Media Release

Recording Football Stories From Country Victoria

'Football Stories from Country Victoria' is a DVD of 21 short films from digital filmmaker Malcolm McKinnon that captures legendary events, long-time campaigners, rivalries, reluctant marriages and things lost and lamented in Victoria Country Football.

In 2004, a Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Country Football, by the Rural and Regional Services and Development Committee, found that football clubs play an important role in contributing to a sense of identity and shared history for Victorian country communities. A key recommendation of the inquiry was for government funded research to capture historical information about leagues, clubs and competitions – before it’s lost forever – and that this information be offered as a free public online resource.

'Football Stories from Country Victoria' does just that. In 21 short films, digital filmmaker Malcolm McKinnon has captured legendary events, long-time campaigners, rivalries, reluctant marriages and things lost and lamented in Victoria Country Football.

The films – compiled on DVD – will be distributed, not-for-sale, to Victorian public libraries and to country football clubs across the state and presented online at the PictureVictoria website.

Funding for the project – supported by the State Library of Victoria – was provided by Victoria's Community Support Fund through two Arts Victoria programs: the Community Liaison Officers and Professionals in Residence program; and, Victorian Cultural Network program.

Founded in 1927, the Victorian Country Football League (VCFL) is celebrating its 80th year. The VCFL has 46 senior leagues, and 40 junior leagues – that’s over 800 adult and junior clubs across the state.

For many rural communities their local club provides a sense of cohesion and meaning strong enough to carry that community through even the longest hardships.

‘There’s almost nothing else in our lives’, says one of McKinnon’s interviewees, ‘that has the ability to virtually lift up the population of one town, shift it (on game day) to another, and then bring it home again…and then it’s conversations up the street and everywhere until next Saturday, and it all starts again.’

Media inquiries

Matthew van Hasselt
Media relations coordinator
State Library of Victoria
Tel 03 8664 7263
Email mvanhasselt@slv.vic.gov.au