1963 VFL season
Encyclopedia
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League
season of 1963.
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 1963 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre system".
, for the teams (5th to 12th on ladder) out of the finals at the end of the season.
Final: Footscray 10.9 (69) defeated Richmond
9.9 (63)
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 1963.
Premiership season
In 1963, 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. 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 1963 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre system".
Alterations to 1963 match fixtures
Persistent rain throughout the week and further heavy downpours on the Friday (12 July) caused the postponement of all round 11 matches until the following Saturday (20 July), meaning that all remaining home-and-away and finals matches were played a week later than had been scheduled (this was the last time a VFL round has been postponed).Consolation Night Series Competition
The night series were held under the floodlights at Lake Oval, South MelbourneSouth Melbourne, Victoria
South Melbourne is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne...
, for the teams (5th to 12th on ladder) out of the finals at the end of the season.
Final: Footscray 10.9 (69) 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,...
9.9 (63)
First Semi-Final
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria.... |
1.4 | 4.11 | 8.14 | 9.17 (71) |
| St Kilda | 0.2 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 8.16 (64) |
| Attendance: 88,914 |
Second Semi-Final
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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... |
2.7 | 7.10 | 8.13 | 11.16 (82) |
| Geelong Geelong 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... |
4.4 | 9.6 | 12.12 | 14.17 (101) |
| Attendance: 91,471 |
Preliminary Final
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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... |
1.4 | 5.9 | 9.9 | 11.11 (77) |
| Melbourne Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria.... |
2.3 | 3.4 | 8.6 | 10.8 (68) |
| Attendance: 86,586 |
Grand final
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geelong Geelong 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... |
3.3 | 7.10 | 9.13 | 15.19 (109) |
| 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... |
3.6 | 5.6 | 8.9 | 8.12 (60) |
| Attendance: 101,209 |
Awards
- The 1963 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 John Peck of 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...
who kicked 75 goals (including 6 goals in the final series). - The winner of the 1963 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 Bob SkiltonBob SkiltonRobert John "Bob" Skilton was an Australian rules football player who played as a rover for South Melbourne and Victoria between 1956 and 1971....
of 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...
with 20 votes. - 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...
took the "wooden spoon" in 1963.
Notable events
- In round 5, 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 team to score at least 100 points against 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....
since FootscrayWestern BulldogsThe 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...
in the 1954 Grand Final. Terry WatersTerry WatersTerry Waters is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the VFL.Waters was a versatile player who was originally used as a forward before moving into defense later on in his career...
kicked 7 goals in Collingwood's 15.10 (100) to 7.10 (52) victory. - On Saturday 15 June South Australia beat Victoria 12.8 (80) to 10.13 (73) at the Melbourne Cricket GroundMelbourne Cricket GroundThe 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...
in front of 59,260 spectators. In a brutal return match, in Adelaide, a straighter-kicking Victoria beat South Australia 8.6 (54) to 5.12 (42). The match is notorious for a powerful king-hit delivered by Victorian John Peck, who had been included in the team for the return match in order to provide more "grunt" and physical menace, to the point of the jaw of an unsuspecting Brian Sawley. Sawley went some distance in the air before collapsing unconscious in the mud. Peck was reported. Peck's case was heard by the VFL tribunal. He provided the excuse (an unlikely assertion for which he provided no evidence of any kind) that Sawley had kicked him, and that he was simply retaliating. The sympathetic VFL, thankful that Victoria had not lost its second match, were most grateful for this "escape clause" that allowed them to "keep face", and suspended Peck for only two weeks on the basis that they believed that there had been extenuating circumstances. - 1963 is the last season to date where there was no match where both teams scored a century of points. (The only others since the first occurrence of both teams scoring 100 points in 1924 have been 1925, 1927, 1953, 1955 and 1961).
- Fitzroy’s only win during the year was against eventual premiers Geelong, and was achieved without captain-coach Kevin Murray who was in Perth. Reserves captain Wally Clark took over, and Geelong’s weakness in terrible conditions proved their undoing.
- Owing to extremely cold and wet weather, Round 11 was postponed from 13 July. It is the last postponement of matches in the V/AFL.