1959 VFL season

The 1959 VFL season was the 63rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 18 April until 26 September, and comprised an 18-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.

1959 VFL Premiership season
Teams12
PremiersMelbourne
(10th premiership)
Minor premiersMelbourne
(7th minor premiership)
Consolation seriesFitzroy
(1st Consolation series win)
Matches played112
Attendance2,711,649 (24,211 per match)
Highest attendance103,506
Coleman MedallistRon Evans (Essendon)
Brownlow MedallistVerdun Howell (St Kilda)
Bob Skilton (South Melbourne)

The premiership was won by the Melbourne Football Club for the tenth time, after it defeated Essendon by 37 points in the 1959 VFL Grand Final.

Premiership season

In 1959, 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 1959 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

1959 VFL ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Melbourne (P) 18 13 4 1 1731 1213 142.7 54 Finals
2 Carlton 18 13 5 0 1534 1404 109.3 52
3 Collingwood 18 12 6 0 1477 1215 121.6 48
4 Essendon 18 11 7 0 1598 1422 112.4 44
5 Fitzroy 18 10 7 1 1533 1351 113.5 42
6 North Melbourne 18 10 8 0 1331 1490 89.3 40
7 Hawthorn 18 9 9 0 1592 1412 112.7 36
8 St Kilda 18 9 9 0 1428 1515 94.3 36
9 South Melbourne 18 8 10 0 1515 1465 103.4 32
10 Geelong 18 5 13 0 1320 1681 78.5 20
11 Richmond 18 4 14 0 1309 1771 73.9 16
12 Footscray 18 3 15 0 1178 1607 73.3 12
Source: VFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Consolation Night Series Competition

The night series were held under the floodlights at Lake Oval, South Melbourne, for the teams (5th to 12th on ladder) out of the finals at the end of the season.

Final: Fitzroy 10.10 (70) defeated Hawthorn 4.16 (40)

Premiership Finals

First Semi-Final

Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
Collingwood 1.4 4.8 5.11 8.14 (62)
Essendon 2.5 4.9 10.11 14.16 (100)
Attendance: 86,198

Second Semi-Final

Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
Melbourne 2.6 6.8 9.12 11.15 (81)
Carlton 0.0 1.4 2.9 4.13 (37)
Attendance: 72,822

Preliminary Final

Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
Carlton 0.1 3.7 5.8 7.8 (50)
Essendon 1.4 4.5 6.8 8.9 (57)
Attendance: 65,896

Grand final

Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
Melbourne 1.4 8.5 11.10 17.13 (115)
Essendon 3.5 7.8 10.10 11.12 (78)
Attendance: 103,506

Awards

Notable events

  • The VFL threatened to move matches away from Windy Hill and the St Kilda Cricket Ground at the start of the season owing to a dispute with the Essendon and St Kilda Cricket Clubs. Cricket club members were entitled to purchase football club season tickets for one third of face value, but 1957–58 cricket club members had paid for their 1958 football tickets at 1957 prices instead of 1958 prices. Following a ruling by the state Minister for Lands, the cricket clubs paid the balance in mid-April, and no matches were moved.[1]
  • The committee of the Essendon, fifth on the ladder at the end of 1958, took the innovative step of employing Bert Willee, the chief lecturer in physical education at the University of Melbourne, to design and supervise the delivery of a carefully planned programme of physical training for each player, taking into account the special requirements of each playing position, as well as concentrating on the special needs of each individual player. Essendon played in the 1959 Grand Final, having finished the season in fourth place.
  • From 1959, VFL Second Eighteens' matches and were played as curtain-raisers to seniors matches, having previously been played at the same time as the seniors at a different venue. The Third Eighteens' matches were now played at a different venue to the seniors, having been played as the main curtain-raiser until 1958.[2]
  • The VFL introduced the premiership cup, to be awarded to the Premiership team immediately after the Grand Final Match.
  • As Carlton team was running down the players race at the Brunswick Street Oval before the start of its round 10 match against Fitzroy, Carlton centre half-back Bob Crowe stumbled and fell, badly injuring his knee (before he had reached the playing field). A short time after the match began, it was obvious that Crowe was in great pain and was totally unable to keep up with the play. Carlton appealed to the field umpire, and they were allowed to substitute one of their reserves for Crowe, even though he had taken the field.
  • The Collingwood Secretary, Gordon Carlyon and four Collingwood footballers received death threats before the Round 14 match against Carlton that are thought to have been connected with a potential betting plunge.[3]
  • Despite losing its first five matches, the 1958 premiers Collingwood reached the final four.

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
Notes
  1. Kevin Hogan (14 April 1959). ""Clubs must pay" – minister". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 48.
  2. Rex Pullen (28 October 1958). "Keep others off our grounds". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 47.
  3. 100 years of Australian Football. Penguin Books. 1997. p. 213. ISBN 0-14-026969-X.
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