The Big V celebrates its Centenary in style!

The VAFA community came together for the largest function in League history when more than 500 guests packed Centrepiece at Melbourne Park to celebrate 100 years of the Big V last Thursday.

Guests were treated to an evening of entertainment centred around the history of the VAFA’s representative teams, the first of which ran out to face the South Australian Amateur Football League at the MCG in 1925.

Master of Ceremonies Jason Bennett guided the audience through a century of history, tradition, pride and passion.

A short-form documentary was created in honour of the evening, which was broken down into four segments, followed by four panels of VAFA luminaries, who spoke from the heart as they recalled stories from yesterday and underlined the deep significance of what the Big V means to them:

• 1925-1975                                Linton Lethlean, John North & Shane Maguire
• 1975-2000                                Rohan Brown, Rob Fuller & Bruno Conti
• 2000-2025                               Bernie Dinneen, Brendan Iezzi & Bree Doyle
• The Spirit of the Big V           Bruce Bourne, Wayne Carey & Josh Freezer

These videos will be released on the VAFA website in due course, as part of our ‘100 Years of the Big V’ series.

Big V reunion teams were celebrated, old friendships rekindled, and new ones forged.

Our Big V class of 2025 received their precious Centenary jumpers to rousing ovations as our greats of the past bonded with our greats of the present.

Every 2025 player walked away with a heightened appreciation of the Spirit of the Big V and a greater understanding of the enormous honour (and obligation) that comes with pulling on that legendary guernsey.

It was a memorable evening that no one in attendance will ever forget, and set the tone for what turned out to be a truly remarkable Centenary weekend of Big V footy in Melbourne and Bendigo.

Every Big V coach referenced the Centenary Gala both pre-game and in their quarter-break huddles over the weekend, as our current players dug deep and leant on a century of history and tradition to find that little bit extra late in the game.

Senior Men’s ‘Spirit of the Big V’ Award winner (and Big V debutante) Louis Butler summed it up perfectly on this week’s edition of the FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME podcast.

“My parents came on Thursday night to the dinner, and I don’t think we all knew what to really expect going in, and then we were driving home, and they were like, ‘This means a lot to a lot of people.’“

And that sentiment flowed when skipper Harry Hill addressed his players at half-time on Saturday.

“I remember the boys looking around at each other and like, ‘Damn, this means something’ and I think we just really wanted to play for the people that have done it before. That’s what I felt.

“Whatever I could do to help the team out and the people that had come before me – I was just looking to do that.

“I’m so new to the league. I don’t know how many games I’ve played, but I’m obviously new, and after playing on the weekend… I really want to come back next year and give it a crack, and hopefully get one better.”

You can view photos from the evening on VAFA’s Facebook page here, plus albums of all four Big V teams here.

Secure your very own specially designed Big V Centenary Guernsey worn by all four 2025 Big V Teams. You can purchase a personalised replica guernsey for a limited time – find out more here.