Challenge Cup, except for in 1875 when it fielded a combined team with St. Kilda. From 1885 to 1888, University played in the VFA, which at the time was both the major governing body and top level of senior Australian rules football. From 1888 to 1904, the club spent periods in recess or playing in other competitions, including the Metropolitan Junior Football Association and the Colleges Football Association, and from 1905 to 1907 as a dominant member of the Metropolitan Football Association, also winning the national Intervarsity championship in 1906 and 1907. VFL history (1908–1914) On 4 October 1907, the eight founding clubs of the VFL voted to include University in the league as its ninth team, with the Richmond Football Club becoming the tenth team two weeks later. The club's home ground was originally the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, where it was a tenant of the Essendon Football Club; after a lengthy dispute with Essendon over rent, the club relocated in 1911 to the Melbourne Cricket Ground which it also shared, this time with the Melbourne Football Club. The club was nicknamed The Students, The Professors and The Shop. The players wore a black guernsey with a blue chevron and blue collars and cuffs (the same design is still used to this day), black and blue socks, and an optional black and blue cap. Players had to have matriculated or hold a higher degree to be eligible to play in the team. The club was not particularly successful: it never finished higher than sixth in the ten-team competition, and never played in the finals. It finished last in the competition from 1911 to 1914, and lost its last 51 games in a row. In total, it played 126 games for 27 wins, 2 draws and 97 losses between 1908 and 1914. The club is unique among VFL/AFL clubs in never having any professional players, and this was a major factor in its decline in competitiveness after 1911, when player payments were becoming common amongst the other clubs. It became clear that the club could not remain competitive or viable in the VFL if it wished to remain amateur, and the fact that its players were focussed primarily on their studies (particularly during mid-year examinations) was another logistical issue for the club. As a consequence, the club withdrew from the VFL at the end of 1914. Many of its players