1954 VFL season
The 1954 VFL season was the 58th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 17 April until 25 September, and comprised an 18-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
| 1954 VFL Premiership season | |
|---|---|
 Footscray team, premiers | |
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers | Footscray (1st premiership) |
| Minor premiers | Geelong (9th minor premiership) |
| Matches played | 112 |
| Highest attendance | 80,897 |
| Leading Goalkicker Medallist | Jack Collins (Footscray) |
| Brownlow Medallist | Roy Wright (Richmond) |
The premiership was won by the Footscray Football Club for the first time, after it defeated Melbourne by 51 points in the 1954 VFL Grand Final.
Premiership season
In 1954, 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 1954 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Ladder
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geelong | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1630 | 1225 | 133.1 | 52 | Finals Series |
| 2 | Footscray (P) | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1423 | 1095 | 130.0 | 46 | |
| 3 | North Melbourne | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1355 | 1361 | 99.6 | 46 | |
| 4 | Melbourne | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1504 | 1239 | 121.4 | 44 | |
| 5 | Richmond | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1503 | 1310 | 114.7 | 40 | |
| 6 | Essendon | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1471 | 1364 | 107.8 | 40 | |
| 7 | Collingwood | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1312 | 1301 | 100.8 | 40 | |
| 8 | Carlton | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1382 | 1391 | 99.4 | 32 | |
| 9 | Hawthorn | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1177 | 1337 | 88.0 | 32 | |
| 10 | South Melbourne | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1209 | 1482 | 81.6 | 24 | |
| 11 | Fitzroy | 18 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 1174 | 1604 | 73.2 | 18 | |
| 12 | St Kilda | 18 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 1149 | 1580 | 72.7 | 18 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers
Finals Series
Semi Finals
| First Semi-Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 4 September 2:30pm | North Melbourne | def. by | Melbourne | MCG (crowd: 42,166) | |
| 3.4 (22) 5.7 (37) 7.12 (54) 11.14 (80) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
1.4 (10) 4.7 (31) 9.11 (65) 16.14 (110) |
Umpires: Barbour | ||
| Templar 5 Aylett 3 Brooker, Grambeau, Spencer 1 |
Goals | 6 Clarke 3 Albiston, Case 1 Barassi, Collins, Johnson, McKenzie | |||
| Brady, Marchesi, Lawrence, Templar, Brooker | Best | McGivern, Clarke, Case, Williams, Marquis, Beckwith, Arnold, Barassi | |||
| Second Semi-Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 11 September 2:30pm | Geelong | def. by | Footscray | MCG (crowd: 64,686) | |
| 4.5 (29) 4.8 (32) 7.10 (52) 8.14 (63) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
3.1 (19) 7.7 (49) 7.10 (52) 11.19 (85) |
Umpires: Robinson | ||
| Goninon 2 Sharp, Flanagan, Palmer, Trezise, Davis, McMahon 1 |
Goals | 4 Collins 2 Kerr, Stevens 1 Duffy, Edwards, Gilmore | |||
| Hovey, Williams, Smith, Davis, Pianto | Best | Stevens, Whitten, Box, Kerr, Ross | |||
Preliminary Final
| Preliminary Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 18 September 2:30pm | Geelong | def. by | Melbourne | MCG (crowd: 51,985) | |
| 2.3 (15) 4.3 (27) 5.6 (36) 7.8 (50) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
1.1 (7) 3.3 (21) 7.5 (47) 10.7 (67) |
Umpires: Jamieson | ||
| Wiltshire 2 Pianto, Goninon, Davis, Turner, Trezise 1 |
Goals | 3 Clarke, Albiston 1 Barassi, Laidlaw, Johnson, Spencer | |||
| Pianto, Smith, Middlemiss, Williams, Turner, Sharp | Best | Cordner, Melville, Case, Williams, McLean, Albiston | |||
| Williams (cramp) | Injuries | ||||
Grand Final
This was Footscray's maiden Grand Final appearance, while Melbourne were in their 9th Grand Final chasing their 7th VFL premiership. With most of the crowd behind them, Footscray got off to a big start, kicking six goals to one in the first quarter to eventually run out 51-point winners, doubling Melbourne's score. Melbourne would go on to win five of the next six Grand Finals.
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Footscray | 6.3 | 8.5 | 12.9 | 15.12 (102) |
| Melbourne | 1.4 | 4.6 | 6.7 | 7.9 (51) |
Awards
- The 1954 VFL Premiership team was Footscray. This was the first premiership won by Footscray since it entered the VFL in 1925.
- The VFL's leading goalkicker was Jack Collins of Footscray who kicked 84 goals (including 11 goals in the final series).
- The winner of the 1954 Brownlow Medal was Roy Wright of Richmond with 29 votes (he had missed one match through illness, but still won the medal by 10 votes).
- St Kilda took the "wooden spoon" in 1954.
Notable events
- Despite winning the 'wooden spoon', St Kilda defeated both Grand Final teams during the home and away rounds.[1]
- North Melbourne are renamed "The Kangaroos" from "The Shinboners".
- In round 8, Essendon champion full-forward John Coleman sustained a career-ending knee injury (he left the field having scored 42 goals in five and a half matches). With two other players also injured, Essendon finished the match with 17 men.
- A group of Fitzroy players and supporters, who were offered a series of side bets at 10/1, back Fitzroy. Fitzroy produces a shock result, beating Collingwood 12.9 (81) to 6.13 (49), and the punters collect around £2,000 (approx. $40,000 in 2007).
- An injured Charlie Sutton (he had not played in the Second Semi-Final) is picked in Footscray's Grand-Final team. Although not playing in his usual back-pocket position, he plays reasonably well in the forward-pocket, and kicks three goals.
See also
References
- Fiddian, Marc (1994). Boilovers, Thrillers and Grand Eras in League and Association Football. Pakenham, Victoria: Pakenham Gazette. p. 7. ISBN 1875475087.
- Hogan, P., The Tigers Of Old, The Richmond Football Club, (Richmond), 1996. ISBN 0-646-18748-1
- 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