1909 VFL season
Encyclopedia
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League
season of 1909.
Each team played each other twice in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1909 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".
so the home team in the Semi Finals and Preliminary Final is purely the higher ranked team from the ladder but in the Grand Final the home team was the team that won the Preliminary Final.
first premiership after finishing runner up twice previously.
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 1909.
Premiership season
In 1909, the VFL competition consisted of ten teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 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 18 rounds.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1909 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".
Finals
All of the 1909 finals were played at the MCGMelbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
so the home team in the Semi Finals and Preliminary Final is purely the higher ranked team from the ladder but in the Grand Final the home team was the team that won the Preliminary Final.
Grand final
This was South Melbourne'sSydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
first premiership after finishing runner up twice previously.
Awards
- The 1909 VFL Premiership team was South MelbourneSydney SwansThe Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
. - The VFL's leading goalkickerColeman MedalThe Coleman Medal is awarded yearly to the Australian Football League player who kicks the most goals in regular-season matches in that year...
was Dick LeeDick Lee (footballer)Walter Henry "Dick" Lee was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League ....
of CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
with 58 goals. - St Kilda took the wooden spoon in 1909.
Notable events
- St Kilda forfeited four premiership points (the equivalent to a win) to Geelong for playing a suspended player in round 6. This is the only such forfeiture to have lasted in VFL/AFLAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
history (other such forfeits have temporarily occurred, but were later reversed). - In the second round match against the University Football ClubMelbourne University Football ClubMelbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University is an Australian rules football club.The club achieved prominence by being a member of the game's most elite competition in the early 20th century, the Victorian Football League between 1908 and 1914.Although there are no records...
, badly concussed RichmondRichmond Football ClubThe Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
follower Bill BurnsBill Burns (footballer)Bill 'Poet' Burns was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong and Richmond in the Victorian Football League ....
, who was about to leave for the hospital, heard that Richmond was about to lose the match, returned to the field of play, took a mark, kicked the winning goal, and was carried off the ground on the his team mate's shoulders. Later in 1909 Burns was suspended for 44 matches after being found guilty of a kicking charge, however, the sentence was later reduced on appeal. - In round 7 against Geelong, Harry BreretonHarry BreretonHarry Brereton was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne and South Melbourne in the VFL. Originally recruited from Port Melbourne, Brereton made a startling entry into VFL football in 1909. After a slow start, he kicked nine goals against Geelong in only his seventh match...
of Melbourne, in only his seventh game, became the first player to kick nine goals in a match since Jim McShane in 1899 and only the second player to achieve that feat at that point in VFL history. - A round 8 match between 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...
and 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....
was marred by numerous incidents of foul play. Spectators were involved in large brawl at the end of the game. - The round 13 match between Carlton and Geelong was the first to break the 200-point aggregate barrier with a combined score of 29.26 (200).
- There were riots in the crowd after the round 13 match between South MelbourneSydney SwansThe Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
and 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...
. - An imminent on-field brawl between players from CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
and South MelbourneSydney SwansThe Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
in their round 14 match was averted when the appearance of a policeman on the ground calmed both teams down. - The round 15 match between St Kilda and Geelong is the last VFL/AFL game in which no goals were scored in the second half. On a flooded Junction OvalJunction OvalThe Junction Oval is an historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its location near the St Kilda Junction gave rise to its nickname...
, St Kilda kicked 0.7 and Geelong scored 0.5 after half time. - A Collingwood spectator jumped the fence at the round 18 match against Melbourne and punched a Melbourne player. Melbourne's Secretary, Mr. J.A. Harper, ran onto the field and made a citizens' arrest.
- 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 published the height, weight and occupation of each player in the finals for the first time.