The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded annually to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which was formerly known as the Victorian Football Association (VFA). It is named after J. J. Liston, who was president of the VFA from 1929 to 1944.

History The first award for the Association best and fairest player was the Woodham Cup, named after VFA Vice President and committeeman Alf Woodham, which was first awarded in 1923. The Woodham Cup was renamed the Recorder Cup, named after the Association's official match-day publication, in 1926. Starting from 1933, a second award, the V.F.A. Medal (or Association Medal), was awarded concurrently. From 1933 until 1939, both the Recorder Cup and the V.F.A. Medal were presented annually based on the votes of the umpires; but the two awards were given based on different voting systems.

The two best and fairest awards were combined into one in 1940, when the Association dispensed with the Recorder Cup voting system; in 1940 and 1941, both the V.F.A. Medal and the Recorder Cup were awarded as trophies to the same player based on the same set of votes.

The Association went into recess from 1942 until 1944 during World War II; upon resumption in 1945, and continuously since, the winning player has received one trophy, the J. J. Liston Trophy, named after long-term Association president and Melbourne City councillor, John James Liston, who died in 1944.

From 1961 until 1988, when the Association operated in two divisions, the Liston Trophy was awarded to the best and fairest in Division 1. A separate award, known as the J. Field Medal, was awarded for the second division.

Voting system The current voting system for the J. J. Liston Trophy is the same as for the Australian Football League's Brownlow Medal. At the conclusion of each game, the field umpires confer, and award three votes to the player deemed best on ground, two votes to the player deemed second-best on ground, and one vote to the player deemed third best on ground. A player is ineligible to win the award if he is suspended for a reportable offence during the season. If more than one player ties for the highest number of votes, each is awarded a Liston Trophy jointly.

Past voting systems Initial voting rules for the Woodham and Recorder cups, used from 1924 until 1932, saw the field umpire award two votes in each game: one to the best player on each team; the player with the most votes at the end of the season won the cup. This was amended in 1933, such that the umpire awarded a single vote to the overall best player on the ground; this voting system was used from 1933 until 1939.

When the V.F.A. Medal was established in 1933, its voting system was: the field umpire and each of the two goal umpires separately awarded two votes to the player they deemed best on ground, and one vote to the player they deemed second-best on ground – a total of nine votes awarded per game, with any player able to poll a maximum of six; this voting system was retained when the Recorder Cup and V.F.A. Medals were combined in 1940, and was then used for Liston Trophy voting until 1980.

The system was altered in 1981 when a second field umpire was introduced; after this change, each field umpire awarded votes to the best two players on a 2–1 basis, but the goal umpires did not, giving a new total of six votes per game, with any player able to poll a maximum of four. This system was used only in 1981, and the present day 3–2–1 voting system, based on agreement between the two (and later, three) field umpires, was adopted in 1982.

During the 1930s, multiple players could win the V.F.A. Medal if they were tied on total number of votes. When the Liston Trophy was instituted in 1945, a countback system was introduced, such that if two players tied on votes, the award would go to the player who polled the higher number of first preferences; and (after 1981) if still tied, the higher number of second preferences; if these countbacks failed to separate the players (as occurred in 1978), the players were joint winners. The countback system was abandoned from 1988, making total votes the only criterion for the award; and, in September 1989, the Association amended the history books and awarded Liston Trophies retrospectively to players who had been beaten on a countback, following by five months a similar action taken by the Victorian Football League regarding players who had been beaten for the Brownlow Medal on countback.

List of winners J. J. Liston Trophy

+ J.J. Liston Trophy:1945–1995 (VFA) / 1996–present (VFL) Season Player Club Votes 194551 194647 194748 194844 194956 195038 195140 195247 195337 195439 195537 195641 195732 195835 195949 196045 196139 196241 196346The Age, "Yarraville Players Dominate Liston Voting – Clegg Wins", 30 August 1963, p. 1 196432 196528 196639 196738 196831 196933 197041 197129 197234 197330 197433 197532 197634 197756197832 197938 198032 198124198220†† 198319 198418 198522 198618 198719198819 198924199014 199122 199219 199319 199420 199518 199619 199720 199832 199921 200023200119 200231 200316 200416200516 200618 200722 200816 200918 201020Mark Towson Shane Valenti takes out Liston Trophy, Retrieved September 12th, 2010. 201125 201220201317 201420 201515 201617 201718201819 201925 2020Season not played 2021Not awarded 202230 2023 26 202431 2025 28202622

Woodham Cup & Recorder Cup + Woodham Cup (1923–1925)Recorder Cup (1926–1941) Season Player Club Votes 1923 192416 19255 19268 19278 19287 19299 19309 193110 19329 19337 19345 19356 19364 1937619384 19395 1940‡ 1941‡League in recess 1942–1944

VFA Gold Medal + Awarded (1933–1941) Season Player Club Votes 193336 193437193532 193633193724 193826 193932.5 194038.5 194162

J. Field Medal

From 1961 until 1988, the J. Field Medal was awarded to the best and fairest in the Association's second division. The award was originally known simply as the Division 2 Best and Fairest until 1968, then was named after former secretary Jack Field in 1969.

The Field Medal voting system was identical to the Liston Trophy voting in all years except 1981, when Division 1 had switched to a two-umpire system but Division 2 was still using a single umpire; in that year, the Field Trophy voting system was unchanged from 1980. As for the Liston Trophy, a countback existed until 1988 to break ties, and retrospective Field Medals were later awarded to players who had lost on this countback.

+ J. Field Medal (1961–1988) Season Player Club Votes 196132 196234 196345 196443 196537 196648196722† 196830 196944 197039 197145 197239 197357 197445 197549 197634 197767 197839 197958 198033 198136198225† 198323198419† 198531 198630 198719 198823

References

External links J.J. Liston Trophy Winners List