BACK in the 1980s, the Bendigo Football League was a long way from a stable and financially viable organization.
With the formation of a board of management, under instructions from the VCFL, the league gradually bounced back to some semblance of stability and security.
Just recently 1980s executive officer and later board member Greg Hilson dived into his extensive archival collection to find a Letter to the Editor he'd written to the Bendigo Advertiser in late 1992.
Mr Hilson had started off in 1983 as assistant executive officer to foundation E.O. Robert Cook, with the board of management under the chairmanship of the late Dick Turner.
"I was later executive officer for three years when Cooky moved exclusively onto the board. Later I was on the board as well, finally retiring from that position in 1990," he told me this week.
It was a period of much drama and heartburn among BFL club officials. The brand-new concept of a completely independent board of management was something many found hard, if not unpalatable, to comprehend.
Maryborough had returned to the league for the first time since World War 2 and the league's finances were on an upward swing.
Anyway, let Mr Hilson take up the story via his lengthy 1992 Letter to the Editor.
SIR: WITH the completion of the 1992 football season, a significant anniversary in the history of the BFL goes quietly by.
Record dollar gates at the 1992 grand final, the re-admission of Maryborough and a financially prosperous league are all very well deserved credits for the league as it heads towards 1993.
Almost 10 years ago - in December 1982 - the board of management was constituted by an order from the Victorian Country Football League to administer the then Bendigo Golden City F.L.
This was a two-division combination of the ‘old' Bendigo F.L. and the Golden City Football league.
The object was one league with a cumbersome 12-club competition.
Understandably there was some outcry at the dropping of the name ‘Golden City' to a more practical name. After all, the GCFL was a popular and viable league that had served football well in this area.
Five men were given the power to determine the future of the league. The late Dick Turner was installed as chairman and under his command were Gary Needham, Bill Bonney, Bernie Harrington and Robert Cook.
Within several months because of ill-health Dick handed over the reins of control to Bill Bonney, but stayed on as a board member.
The board of management was the first of its kind in Australian Rules football. It was the first body to be completely independent of any club ties (some may smile at this) preceding attempts made later by the then VFL with its appointment of commissioners.
The board's power was absolute and, understandably, this did not rest well with many clubs. By and large differences were overcome ---- but certainly not initially.
One club president even wrote a stinging letter comparing the BFL board to the Nazis, such was the emotion stirred up by the board's control.
When board members attended a club premiership function, whispers preceded us that the Gestapo was coming.
The board was told they were out of step when in 1983 player payment rules were introduced --- rules which have since been copied by many other country leagues and were well in place before the salary cap was ever heard of in the AFL.
The VCFL mistakenly thought the BFL board's major leagues meeting held in 1983, which drew flak from every quarter, was meant to bring them down. This was just not so and we felt for VCFL secretary Graham Arthur --- a top bloke.
The 1983 grand final saw a meagre crowd paying only $7000. The city end goals area was almost devoid of people.
When the board assumed control the league had NO funds and was several thousand dollars in debt. It could not even pay for the previous year's premiership flags!
Robert Cook well remembers being given the records of the league contained in an old, tatty brown suitcase. We asked Carlton (zoned to Bendigo) for $12,000 to get us on the right track, but got $2000. It was a help.
It should be pointed out that previous administrators of the league had done their best. Fierce club parochialism at the delegates' table made their job very difficult. It was easier for the board: we had no such ties and made decisions accordingly.
The first major sponsorship of any country league, to our knowledge, was achieved when Rod Patch from Patch's Canvas Manufacturing stepped in with $10,000.
For the first time in almost 100 years Bendigo had a significant sponsor. In the years which followed this altered to Comet Overnight Transport and then the controversial XXXX beer sponsorship (we all pretended we liked the stuff).
In its first year of operation the BFL board ran into the "audio tape affair" when one club official recorded the football dealings of another club official.
The board had to adjudicate on the rights and wrongs of the case in the old rooms at Weeroona Oval with some 100 people from the "offending" club outside, in a non-humorous mood.
One of the options was for the club to be suspended from the league. The board held a lengthy investigation into the player payment rules, with four footballers under cross-examination by a Queen's Counsel at a special meeting.
The publicity from this case was overwhelming.
Board members can well recall their first meeting with the club presidents. Prior to this they met at the old Rifle Brigade Hotel and later on, with some trepidation, board members walked in to meet the presidents --- and into the limelight of running BFL football.
I can well recall Gary Needham turning around at the first match of the 1983 season at the QEO between Sandhurst (eventual premiers) and Northern United.
"If United gets a flogging today, the league is in real trouble," he said. The match ended up a draw and within a few, short years United went on and won a string of premierships.
Northern United's success in those years was a great boost to the league. A former Golden City club they chased success, and brought many top footballers into the area.
But they seemed to consider the board was continually against them. However this was completely unfounded and, hopefully, borne out in later meetings.
The country championships cup won in 1989 made Bendigo No. 1 in the eyes of other major leagues, but few of us held doubts prior to this.
Don't get me wrong. The board has only been a part of the restoration of Bendigo league footy over the past decade.
Countless club administrators have sen it through such as "Hassa" Hall, David McCann, Jack Jefferies, John Fawcett, John Pysing and many more. Driving forces in the media like Richard Jones, John Forbes, Shane Healy, Jock Clark and Alan Besley have been essential.
The loyal patrons have kept the league viable and the footballers have made it a success.
It's just that as Bendigo enters 1993 it is appropriate to quietly reflect on those five men who, 10 years back, had little idea what the future held.
It is an interesting part of our local sports history: GREG HILSON.
Richard's tips for Week 2 of finals -- Saturday night: Golden Square by 29 points over Eaglehawk. Sunday afternoon: South Bendigo by 30 points over Maryborough. 2010 tally to date: 77.
By Richard Jones
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