1897 VFL season

The 1897 VFL season was the inaugural season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the new highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured eight clubs, ran from 8 May until 4 September, and comprised a 14-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.

1897 VFL premiership season
Essendon won the inaugural VFL premiership
Teams	8
Premiers	Essendon 1st premiership
Minor premiers	Geelong 1st minor premiership
Leading Goalkicker Medallist	Eddy James (Geelong) (22 goals) Jack Leith (Melbourne) (22 goals)
Matches played	62
Highest	8,000
← 1896 (VFA) 1898 →

The new league was established when eight clubs from the Victorian Football Association – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, South Melbourne and St Kilda – seceded at the end of 1896. The inaugural premiership was won by the Essendon Football Club after it won all three of its matches in the finals series.

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).^[1]

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. A round-robin finals series has only been used once since, in 1924.

Round 1


	Round 1
Saturday, 8 May (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 6.13 (49)	def.	Carlton 2.4 (16)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 8 May (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 5.11 (41)	def.	St Kilda 2.4 (16)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 8 May (3:00 pm)	Geelong 3.6 (24)	def. by	Essendon 7.5 (47)	Corio Oval	Report
Saturday, 8 May (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 3.9 (27)	def. by	Melbourne 6.8 (44)	Lake Oval	Report

Round 2


	Round 2
Saturday, 15 May (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 6.4 (40)	def.	Carlton 5.6 (36)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 15 May (3:00 pm)	Essendon 4.6 (30)	def. by	Collingwood 8.2 (50)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 15 May (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 3.8 (26)	def. by	Fitzroy 10.6 (66)	Junction Oval	Report
Saturday, 15 May (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 9.10 (64)	def.	Geelong 3.1 (19)	MCG	Report

Round 3


	Round 3
Saturday, 22 May (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 6.5 (41)	def.	Geelong 5.7 (37)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 22 May (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 5.9 (39)	def. by	Melbourne 7.8 (50)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Monday, 24 May (3:00 pm)	Essendon 12.6 (78)	def.	Carlton 6.5 (41)	EMCG	Report
Monday, 24 May (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 8.11 (59)	def.	St Kilda 0.2 (2)	Lake Oval	Report

Round 4


	Round 4
Saturday, 29 May (3:00 pm)	Geelong 5.14 (44)	def.	Carlton 3.4 (22)	Corio Oval	Report
Saturday, 29 May (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 5.11 (41)	def.	Collingwood 5.3 (33)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 29 May (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 2.8 (20)	def. by	Essendon 6.6 (42)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 29 May (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 11.10 (76)	def.	St Kilda 7.4 (46)	MCG	Report

Round 5


	Round 5
Saturday, 5 June (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 15.17 (107)	def.	Carlton 3.8 (26)	MCG	Report
Saturday, 5 June (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 5.7 (37)	def.	Fitzroy 2.9 (21)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 5 June (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 3.8 (26)	def. by	Essendon 9.9 (63)	Junction Oval	Report
Saturday, 5 June (3:00 pm)	Geelong 10.12 (72)	def.	South Melbourne 3.6 (24)	Corio Oval	Report

Round 6


	Round 6
Saturday, 19 June (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 3.6 (24)	def. by	Carlton 5.5 (35)	Junction Oval	Report
Saturday, 19 June (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 5.3 (33)	def.	Collingwood 3.8 (26)	MCG	Report
Saturday, 19 June (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 2.4 (16)	def. by	Essendon 1.13 (19)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 19 June (3:00 pm)	Geelong 3.13 (31)	def.	Fitzroy 2.3 (15)	Corio Oval	Report

Round 7


	Round 7
Tuesday, 22 June (3:00 pm)	Carlton 5.5 (35)	def. by	Collingwood 6.5 (41)	Princes Park	Report
Tuesday, 22 June (3:00 pm)	Essendon 8.15 (63)	def.	Melbourne 3.9 (27)	EMCG	Report
Tuesday, 22 June (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 5.13 (43)	drew with	South Melbourne 5.13 (43)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Tuesday, 22 June (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 4.7 (31)	def. by	Geelong 16.18 (114)	Junction Oval	Report
Geelong's 16.18 (114) was the highest score in 1897

Fitzroy's Draw with South Melbourne was the First in AFL/VFL History

Round 8


	Round 8
Saturday, 26 June (3:00 pm)	Carlton 1.3 (9)	def. by	Fitzroy 5.17 (47)	Princes Park	Report
Saturday, 26 June (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 4.5 (29)	def. by	Collingwood 7.11 (53)	Junction Oval	Report
Saturday, 26 June (3;00 pm)	Essendon 5.2 (32)	def. by	Geelong 8.9 (57)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 26 June (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 3.2 (20)	def. by	South Melbourne 11.7 (73)	MCG	Report

Round 9


	Round 9
Saturday, 3 July (3:00 pm)	Carlton 4.4 (28)	def. by	South Melbourne 11.8 (74)	Princes Park
Saturday, 3 July (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 5.7 (37)	def. by	Essendon 6.10 (46)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 3 July (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 9.21 (75)	def.	St Kilda 2.6 (18)	Brunswick Street Oval
Saturday, 3 July (3:00 pm)	Geelong 1.9 (15)	def.	Melbourne 0.10 (10)	Corio Oval	Report

Round 10


	Round 10
Saturday, 10 July (3:00 pm)	Carlton 2.1 (13)	def. by	Essendon 5.12 (42)	Princes Park	Report
Saturday, 10 July (3:00 pm)	Geelong 7.10 (52)	def.	Collingwood 1.4 (10)	Corio Oval	Report
Saturday, 10 July (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 8.5 (53)	def.	Fitzroy 3.8 (26)	MCG	Report
Saturday, 10 July (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 0.3 (3)	def. by	South Melbourne 8.16 (64)	Junction Oval	Report

Round 11


	Round 11
Saturday, 17 July (3:00 pm)	Carlton 2.4 (16)	def. by	Geelong 9.12 (66)	Princes Park	Report
Saturday, 17 July (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 0.8 (8)	def. by	South Melbourne 2.15 (27)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 17 July (3:00 pm)	Essendon 9.8 (62)	def.	Fitzroy 4.6 (30)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 17 July (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 1.7 (13)	def. by	Melbourne 10.11 (71)	Junction Oval

Round 12


	Round 12
Saturday, 24 July (3:00 pm)	Carlton 2.6 (18)	def. by	Melbourne 5.16 (46)	MCG	Report
Saturday, 24 July (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 4.4 (28)	def. by	Collingwood 3.17 (35)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 24 July (3:00 pm)	Essendon 13.16 (94)	def.	St Kilda 0.3 (3)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 24 July (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 5.2 (32)	def. by	Geelong 6.8 (44)	Lake Oval	Report

Round 13


	Round 13
Saturday, 31 July (3:00 pm)	Carlton 8.11 (59)	def.	St Kilda 3.7 (25)	Princes Park	Report
Saturday, 31 July (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 5.13 (43)	def.	Melbourne 3.10 (28)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 31 July (3:00 pm)	Essendon 8.1 (49)	def.	South Melbourne 6.9 (45)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 31 July (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 2.9 (21)	def. by	Geelong 5.3 (33)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report

Round 14


	Round 14
Saturday, 7 August (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 7.12 (54)	def.	Carlton 3.4 (22)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 7 August (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 8.8 (56)	def.	Essendon 6.3 (39)	MCG	Report
Saturday, 7 August (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 3.12 (30)	def.	Fitzroy 4.5 (29)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 7 August (3:00 pm)	Geelong 14.12 (96)	def.	St Kilda 3.0 (18)	Corio Oval	Report

Win/Loss table

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	F1	F2	F3	Ladder
Carlton	Fit -33	SM -4	Ess -37	Geel -22	Melb -81	StK +11	Coll -6	Fit -38	SM -46	Ess -29	Geel -50	Melb -28	StK +34	Coll -32	X	X	X	7
Collingwood	StK +25	Ess +20	Geel +4	SM -8	Fit +16	Melb -7	Carl +6	StK +24	Ess -9	Geel -42	SM -19	Fit +7	Melb +15	Carl +32	Melb +4	Ess -40	Geel -4	3
Essendon	Geel +23	Coll -20	Carl +37	Fit +22	StK +37	SM +3	Melb +36	Geel -25	Coll +9	Carl +29	Fit +32	StK +91	SM +4	Melb -17	Geel +6	Coll +40	Melb +6	1
Fitzroy	Carl +33	StK +40	Melb -11	Ess -22	Coll -16	Geel -16	SM 0	Carl +38	StK +57	Melb -27	Ess -32	Coll -7	Geel -12	SM -1	X	X	X	6
Geelong	Ess -23	Melb -45	Coll -4	Carl +22	SM +48	Fit +16	StK +83	Ess +25	Melb +5	Coll +42	Carl +50	SM +12	Fit +12	StK +78	Ess -6	Melb +9	Coll +4	2
Melbourne	SM +17	Geel +45	Fit +11	StK +30	Carl +81	Coll +7	Ess -36	SM -53	Geel -5	Fit +27	StK +58	Carl +28	Coll -15	Ess +17	Coll -4	Geel -9	Ess -6	4
South Melbourne	Melb -17	Carl +4	StK +57	Coll +8	Geel -48	Ess -3	Fit 0	Melb +53	Carl +46	StK +61	Coll +19	Geel -12	Ess -4	Fit +1	X	X	X	5
St Kilda	Coll -25	Fit -40	SM -57	Melb -30	Ess -37	Carl -11	Geel -83	Coll -24	Fit -57	SM -61	Melb -58	Ess -91	Carl -34	Geel -78	X	X	X	8
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	F1	F2	F3	Ladder

Colour	Symbol	Result
Green	+	Win
Red	-	Loss
Blue	N/A	Draw

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	Geelong	14	11	3	0	704	383	183.8	44	Finals series
2	Essendon (P)	14	11	3	0	706	445	158.7	44
3	Melbourne	14	10	4	0	685	473	144.8	40
4	Collingwood	14	9	5	0	509	445	114.4	36
5	South Melbourne	14	8	5	1	595	430	138.4	34
6	Fitzroy	14	4	9	1	509	485	104.9	18
7	Carlton	14	2	12	0	376	737	51.0	8
8	St Kilda	14	0	14	0	280	966	29.0	0

Source: VFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Ladder progression

Numbers highlighted in green indicates the team finished the round inside the top 4.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished in first place on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round.
Subscript numbers indicate ladder position at round's end.

Points by round
Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Team ╲ Round
Geelong	0₆	0₈	0₇	4₆	8₆	12₄	16₄	20₄	24₂	28₂	32₂	36₂	40₂	44₁
Essendon	4₃	4₄	8₅	12₂	16₂	20₂	24₁	24₁	28₁	32₁	36₁	40₁	44₁	44₂
Melbourne	4₄	8₂	12₁	16₁	20₁	24₁	24₂	24₃	24₃	28₃	32₃	36₃	36₃	40₃
Collingwood	4₂	8₃	12₂	12₄	16₃	16₃	20₃	24₂	24₄	24₅	24₅	28₅	32₄	36₄
South Melbourne	0₅	4₅	8₄	12₃	12₄	12₅	14₅	18₅	22₅	26₄	30₄	30₄	30₅	34₅
Fitzroy	4₁	8₁	8₃	8₅	8₅	8₆	10₆	14₆	18₆	18₆	18₆	18₆	18₆	18₆
Carlton	0₈	0₆	0₆	0₇	0₇	4₇	4₇	4₇	4₇	4₇	4₇	4₇	8₇	8₇
St Kilda	0₇	0₇	0₈	0₈	0₈	0₈	0₈	0₈	0₈	0₈	0₈	0₈	0₈	0₈

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Finals series

Week 1


	Week 1
Saturday, 21 August	Geelong 3.11 (29)	def. by	Essendon 5.5 (35)	Corio Oval (crowd: 5,000)	Report
Saturday, 21 August	Melbourne 7.5 (47)	def. by	Collingwood 7.9 (51)	MCG (crowd: 7,000)	Report

Week 2


	Week 2
Saturday, 28 August	Essendon 9.16 (70)	def.	Collingwood 4.6 (30)	MCG (crowd: 8,000)	Report
Saturday, 28 August	Geelong 5.16 (46)	def.	Melbourne 5.7 (37)	Brunswick Street Oval (crowd: 4,000)	Report

Week 3


	Week 3
Saturday, 4 September	Essendon 1.8 (14)	def.	Melbourne 0.8 (8)	Lake Oval (crowd: 3,800)	Report
Saturday, 4 September	Geelong 8.4 (52)	def.	Collingwood 6.12 (48)	EMCG (crowd: 3,000)	Report

Finals Ladder

1897 Finals ladder
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	Essendon	3	3	0	119	67	177.6	12
2	Geelong	3	2	1	127	120	105.8	8
3	Collingwood	3	1	2	129	169	76.3	4
4	Melbourne	3	0	3	92	111	82.9	0

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.

Grand final

As Essendon won the premiership for finishing on top of the round-robin finals ladder, no Grand Final was required.

See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.

Awards

Leading goalkicker medal

Larger numbers indicate number of goals scored in each round. Subscript numbers indicate total cumulative goals scored through that round.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player that was the leading goalkicker at the end of that round.
Numbers underlined indicates the player did not play in that round.

Other Awards

The 1897 VFL Premiership team was Essendon.
The Argus newspaper's "Player of the Year" was Melbourne's Fred McGinis.
The 1897 Wooden Spoon went to St Kilda.

Notable events

The game between Essendon and Melbourne in the third round of the round-robin tournament holds the record for the lowest combined score in a match in VFL/AFL history: 1.16 (22).
George Stuckey, the captain of the Essendon Football Club team that won the VFL's inaugural premiership, also won the 130-yard Stawell Gift 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 due to complaints from fans, players and officials.
On 12 June, a League representative team played against a Ballarat Football League representative team at the Brunswick Street Oval. Ballarat 13.11 (89) defeated the League 8.6 (54).^[2]
On 3 July 1897, Fitzroy rover Bill McSpeerin weaved his way and bounced the ball the length of the Brunswick Street Oval to score a goal against St Kilda.^[3]
Fred Waugh was unable to play in South Melbourne's team for the Round 11 game with St Kilda after attempting suicide. He had been spurned by his lover, and had become disconsolate. His mother found him in his room covered in blood, having cut his throat with a blunt knife. Luckily, he missed severing his windpipe and blood vessels, and a doctor was able to repair the wounds.^[4]
Carlton's first six matches were all away games due to renovations at Princes Park, with the first game at Princes Park being a 5.6 (36) loss to Collingwood 6.4 (40) on 22 June, the Diamond Jubilee Holiday.^[5]
The first-round finals match between Geelong and Essendon at the Corio Oval was the only finals match to be played in Geelong until 2013.^[5]

Footnotes

^ "THE FOOTBALL SEASON". The Argus. Melbourne. 8 May 1897. p. 11.
^ 'Markwell', "Football Notes: Ballarat Defeat the League, The Australasian, (Saturday, 19 June 1897), p.1229.
^ 'Markwell', "Football Notes: Hollow Defeat", The Australasian, (Saturday, 10 July 1897), p. 77.
^ A Footballer's Romance: Rejected by his Sweetheart: He Attempts Suicide, The Argus, (Monday, 12 July 1897), p. 5.
^ ^a ^b Ross, John (1996). 100 Years of Australian Football. Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books. p. 39. ISBN 978-0670868148.

References

Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN 0-670-90809-6
Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0

External links

1897 Season – AFL Tables

[1] "THE FOOTBALL SEASON". The Argus. Melbourne. 8 May 1897. p. 11.

[2] 'Markwell', "Football Notes: Ballarat Defeat the League, The Australasian, (Saturday, 19 June 1897), p.1229.

[3] 'Markwell', "Football Notes: Hollow Defeat", The Australasian, (Saturday, 10 July 1897), p. 77.

[4] A Footballer's Romance: Rejected by his Sweetheart: He Attempts Suicide, The Argus, (Monday, 12 July 1897), p. 5.

[Ross-5] Ross, John (1996). 100 Years of Australian Football. Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books. p. 39. ISBN 978-0670868148.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Total
1	Eddy James	2₂	1₃	0₃	3₆	3₉	1₁₀	3₁₃	0₁₃	1₁₄	0₁₄	0₁₄	1₁₅	4₁₉	3₂₂	22
1	Jack Leith	2₂	4₆	1₇	0₇	4₁₁	3₁₄	2₁₆	0₁₆	0₁₆	1₁₇	2₁₉	2₂₁	1₂₂	0₂₂	22
3	Norman Waugh	2₂	0₂	1₃	2₅	0₅	0₅	1₆	2₈	1₉	1₁₀	2₁₂	2₁₄	4₁₈	1₁₉	19
4	Charlie Coles	0₀	0₀	1₁	1₂	3₅	1₆	2₈	3₁₁	0₁₁	2₁₃	1₁₄	1₁₅	1₁₆	1₁₇	17
5	Wally O'Cock	1₁	1₂	1₃	1₄	2₆	0₆	3₉	0₉	0₉	0₉	0₉	2₁₁	2₁₃	2₁₅	15
6	Dinny McKay	1₁	3₄	2₆	0₆	0₆	0₆	2₈	1₉	3₁₂	0₁₂	0₁₂	1₁₃	1₁₄	0₁₄	14
6	Archie Smith	0₀	2₂	2₄	1₅	2₇	1₈	0₈	2₁₀	1₁₁	1₁₂	0₁₂	0₁₂	2₁₄	0₁₄	14
7	Michael O'Gorman	1₁	0₁	2₃	2₅	0₅	0₅	0₅	2₇	3₁₀	0₁₀	1₁₁	0₁₁	1₁₂	1₁₃	13
8	Sam Chapman	0₀	0₀	0₀	0₀	1₁	4₅	1₆	1₇	2₉	1₁₀	0₁₀	0₁₀	2₁₂	0₁₂	12
	Hugh Gavin	0₀	0₀	0₀	1₁	2₃	0₃	2₅	0₅	2₇	0₇	3₁₀	0₁₀	0₁₀	2₁₂
	Charlie Young	2₂	0₂	3₅	1₆	0₆	1₇	0₇	0₇	0₇	2₉	2₁₁	0₁₁	0₁₁	1₁₂