The 1919 VFL season was the 23rd season of the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. For the first time since the peak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, all nine senior clubs competed. The season ran from 3 May until 11 October, and comprised a 16-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs. The league's seconds/reserves competition – known as the Victorian Junior Football League – played its inaugural season. The premiership was won by the Collingwood Football Club for the fifth time, after it defeated by 25 points in the

1919 VFL Grand Final The 1919 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 11 October 1919. It was the 22nd annual Grand Final ...

Premiership season

In 1919, the VFL competition consisted of nine teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume their place on the field at any time during the match. Each team played each other twice in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds (i.e., 16 matches and 2 byes). Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1919 VFL ''Premiers'' were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "''Argus'' system".

Round 1

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 14.14 (98) , , 8.7 (55) , Princes Park , 3 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 12.14 (86) , , 9.4 (58) ,

Junction Oval Junction Oval (also known as the St Kilda Cricket Ground, or the CitiPower Centre due to sponsorship reasons) is a historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The oval's location near the St Kilda Jun ...

, 3 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 12.19 (91) , , 10.11 (71) ,

Punt Road Oval Punt Road Oval, also known by naming rights sponsorship as the Swinburne Centre, is an Australian rules football ground and former cricket oval located within the Yarra Park precinct of East Melbourne, Victoria, situated a few hundred metres to ...

, 3 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.13 (49) , , 9.8 (62) ,

Lake Oval Lakeside Stadium is an Australian sports arena in the South Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for association football club Sout ...

, 3 May 1919

Round 2

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 3.10 (28) , , 10.19 (79) ,

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

, 10 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 7.9 (51) , , 10.6 (66) ,

Corio Oval Corio Oval was an Australian rules football ground, located in Geelong, Victoria, and used by the Geelong Football Club in the VFA and the VFL from 1878 to 1915, and 1917 to 1940. Sited in Eastern Park, the oval was served by trams from 1930 wh ...

, 10 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 5.15 (45) , , 5.18 (48) ,

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

, 10 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 9.11 (65) , , 7.11 (53) , EMCG , 10 May 1919

Round 3

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 4.7 (31) , , 9.13 (67) ,

, 17 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 7.7 (49) , , 11.14 (80) ,

, 17 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 18.10 (118) , , 5.12 (42) ,

Brunswick Street Oval The WT Peterson Community Oval, best known as the Brunswick Street Oval and also as the Fitzroy Cricket Ground, is a cricket and Australian rules football ground located in Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North, Victoria. History Australian Rules ...

, 17 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 5.2 (32) , , 5.19 (49) ,

, 17 May 1919

Round 4

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 4.9 (33) , , 7.6 (48) , EMCG , 24 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 13.21 (99) , , 3.4 (22) , Princes Park , 24 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 4.15 (39) , , 4.12 (36) ,

, 24 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 8.6 (54) , , 11.8 (74) ,

, 24 May 1919

Round 5

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 0.18 (18) , , 6.10 (46) ,

, 31 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 10.14 (74) , , 7.6 (48) ,

, 31 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 7.8 (50) , , 9.16 (70) , EMCG , 31 May 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 18.15 (123) , , 5.4 (34) , Princes Park , 31 May 1919

Round 6

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 7.20 (62) , , 11.16 (82) ,

, 7 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 16.20 (116) , , 8.7 (55) ,

, 7 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 7.18 (60) , , 4.4 (28) ,

, 9 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 7.11 (53) , , 11.9 (75) ,

, 9 June 1919

Round 7

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 9.16 (70) , , 8.11 (59) , Princes Park , 14 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 5.12 (42) , , 7.9 (51) ,

, 14 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.6 (42) , , 11.12 (78) ,

, 14 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.8 (44) , , 8.8 (56) ,

, 14 June 1919

Round 8

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 13.14 (92) , , 7.5 (47) ,

, 21 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 7.10 (52) , , 10.12 (72) ,

, 21 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.8 (44) , , 10.10 (70) , EMCG , 21 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.13 (49) , , 6.8 (44) ,

, 21 June 1919

Round 9

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 16.17 (113) , , 6.8 (44) , EMCG , 28 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 9.14 (68) , , 10.11 (71) ,

, 28 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 9.15 (69) , , 14.11 (95) , Princes Park , 28 June 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 5.22 (52) , , 5.4 (34) ,

, 28 June 1919

Round 10

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 5.7 (37) , , 6.11 (47) ,

, 12 July 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.10 (46) , , 6.15 (51) , EMCG , 12 July 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 8.11 (59) , , 3.18 (36) ,

, 12 July 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 5.11 (41) , , 5.9 (39) ,

, 12 July 1919

Round 11

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 7.8 (50) , , 9.11 (65) , Princes Park , 19 July 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 13.16 (94) , , 2.15 (27) ,

, 19 July 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 16.15 (111) , , 7.14 (56) ,

, 19 July 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 5.9 (39) , , 13.13 (91) ,

, 19 July 1919

Round 12

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 9.13 (67) , , 8.8 (56) , EMCG , 26 July 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 12.11 (83) , , 4.7 (31) ,

, 26 July 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 29.15 (189) , , 2.6 (18) ,

, 26 July 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 9.18 (72) , , 7.6 (48) ,

, 26 July 1919

Round 13

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 7.5 (47) , , 14.10 (94) ,

, 9 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 11.12 (78) , , 9.11 (65) ,

, 9 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.10 (46) , , 4.10 (34) ,

, 9 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 8.11 (59) , , 12.22 (94) ,

, 9 August 1919

Round 14

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 12.18 (90) , , 10.17 (77) ,

, 16 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.21 (57) , , 3.13 (31) ,

, 16 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 12.15 (87) , , 8.7 (55) ,

, 16 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 5.6 (36) , , 13.18 (96) ,

, 16 August 1919

Round 15

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 10.14 (74) , , 9.4 (58) , Princes Park , 23 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.7 (43) , , 4.14 (38) ,

, 23 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 11.9 (75) , , 11.9 (75) ,

, 23 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 5.6 (36) , , 20.25 (145) ,

, 23 August 1919

Round 16

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 14.16 (100) , , 5.11 (41) ,

, 30 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 21.16 (142) , , 2.5 (17) ,

, 30 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 9.18 (72) , , 6.13 (49) , EMCG , 30 August 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 17.11 (113) , , 5.16 (46) ,

, 30 August 1919

Round 17

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 14.12 (96) , , 6.15 (51) ,

, 6 September 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 9.13 (67) , , 5.14 (44) ,

, 6 September 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 8.11 (59) , , 8.7 (55) , Princes Park , 6 September 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 3.14 (32) , , 7.10 (52) ,

, 6 September 1919

Round 18

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.14 (50) , , 3.8 (26) ,

, 13 September 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 4.9 (33) , , 10.7 (67) ,

, 13 September 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 6.10 (46) , , 9.10 (64) ,

, 13 September 1919 , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 5.12 (42) , , 7.19 (61) ,

, 13 September 1919

Ladder

Finals

All of the 1919 finals were played at the

so the home team in the semi-finals and Preliminary Final is purely the higher ranked team from the ladder but in the Grand Final the home team was the team that won the Preliminary Final.

Semi finals

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Score , Away team , Score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 10.13 (73) ,

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

, 9.5 (59) ,

, 20 September , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 9.10 (64) , , 6.10 (46) ,

, 27 September

Preliminary Final

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Score , Away team , Score , Venue , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , , 10.14 (74) , , 6.9 (45) ,

, 4 October

Grand final

Collingwood defeated Richmond 11.12 (78) to 7.11 (53), in front of a crowd of 45,413 people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football).

Awards

* The 1919 VFL Premiership team was Collingwood. * The VFL's leading goalkicker was

Dick Lee Richard Lee Peng Boon (born 24 August 1956) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright and film director. Early life Lee was born to a Peranakan father, Lee Kip Lee, (who wrote for ''The Straits Times'') and his wife , Elizabeth Tan. He was th ...

of Collingwood with 56 goals. *

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

took the "

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

" in 1919. * The Victorian Junior League premiership, which is today recognised as the inaugural VFL reserves premiership, was won by Collingwood's team, Collingwood District. Collingwood District 6.11 (47) defeated University A 4.8 (32) in a challenge Grand Final, played as a curtain-raiser to the senior Grand Final on 11 October at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Notable events

returned to the VFL competition, and also changed its constitution so that direct payments (i.e., other than reimbursement of expenses) could be made to players, thus making the team professional, eight years after the VFL had officially done so. * Since the nine-team competition required one bye each week, the VFL sought expressions of interest from clubs wishing to join the VFL. Whilst there was talk of an Ex-Servicemen's Club and a Public Servants' Club, an application was actually lodged on behalf of a combined

Ballarat Football League The Ballarat Football League (BFL) is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia. The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football ...

team, as well as on behalf of the VFA clubs Brunswick, Footscray,

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...

, and

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

. * The VFL introduced a Second Eighteen competition between its constituent clubs, known as the Victorian Junior Football League. * At the start of the 1919 season, the VFL had already donated £9,436-0-0 to the Patriotic Fund since the start of the war. * In its Round 12 match against St Kilda,

set the record for highest score in a quarter, kicking 17.4 (106) in the last quarter of the match. This remains the record, and is a full two goals better than any other team has managed, as of 2020. South's record score was helped by St Kilda only having 15 fit players at the start of the quarter, followed up by several Saints players walking off in the course of the last quarter. ** Other records which have since been broken were set in that same match:

full-forward Harold Robertson kicked 14 goals in the match (a record until

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

); South Melbourne kicked a match score of 29.15 (189) (a record until

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

), and a winning margin of 171 points (a record until

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

). * In Round 16, Collingwood defeated Carlton 17.11 (113) to 5.16 (46). No team had scored 100 points against Carlton since Round 1, 1904, a streak of 292 consecutive matches, which remains a VFL/AFL record as of 2017. * St Kilda's win at Collingwood in Round 2 was its first ever win over Collingwood on the road after a winless streak of 24 matches at Victoria Park (20 in the VFL and four in the VFA).

Footnotes

References

* Rogers, S. & Brown, A., ''Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition)'', Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. * 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.

External links

1919 Season - AFL Tables
{{DEFAULTSORT:1919 Vfl Season Australian Football League seasons

VFL season The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...