Page 28 - Football Victoria Historical Review & Recommendations FINAL_Neat

THE REPORT

A COMMITMENT TO TELLING OUR WHOLE STORY

In the absence of a formal and structured approach to telling its story, the game has found that some eras of its history
have been addressed more comprehensively than others.

As part of this review, survey respondents were asked about the level of commitment that the game should have in
adopting a whole-of-history approach to telling our story.

Respondents were given the opportunity to select one of the options provided as their response to the following
question...

The history of Victorian football stems from the genesis of the game in the 1800’s, it’s evolution in pre-and post-war 1900’s,
and extends to its establishment as a mainstream sport from the 1960’s and beyond.

How important is it that the Football Victoria Historical Committee ensure all eras of Victorian football history are
recorded, exhibited and celebrated equally?

The data shows that close to 95% of respondents indicated that it is ‘extremely important’ or ‘somewhat important’ that
when the game is creating and sharing its historical program, all eras of Victorian football history are addressed equally.

28 of the respondents also provided additional comments to support their thoughts.

A number of respondents stated that all eras need to be recognised equally because each era helped nurture the game.
Every era is linked to the next. By discounting certain times in our history we would effectively diminish their importance.

Some made the point that Victorian society has changed over time. From a purely anglo and celtic settlement, to becom-
ing cosmopolitan during the population boom of the gold rush, to its identity as an Australian state in the federation, up to
the first world war and the post war European migration. To be truly inclusive all of these eras need to be respected.
Significantly one respondent wrote...

‘All parts of our history are very important as they show the rich culture of our game and why the World Game reflects
our amazing multicultural society and its growth in Australia, and Victoria specifically. Celebrating the history of our
clubs, players, coaches, referees, administrators and media, contributes to our knowledge of and respect for our game.

Maybe it also unearths and celebrates the soul of our Beautiful Game’.

The following outlines the percentage of respondents who selected each option.

(a) Extremely important 79.01%
(b) Somewhat important 14.81%
(c) Not important at all – some eras are more important than others 6.17%

(a)

(b)

(c)

28.
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Football Victoria Historical Review and Recommendations Report - October 2019