1920 in Victorian soccer

The 1920 Victorian soccer season was the ninth competitive season of soccer in the Australian state of Victoria, under association with the governing body of Football Victoria. Only two conferences of the 'Victorian Division 1' were contested, which as of 2021 season is recognized as the NPL.^[1] The calendar season saw the ninth installment of the Dockerty Cup, but in the first time in its history the competition was abandoned shortly before the grand final, in which Albert Park was to verse Northumberland and Durham United.^[2]

Football Victoria

Season	1920; 105 years ago (1920)
← 1919 1921 →

Overview

Following the 1919 season, Football Victoria and its clubs were still recovering from the effects of World War I. Division 1 grew from eight teams to twelve, with the return of Burns and St Kilda, along with the debuts of newly established clubs of Melbourne Welsh and Osborne House. As a result of twelve teams confirming their commitment for the season, the league was split into two conferences with a final series determining the champions. The series consisted of the premiers and runners up of the two conferences, with Northumberland and Durham United defeating St Kilda 2–0 in the grand final, being the first occasion in which a runner up team were to be crowned champions. This feat would be one of three first time occasions in the history of the league. The other two occasions consisted of the fact that a team finished undefeated but would not become premiers, with Osborne House playing less than half of the season, but won all four of its matches. The third first time occasion was Windsor becoming the first team to have a point deduction. Windsor would have been Conference B premiers but were penalized four points which resulted them in finishing third.^[3][4]

Ladders

Division 1A

Victorian Division 1A

Season	1920; 105 years ago (1920)
Premiers	St Kilda (1st title)
Matches played	30
Goals scored	100 (3.33 per match)
← 1919 1921 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	St Kilda	10	9	0	1	29	7	+22	18	1920 Division 1A Premiers
2	Northumberland and Durham United	10	6	2	2	25	8	+17	14	Qualified for the 1920 Division 1 Finals Series
3	Footscray Thistle	10	5	3	2	19	10	+9	13
4	Albert Park	10	3	3	4	17	17	0	9
5	Preston	10	2	2	6	8	19	−11	6
6	St David's	10	0	0	10	2	37	−35	0	Relegated to Division 2

Source: ^{[3][5][6][7][8][9][10]} Records show that there is a goal difference error, in which two goals scored were not recorded to the appropriate team(s)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division 1B

Victorian Division 1B

Season	1920; 105 years ago (1920)
Premiers	Melbourne Thistle (3rd title)
Matches played	24
Goals scored	80 (3.33 per match)
← 1919 1921 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Melbourne Thistle	9	4	3	2	12	10	+2	11	1919 Division 1 Premiers
2	Spotswood	9	4	2	3	12	18	−6	10	Qualified for the 1920 Division 1 Finals Series
3	Windsor	9	6	1	2	29	7	+22	13
4	Osborne House	4	4	0	0	13	2	+11	8	Disbanded at end of season
5	Burns	8	1	2	5	7	21	−14	4
6	Melbourne Welsh	9	1	0	8	6	22	−16	2	Relegated to Division 2

Source: ^{[3][11][12][13][14][15][16]} Records show that there is a goal difference error, in which one goal conceded was not recorded to the appropriate team
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.