1925 VFL season
Encyclopedia
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League
season of 1925.
In 1919, in order to eliminate these unsatisfactory byes, the VFL had sought expressions of interest from clubs wishing to join the VFL.
Whilst there was talk of an Ex-Servicemen's Club and a Public Servants' Club, applications were actually lodged on behalf of a combined Ballarat Football League
team and VFA clubs Brunswick
, Footscray
, Hawthorn
, North Melbourne
, Port Melbourne
, and Prahran
.
The VFL took six years to make a decision.
At the end of 1924, the VFL considered applications from Brighton
, Brunswick
, Camberwell
, Caulfield (not the Caulfield Football Club
that played in the VFA 1965-1987), Footscray
, Hawthorn
, North Melbourne
, and Prahran
. By its 9 January 1925 meeting, the VFL had short list
ed four candidates: Footscray, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, and Prahran. Three weeks later, the VFL announced that it was admitting Footscray, Hawthorn, and North Melbourne to its competition.
Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 17 rounds; matches 12 to 17 were the "home-and-away reverse" of matches 1 to 6.
Once the 17 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1925 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.
defeated Collingwood
10.19 (79) to 9.15 (69), in front of a crowd of 64,288 people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football
).
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 1925.
New Teams
In 1915, and from 1919 to 1924, there were nine teams in the VFL competition. In these seasons each team played each other twice in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds (i.e., they played 16 matches and had 2 byes).In 1919, in order to eliminate these unsatisfactory byes, the VFL had sought expressions of interest from clubs wishing to join the VFL.
Whilst there was talk of an Ex-Servicemen's Club and a Public Servants' Club, applications were actually lodged on behalf of a combined Ballarat Football League
Ballarat Football League
The Ballarat Football League is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia.The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football League in 1908 and was briefly known as the Ballarat-Wimmera...
team and VFA clubs Brunswick
Brunswick Football Club
Brunswick Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1897 until 1990. They were originally nicknamed the Pottery Workers before being renamed the Magpies and were based in Brunswick, Victoria. The club wore black and white guernseys...
, Footscray
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
, Hawthorn
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
, North Melbourne
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
, Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne Football Club
The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne and is currently playing in the Victorian Football League ....
, and Prahran
Prahran Football Club
Prahran Football Club, nicknamed The Two Blues, is an Australian rules football club based at Toorak Park in Orrong Road between High Street and Malvern Road, Armadale, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 2007, the club has competed in D1 Section of the Victorian Amateur Football Association...
.
The VFL took six years to make a decision.
At the end of 1924, the VFL considered applications from Brighton
Brighton Football Club
Brighton Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA. The club was based in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton and were nicknamed the Penguins...
, Brunswick
Brunswick Football Club
Brunswick Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1897 until 1990. They were originally nicknamed the Pottery Workers before being renamed the Magpies and were based in Brunswick, Victoria. The club wore black and white guernseys...
, Camberwell
Camberwell Football Club
Camberwell Football Club was an Australian rules football club who were formed in 1896 and competed in the Victorian Football Association between 1926 and 1990. Nicknamed the Cobras, Camberwell wore dark blue, white and red club colours...
, Caulfield (not the Caulfield Football Club
Caulfield Football Club
Caulfield Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1965 until 1987. Nicknamed The Bears, they were based in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield and wore a blue and white guernsey.-History:...
that played in the VFA 1965-1987), Footscray
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
, Hawthorn
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
, North Melbourne
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
, and Prahran
Prahran Football Club
Prahran Football Club, nicknamed The Two Blues, is an Australian rules football club based at Toorak Park in Orrong Road between High Street and Malvern Road, Armadale, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 2007, the club has competed in D1 Section of the Victorian Amateur Football Association...
. By its 9 January 1925 meeting, the VFL had short list
Short list
A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates . The length of short lists varies according to the context.-U.S...
ed four candidates: Footscray, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, and Prahran. Three weeks later, the VFL announced that it was admitting Footscray, Hawthorn, and North Melbourne to its competition.
Premiership season
In 1925, the VFL competition consisted of twelve 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.Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 17 rounds; matches 12 to 17 were the "home-and-away reverse" of matches 1 to 6.
Once the 17 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1925 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".
Finals
All of the 1925 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
GeelongGeelong Football Club
The 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...
defeated Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
10.19 (79) to 9.15 (69), in front of a crowd of 64,288 people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
).
Awards
- The 1925 VFL Premiership team was 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...
. - 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 Lloyd HaggerLloyd HaggerLloyd Hagger was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League from 1917 to 1929. Recruited from Barwon, Hagger played as a centre half forward and was known for his high marking and ability to kick goals from difficult angles...
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...
with 78 goals. - The winner of the 1925 Brownlow MedalBrownlow MedalThe Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
Colin WatsonColin Watson (footballer)Colin C. Watson was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.Watson played with St Kilda in various positions, predominantly on the half back line or across the centre. Spotted as a schoolboy by Roy Cazaly and was brought to Melbourne in 1919 where he played some games with...
of St Kilda, with 9 votes. - HawthornHawthorn Football ClubThe Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
took the "wooden spoonWooden spoon (award)A wooden spoon is a mock or real award, usually given to an individual or team which has come last in a competition, but sometimes also to runners-up. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous events...
" in 1925.
Notable events
- The laws of the game were altered so that the last player to touch the ball before it went out of bounds was penalized by the award of a free kick to the opposing team. This meant that almost all of the play was directed up the centre of the ground along the goal-to-goal line, and very little was directed along the flanks at the sides of the ground. This brought a considerable advantage to full-forwards.
- At half-time in the spiteful Round 12 match at Arden Street between North Melbourne and Geelong, Fred RutleyFred RutleyFred Rutley was an Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....
of North Melbourne knocked Lloyd HaggerLloyd HaggerLloyd Hagger was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League from 1917 to 1929. Recruited from Barwon, Hagger played as a centre half forward and was known for his high marking and ability to kick goals from difficult angles...
of Geelong to the ground with a round-arm action; Hagger's teammates, Arthur CoghlanArthur CoghlanArthur 'Bull' Coghlan was an Australian rules footballer who played for and coached Geelong in the VFL.Geelong's Toora recruit was a tough and hard hitting ruckman but could also play in key positions...
and Stan ThomasStan Thomas (Australian footballer)Stan 'Dasher' Thomas was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL during the late 1910s and early 1920s....
, then remonstrated with Rutley, and the three exchanged punches, starting an all-in brawl which involved players and team officials. Coghlan was hit in the knee with a missile thrown from the crowd, while Geelong captain Cliff Rankin and teammate Sid Hall were left unconscious and having to be carried from the field on stretchers. Geelong were also threatened and pelted with missiles by angry North Melbourne fans while leaving the field at the end of the match. Six players were reported on a total of seventeen offences:- Fred RutleyFred RutleyFred Rutley was an Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....
of North Melbourne: Charged with two counts of kicking Sid Hall, striking Lloyd Hagger, striking Arthur Coghlan, striking Stan Thomas, and melee involvement. Suspended for life (Rutley was reinstated by the VFL in 1930, having served 89 matches). - Stan ThomasStan Thomas (Australian footballer)Stan 'Dasher' Thomas was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the VFL during the late 1910s and early 1920s....
of Geelong: Charged with elbowing Bill Russ, striking Fred Rutley and melee involvement. Suspended until 31 December 1926 (26 matches). - Arthur CoghlanArthur CoghlanArthur 'Bull' Coghlan was an Australian rules footballer who played for and coached Geelong in the VFL.Geelong's Toora recruit was a tough and hard hitting ruckman but could also play in key positions...
of Geelong: Charged with striking Fred Rutley and melee involvement. Suspended until 31 December 1926 (26 matches). - Bill RussBill RussWilliam "Bill" Russ was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne and Footscray in the Victorian Football League ....
of North Melbourne: Charged with striking Cliff Rankin and melee involvement. Suspended until 31 December 1925 (5 matches). - Tim TrevaskisTim TrevaskisA. W. 'Tim' Trevaskis was an Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....
of North Melbourne: Charged with striking Les Smith and melee involvement. Suspended for 3 matches. - Harold JohnstonHarold Johnston (footballer)Harold Johnston was an Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League during the 1920s....
of North Melbourne: Charged with striking Stan Thomas and melee involvement. Reprimanded.
- Fred Rutley