1985 VFL season

Hawthorn defeated Essendon 11.11 (77) to 10.8 (68) in the final.

• In the first three rounds, St Kilda set an unwanted record of three consecutive losses by 100 points (110, 140 and 113 points). Their percentage at the end of the round was only 34.7.
• In round 10, Geelong trailed at each change by 1, 10 and 13 points, but then kicked 11.7 (73) to 1.2 (8) in the last quarter to beat Richmond by 50 points. Their 50-point margin is the largest by a team outscored for each of the first three-quarters.
• A violent brawl in the round 12 match between Hawthorn and Geelong led to veteran champion Leigh Matthews being charged with assaulting Geelong's Neville Bruns by Victoria Police.
• On the week of round 18, the Sydney Swans club was bought by Geoffrey Edelsten and became the first privately owned VFL club. Earlier in the season, Perth businessmen Alan Delany and John Watts attempted to buy lowly St. Kilda and move them to Perth.[4]
• In round 18, Essendon led North Melbourne 18.8 (116) to 2.4 (16) at half-time. This was the largest half-time lead since round 2 of 1931, when led by Richmond 17.9 (111) to North Melbourne's 0.5 (5).
• Collingwood player Andrew Witts wore jumper No. 65 during his seven games with the Magpies – the highest regular jumper number in VFL/AFL history.[5] It was the highest number of all time until 2017 when a number of Indigenous players wore once-off jumper number No. 67 during Indigenous Round to recognise 50 years since the passage of the 1967 referendum on Aboriginals.
• In round 20, the Arden Street Oval hosted its last senior VFL match. The venue had been used by North Melbourne throughout its time in the VFL, except for 1965 when the club was based in Coburg. A total of 529 VFL senior matches were played at the ground that was formerly overshadowed by a massive gasometer on Macaulay Road.
• In a reserves match between Collingwood and the Sydney Swans at the Lake Oval in South Melbourne on Sunday, 28 April, Collingwood reserves full-back John Bourke was reported in the third quarter by field umpire Phil Waight for kicking Swans ruckman Patrick Foy in the groin. In a fit of rage, Bourke then kicked and pushed umpire Waight and hit the Collingwood runner before being escorted off the field, but not before he jumped into the stands to attack a Swans fan. Bourke was given the longest suspension in VFL/AFL history: ten years and 16 games (subsequently reduced to seven years). Bourke was later convicted on two counts of assault and fined $2000 plus costs in the Prahran Magistrates Court.[6]

• McIntyre "Final Five" system

• Stephen Rodgers: Every Game Ever Played VFL/AFL Results 1897–1991 3rd Edition 1992. Penguin Books Australia ISBN 0-670-90526-7.

• 1985 Season - AFL Tables