The 1968

Victorian Football Association 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 ...

season was the 87th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the eighth season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Preston Football Club, after it defeated

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 ...

in the Grand Final on 22 September by 14 points; it was Preston's first Division 1 premiership. The Division 2 premiership was won by

Geelong West Geelong West is a commercial and residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. When Geelong was founded, the area was known as Kildare but its name was changed to Geelong West in 1875. The main street is Pakington Street. At the 2016 c ...

Division 1

The Division 1 home-and-home season was played over 18 rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the

Page–McIntyre system The McIntyre System, or systems as there have been five of them, is a playoff system that gives an advantage to teams or competitors qualifying higher. The systems were developed by Ken McIntyre, an Australian lawyer, historian and English lect ...

. The finals were held at the

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 ...

, in Richmond.

Ladder

Finals

Awards

*The leading goalkicker for the season was Jim Miller (

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...

), who kicked 72 goals in the home-and-away season and 77 overall. *The J. J. Liston Trophy was won by

Dick Telford Richard David Telford AM (born 2 April 1945) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s, although he mainly played reserves. He went on to become as a ...

( Preston), who polled 31 votes. Telford finished ahead of Norm Luff ( Oakleigh), who finished second with 26 votes; Brian Vaughan and John Ward (both of

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

) were equal third with 21 votes. *

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 ...

won the seconds premiership. Port Melbourne 16.14 (110) defeated

10.17 (77) in the Grand Final, played as a stand-alone match on Saturday 21 September at Skinner Reserve.

Division 2

The Division 2 home-and-home season was played over seventeen rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system.

Ladder

Finals

Awards

*The leading goalkicker for Division 2 was Eddie Szyszka ( Williamstown), who kicked 57 goals in the home-and-away season, and 61 goals overall. *The Division 2 Best and Fairest was won by

Ian Nankervis Ian James Nankervis (born 3 January 1948) is a former Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Nankervis played for Geelong for 17 seasons and was captain from 1978 to 1981, and again ...

( Williamstown), who polled 30 votes. Geoff Bryant ( Box Hill) finished in second place with 28 votes; David Harris (

) was third with 23 votes. * Northcote won the seconds premiership. Northcote 17.11 (113) defeated Sunshine 10.15 (75) in the Grand Final, held as a stand-alone match on Saturday 31 August at Skinner Reserve.

Notable events

Interstate matches

The Association contested two interstate matches during 1968. Keith Burns ( Brunswick) captained the team against Canberra, and Max Papley ( Williamstown) captained the team against Tasmania. As a consequence of the Association's expulsion from the ANFC in 1969/70, these were the last representative matches played by the Association until 1975.

Other notable events

*Following his win in the Division 2 Best and Fairest award,

immediately sought a pay rise from the Williamstown Football Club; the request which was rejected, and the club omitted him from the Grand Final team for his disloyalty. Williamstown lost the Grand Final by twelve points, and has since been left to speculate whether dropping its best player cost it the flag. He moved to Dandenong Football Club in 1969.

External links

List of VFA/VFL premiers This page is a complete chronological listing of the premiers of the Australian rules football competition known as the Victorian Football Association until 1995 and as the Victorian Football League since 1996. The Victorian Football Association ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1968 Vfa Season Victorian Football League seasons VFL