1897 VFL season
Encyclopedia
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League
season of 1897, the inaugural season of the VFL.
Each team played each other twice in a home-and-away season of 14 rounds.
Once the 14 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1897 VFL Premiers were determined according to the conditions dictated by the specific format and conventions of the 1897 Finals System, which was used in this season only.
TEAM | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | PTS
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against
No grand final held. Essendon
won the premiership for finishing on top of the round robin finals ladder.
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
season of 1897, the inaugural season of the VFL.
Premiership season
In 1897, the VFL competition consisted of eight teams of 20 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves" (although any of the 20 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume their place on the field at any time during the match).Each team played each other twice in a home-and-away season of 14 rounds.
Once the 14 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1897 VFL Premiers were determined according to the conditions dictated by the specific format and conventions of the 1897 Finals System, which was used in this season only.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Finals Ladder
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| 1897 Finals Ladder |
Grand final
See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.No grand final held. Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
won the premiership for finishing on top of the round robin finals ladder.
Awards
- The 1897 VFL Premiership team was EssendonEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
. - The VFL's leading goalkickersColeman MedalThe Coleman Medal is awarded yearly to the Australian Football League player who kicks the most goals in regular-season matches in that year...
were Eddy JamesEddy JamesEdwin 'Eddy' James was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the years following the formation of the VFL....
of GeelongGeelong Football ClubThe Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
and Jack LeithJack LeithJohn G. 'Jack' Leith was an Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne in the early years of the Victorian Football League ....
of MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
with 22 goals. - The ArgusThe Argus (Australia)The Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne established in 1846 and closed in 1957. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left leaning approach from 1949...
newspaper's "Player of the Year" was Melbourne'sMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
Fred McGinisFred McGinisFred McGinis was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....
. - The 1897 Wooden Spoon went to St Kilda.
Notable events
- George StuckeyGeorge StuckeyGeorge Stuckey was an Australian rules footballer who played with and captained Essendon in the Victorian Football League ....
, the captain of the Essendon Football ClubEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
team that won the VFL's inaugural premiership, also won the 130-yard Stawell GiftStawell GiftThe Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short distance running race. It is run over every Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, Stawell in the Grampian Mountains district of western Victoria.The race is run on grass...
in 1897, in 12.2 seconds off a handicap of 12 yards. - In the first round of 1897, the VFL revoked the VFA's (then prevailing) push-in-the-back rule. The rule was reinstated before the second round's matches on the following Saturday.
- On 3 July 1897, FitzroyFitzroy Football ClubThe Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
rover Bill McSpeerinBill McSpeerinWilliam 'Bill' McSpeerin was an Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the VFL.McSpeerin was a rover and in 1903 became the first Fitzroy footballer to play in 100 VFL games. He had started out with the club in the VFA where he was a member of their 1895 premiership side...
weaved his way and bounced the ball the length of the Brunswick Street Oval to score a goal against St Kilda. - Carlton's first six matches were all away games due to renovations at Princes Park.