It was a season like no other. Four clubs playing each other four times in a shortened season before the finals. Where every team made the Final Four!
In London there was the first exhibition game of Australian Rules, played by Australian Servicemen from the VFL, VFA, SA and WA football leagues and more. Attended by thousands of spectators including the future King of England. A moment of respite in a year that would claim the lives of many footballers and people from all walks of life.