The Victorian Football League night series, also known during its history by a variety of sponsored names, was an Australian rules football tournament held annually between 1956 and 1971, and again on three occasions in the late 1970's and 1980's. For most years the series was a consolation series, played on weekday nights each September as a knock-out tournament amongst teams which failed to reach the Victorian Football League finals.
The Night Series Premiership was first established in 1956, contested in September as a three-round knock-out tournament amongst the eight VFL teams who did not make the final four, based on a similar post-season night competition which had been established in the SANFL in 1954.[1] All VFL Night Series Premiership games were played at the South Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was the only ground equipped to host night games. Despite the fact that not all VFL teams participated, the first season's average crowd was 20,000 for the seven matches played, and a crowd of 33,120 watched the first night Grand Final.
The series was expanded in 1957 to include all twelve teams. The four teams which contested the VFL finals entered the Night Series after their VFL premiership season was finished, resulting in the night series running more than two weeks beyond the end of the day premiership. This was ultimately not successful, and the VFL elected to return to the original format in 1958, and remained under this format until 1971.
Interest in the night series, particularly among the clubs, began to reduce in the late 1960s as the home-and-away season was extended from eighteen rounds to twenty rounds in 1968, then again to twenty-two rounds in 1970. Additionally, in 1972, the VFL switched from a final four to a final-five finals system, leaving only seven teams available to contest the Night Series. Consequently, the Night Series was abolished after the 1971 season.[2]
The series returned in 1977 and 1978, as the VFL went head-to-head with the NFL Night Series in those years, the VFL clubs having left the latter competition after 1976. The VFL won out in the battle, with the last NFL series taking place in 1979, the same year that the VFL-owned AFC Night Series commenced operations. With the AFC series underway, the VFL Night Series ended following the 1978 series, though it returned for one final year in 1987. These series in 1977, 1978 and 1987 were played by all the VFL clubs.
During its history, the Night Series was used to trial rule changes. Two particular rules which were trialled and later introduced were the free kick for kicking out of bounds on the full (trialled in 1966, introduced in the VFL in 1969 and nationally in 1970) and the centre square to control congestion at centre bounces (trialled in 1966, introduced nationally in 1973).[3]
^Fullpointsfooty SANFL Night Series and Pre-season Competition, retrieved 18 March 2011.
^Stephen Rodgers (1992), Every Game Ever Played: VFLAFL results 1897–1991 (3rd ed.), Viking O'Neil, p. 534
^"New rules in night series". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne, VIC. 18 August 1966. p. 46.
September 30, 2023
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This article is about the consolation night series held between 1956 and 1971 and the later series held in 1977 1978 and 1987 For the pre season mid season competition known as the night series and featuring VFL clubs between 1979 and 1986 see Australian Football Championships Night Series The Victorian Football League night series also known during its history by a variety of sponsored names was an Australian rules football tournament held annually between 1956 and 1971 and again on three occasions in the late 1970 s and 1980 s For most years the series was a consolation series played on weekday nights each September as a knock out tournament amongst teams which failed to reach the Victorian Football League finals Victorian Football League Night SeriesSportAustralian rules footballFounded1956Ceased1971 first cessation 1978 second cessation 1987 third cessation No of teams8CountryAustraliaVenue s South Melbourne Cricket GroundMost titlesFootscray 4 titles RelatedcompetitionsVictorian Football League Contents 1 History 1 1 Competition names 2 Winners 2 1 Most night series wins 3 See also 4 ReferencesHistory EditThe Night Series Premiership was first established in 1956 contested in September as a three round knock out tournament amongst the eight VFL teams who did not make the final four based on a similar post season night competition which had been established in the SANFL in 1954 1 All VFL Night Series Premiership games were played at the South Melbourne Cricket Ground which was the only ground equipped to host night games Despite the fact that not all VFL teams participated the first season s average crowd was 20 000 for the seven matches played and a crowd of 33 120 watched the first night Grand Final The series was expanded in 1957 to include all twelve teams The four teams which contested the VFL finals entered the Night Series after their VFL premiership season was finished resulting in the night series running more than two weeks beyond the end of the day premiership This was ultimately not successful and the VFL elected to return to the original format in 1958 and remained under this format until 1971 Interest in the night series particularly among the clubs began to reduce in the late 1960s as the home and away season was extended from eighteen rounds to twenty rounds in 1968 then again to twenty two rounds in 1970 Additionally in 1972 the VFL switched from a final four to a final five finals system leaving only seven teams available to contest the Night Series Consequently the Night Series was abolished after the 1971 season 2 The series returned in 1977 and 1978 as the VFL went head to head with the NFL Night Series in those years the VFL clubs having left the latter competition after 1976 The VFL won out in the battle with the last NFL series taking place in 1979 the same year that the VFL owned AFC Night Series commenced operations With the AFC series underway the VFL Night Series ended following the 1978 series though it returned for one final year in 1987 These series in 1977 1978 and 1987 were played by all the VFL clubs During its history the Night Series was used to trial rule changes Two particular rules which were trialled and later introduced were the free kick for kicking out of bounds on the full trialled in 1966 introduced in the VFL in 1969 and nationally in 1970 and the centre square to control congestion at centre bounces trialled in 1966 introduced nationally in 1973 3 The consolation night series is generally considered to be of equivalent importance as the Australian Football Championships Night Series 1979 1986 and the Australian Football League pre season competition 1988 2013 and records relating to the three competitions are often combined Competition names Edit During its history the night series was known by the following sponsored names 1965 1969 Golden Fleece Cup 1970 Radiant Cup 1971 H J Heinz Cup 1977 1978 Amco Herald Cup 1987 National Panasonic CupWinners EditYear Winners Grand Finalist Scores Venue Crowd Margin Season Result1956 South Melbourne Carlton 13 16 94 13 10 88 SMCG 32 450 6 9th1957 South Melbourne Geelong 15 13 103 8 4 52 SMCG 25 000 51 10th1958 St Kilda Carlton 16 13 109 15 11 101 SMCG 26 400 8 8th1959 Fitzroy Hawthorn 10 10 70 4 16 40 SMCG 9 200 30 5th1960 South Melbourne Hawthorn 10 12 72 8 11 59 SMCG 20 000 13 8th1961 Geelong North Melbourne 9 20 74 9 8 62 SMCG 30 465 12 6th1962 Richmond Hawthorn 8 16 64 9 6 60 SMCG 24 550 4 8th1963 Footscray Richmond 10 9 69 9 9 63 SMCG 25 270 6 9th1964 Footscray St Kilda 11 12 78 11 7 73 SMCG 36 300 5 10th1965 North Melbourne Carlton 14 13 97 9 3 57 SMCG 37 750 40 9th1966 North Melbourne Hawthorn 20 12 132 12 7 79 SMCG 22 800 53 7th1967 Footscray South Melbourne 15 11 101 8 8 56 SMCG 26 731 45 12th1968 Hawthorn North Melbourne 16 15 111 6 14 50 SMCG 15 650 61 6th1969 Hawthorn Melbourne 10 17 77 9 18 72 SMCG 21 067 5 5th1970 Footscray Melbourne 13 17 95 13 15 93 SMCG 23 882 2 7th1971 Melbourne Fitzroy 12 7 79 9 9 63 SMCG 21 169 16 7th1977 Hawthorn Carlton 14 11 95 11 5 71 VFL Park 27 407 24 2nd1978 Fitzroy North Melbourne 13 18 96 2 8 20 VFL Park 26 420 76 9th1987 Melbourne Essendon 8 10 58 8 6 54 VFL Park 26 860 4 5thSMCG South Melbourne Cricket GroundMost night series wins Edit Team Wins SeasonsFootscray 4 1963 1964 1967 1970South Melbourne 3 1956 1957 1960Hawthorn 3 1968 1969 1977North Melbourne 2 1965 1966Fitzroy 2 1959 1978Melbourne 2 1971 1987St Kilda 1 1958Geelong 1 1961Richmond 1 1962Carlton 0Collingwood 0Essendon 0See also EditList of Australian Football League pre season and night series premiersReferences Edit Fullpointsfooty SANFL Night Series and Pre season Competition retrieved 18 March 2011 Stephen Rodgers 1992 Every Game Ever Played VFLAFL results 1897 1991 3rd ed Viking O Neil p 534 New rules in night series The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne VIC 18 August 1966 p 46 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title VFL Night Series amp oldid 1155225057, wikipedia, wiki, 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