1931 VFL season
Encyclopedia
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League
season of 1931.
Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1931 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page-McIntyre System. This was the first season to feature the new finals format, with the league predominantly using variations of the Argus System
over the previous thirty seasons.
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 Richmond
9.14 (68) to 7.6 (48), in front of a crowd of 60,712 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 1931.
Premiership season
In 1931, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus one substitute player, known as the 19th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances.Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1931 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page-McIntyre System. This was the first season to feature the new finals format, with the league predominantly using variations of the Argus System
Early VFL Final systems
Throughout its history, the Victorian Football League has used a system of finals after playing a regular season to determine the winner of the premiership....
over the previous thirty seasons.
Finals
All of the 1931 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 Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The 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,...
9.14 (68) to 7.6 (48), in front of a crowd of 60,712 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 1931 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 Harry "Soapy" VallenceHarry VallenceHarry "Soapy" Vallence was a champion Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League and the Victorian Football Association...
of CarltonCarlton Football ClubThe Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
with 86 goals. - In his first VFL season, and only 20 years old, the winner of the 1931 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...
was Haydn Bunton, Sr of 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...
with 26 votes. - North MelbourneNorth Melbourne Football ClubThe 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...
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 1931.
Notable events
- The VFL changed its 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...
voting procedure. The field umpire now voted for the three "fairest and best" on the ground in each match, casting 3, 2, and 1 votes. If there was a tie, the player with the most "3" votes would be declared the winner. - The VFL altered the manner in which it determined its premiership team. Abandoning the "amended Argus system" that had operated from 1902 to 1930 (except in 1924), the VFL instituted the Page-McIntyre "Final Four" system which, amongst other innovations, guaranteed that there would be a "Grand Final" at the end of every season (this system continued to operate until 1972).
- In round 2, 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,...
set the record for highest score in a game, scoring 30.19.199 against . This beat 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...
's 19191919 VFL seasonResults and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1919.-Premiership season:In 1919, the VFL competition consisted of nine 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...
record by ten points, and remained unbeaten until 19691969 VFL season-Premiership season:In 1969, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man...
. - In round 12, CarltonCarlton Football ClubThe Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
rover Tommy DownsTommy DownsTommy Downs was an Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League .Downs was a Recorder Cup winner at Northcote in 1925, having previously played with Preston....
is reported for kicking 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,...
captain Maurie HunterMaurie HunterMaurie Hunter was an Australian rules football player who played in the VFL between 1929 and 1933 for the Richmond Football Club.Prior to joining Richmond he played in four premiership teams with St Patrick's of Albury between 1923 and 1928 and later coached the Richmond YCW Under 16 team to six...
; despite the efforts of one R. G. MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
, K.C.Queen's CounselQueen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, Downs was suspended for the remainder of the 1931 season and the whole of the 1932 season. - In the first Semi-Final, CarltonCarlton Football ClubThe Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
thrashes CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
20.10 (130) to 5.12 (42). Harry "Soapy" VallenceHarry VallenceHarry "Soapy" Vallence was a champion Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League and the Victorian Football Association...
, at full-forward for Carlton kicks a (Finals) record 11 goals, including six in the last quarter. Vallance would have had 12 goals if his last shot (the last kick in the match) had not hit the goal-post, and only counted as a "behind". - The Round 17 match between St. KildaSt. Kilda Football ClubThe St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed The Saints, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club plays in the Australian Football League, the sport's premier league....
and CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
is the first where both sides scored twenty goals. Both Bill MohrBill MohrWilbur T "Bill" Mohr was an Australian rules footballer who played with the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League ....
and Gordon CoventryGordon CoventryGordon "Nuts" Coventry was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League . With 1,299 goals over 18 seasons, Coventry remains one of the greatest full forwards the game has ever seen...
kicked eleven goals: in no match since have two played kicked so many, and Coventry was the first to kick ten for a losing side.
See also
- Page-McIntyre "Final Four" system