Women's Team
The first recorded women’s football match was held in Western Australia in 1915. Another was held 3 years later in Ballarat, to raise money for memorials and rehabilitation of returned servicemen, after the end of World War I. At the time, women’s games were seen as a novelty and were run ad hoc, often to raise money for worthy charities.
The first organised women’s competition began in 1981, with the establishment of the Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL), the equivalent of the men’s VFL. Some of the greatest players of the VWFL, were police officers.
The Victoria Police Women’s Football Team (VPWFC) was created after the increased participation in and popularity of women’s football, after the development of the AFLW league in 2017. There had always been interest and support in having a women’s team but without the national rise in profile of the women’s game, there was neither the momentum to establish the team or the competition to play against.
The VPWFC began with great success by playing exhibition games in the Emergency Services Cup against Fire Rescue and Ambulance Victoria. History was made at the 2019 National Police Championships in Canberra, where the first AFL game for policewomen was held at a national level. Victoria was privileged to contest the inaugural Lillian ARMFIELD Cup against the New South Wales Blue Heelers. Lillian ARMFIELD (1884-1971) was recruited into the NSW Police Force as a Probationary Special Constable on the 1st of July, 1915. She became one of the first female detectives, was promoted to First Class Special Sergeant and was awarded the King’s Police and Fire Service Medal and the Imperial Service Medal. She was brave, intelligent, and undoubtedly resilient and it is with great pride that we honour her contribution to policing, with the Lillian ARMFIELD cup. The match itself was fiercely contested, with NSW taking the win and creating a deep rivalry which we will see on the field each year, as the National Championships come around.
This year Victoria will be hosting the National Championships at the Trevor Barker Oval in Sandringham on the 3rd, 5th and 7th of October, 2022. Teams contesting the Lillian ARMFIELD cup has expanded to include Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.
The VPWFC is proudly sponsored by Bankvic for the 2022-23 season.
Their sponsorship has included the purchase of a new set of playing jumpers for the women’s team and a contribution to the running of the National Championships. Without this support, the women’s team would not be able to run out onto the field.
If you wish to be involved in the VPWFC, please email Captain/ Coach Maddy RACCOSTA on email: Marianna.Raccosta@police.vic.gov.au
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