I was reading the minutes of old VFA meetings on Trove and I came across this.

ARRANGEMENT OF CLUB MATCHES.

Mr. JAMES (University), in accordance with
notice given, moved—
"That for the ensuing season a committee be ap-
pointed to arrange one round of matches with the
Geelong and metropolitan clubs represented on the
association, so that every such club may have the
opportunity of playing at least one match with each
of the other clubs, the remaining matches to be
arranged by respective secretaries on a date
fixed by the association."
His reason for moving this resolution was
that at present the second-rate senior clubs
were completely shut out of any chance of
arranging an interesting programme of
matches. The fact that a club was at the
bottom of the list one season was not a
reason why it should always be kept there.
A date was fixed for the arrangement of
matches, but all the best clubs had
their lists completed beforehand. He left the
Ballarat clubs out, because it would be almost
impossible to include them in such an ar-
rangement.
Mr. KEOGH (St. Kilda) seconded the motion.
Under the present arrangement it was diffi-
cult to keep the second-rate clubs in good
heart up to the close of the season. There
should be an effort to give club a fair
share of the public patronage. Gate money
should not be permitted to interfere with the
best interests of the game.

I found the last couple of sentences especially interesting. In the age of the entrenched blockbuster and compromised draws its funny to think that 131 years they were struggling with pretty much the same problems.