The 1980 Escort Championships was an Australian rules football

knock-out tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

held between March and July 1980. The tournament was organised by Australian Football Championships, and was contested by teams from 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 ...

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as t ...

and

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September ...

, and the representative teams from New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. The tournament was won by

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 ...

, who defeated Collingwood in the grand final.

Background

The 1980 Escort Championships was the fourth season of the national night premiership competition. The size of the competition consisted 34 teams. The competing teams were all VFL, SANFL and WAFL teams, and the representative teams from New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. The format for the competition was a simple knock-out tournament. Round one featured the VFL teams that finished 7th to 12th in 1979; the SANFL teams that finished 3rd to 10th in 1979; the WAFL teams that finished 3rd to 8th in 1979; plus a playoff between the four minor states. Round two involved the teams that survived round one. In round three, the winners of round two were joined by the VFL's top six of 1979, the SANFL's top two of 1979, and the WAFL's top two of 1979. Matches in Rounds 1 and 2 were played in various venues across Australia. With the exception of one Round 3 match, all matches from Round 3 onwards were played at

VFL Park Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) was an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. For most of its history, its purpose was as a neutral venue and used by all Victorian-based Victorian Football Le ...

on Tuesday nights. Matches were televised directly to Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. The tournament was mostly played concurrently with the premiership season, although some matches in the first three rounds were played during the pre-season.

Qualified teams

¹ Includes previous appearances in the

Championship of Australia The Championship of Australia was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested between football clubs from the Victorian, South Australian, Western Australian and Tasmanian football leagues. The Championship took place three ti ...

and

NFL Night Series The NFL Night Series was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested annually from 1976 until 1979. The tournament, played concurrently with the premiership season, was contested at different times by football clubs from the Victo ...

Venues

Games

Round 1

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Ground , Crowd , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , West Perth , 11.15 (81) ,

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 ...

, 18.13 (121) ,

Perth Oval Perth Oval, currently branded HBF Park (under a sponsorship agreement with HBF Health Fund) and called Perth Rectangular Stadium for international football matches, is a sports stadium in Perth, the capital of the Australian state of Western ...

, , Sunday, 2 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Claremont , 22.10 (142) ,

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

, 4.16 (40) ,

Leederville Oval Leederville Oval (known as Medibank Stadium under a naming rights agreement between 2006 and 2016) is an Australian rules football ground located in Leederville, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The ground is used as a home ground by two c ...

, Perth , , Monday, 3 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Subiaco , 15.9 (99) ,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, 11.14 (80) ,

, , Monday, 3 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ,

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 ...

, 22.16 (148) , Swan Districts , 8.18 (66) ,

, 3,040 , Tuesday, 4 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , St Kilda , 19.6 (120) , Sturt , 8.11 (59) ,

, 6,436 , Saturday, 8 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ,

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 ...

, 10.16 (76) , West Adelaide , 7.18 (60) , Richmond Oval, Adelaide , , Saturday, 8 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , West Torrens , 12.3 (75) , Footscray , 17.10 (112) ,

, 2,108 , Tuesday, 11 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ,

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

, 14.11 (95) , Norwood , 13.13 (91) , Norwood Oval , , Tuesday, 11 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Glenelg , 11.13 (79) , Central District , 6.8 (44) , Norwood Oval , , Friday, 14 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Richmond , 20.17 (137) , Woodville , 9.3 (57) ,

, 5,031 , Saturday, 15 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Tasmania , 9.15 (69) , Queensland , 15.17 (107) , Ulverstone, Tasmania , 2,174 , Sunday, 16 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , New South Wales , 17.10 (112) , Australian Capital Territory , 10.11 (71) , McPherson Oval, North Wagga Wagga , 3,500 , Sunday, 16 March

Round 2

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Ground , Crowd , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Claremont , 16.20 (116) , Subiaco , 12.9 (81) ,

, Perth , , Saturday, 15 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ,

, 17.17 (119) ,

, 14.4 (88) ,

, 6,005 , Tuesday, 18 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ,

, 13.12 (90) , Glenelg , 22.11 (143) , Norwood Oval , , Friday, 21 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , St Kilda , 17.15 (117) ,

, 10.6 (66) ,

, 10,308 , Saturday, 22 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Footscray , 18.14 (122) , Queensland , 10.8 (68) , Windsor Park, Mayne , , Sunday, 23 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Richmond , 17.19 (121) , New South Wales , 14.16 (100) , Sydney Cricket Ground , , Sunday, 23 March

Round 3

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Ground , Crowd , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Port Adelaide , 12.14 (86) ,

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport * Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United Ki ...

, 18.10 (118) ,

, 5,261 , Friday, 14 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , South Fremantle , 23.19 (157) , Carlton , 9.12 (66) , East Fremantle Oval, Perth , 6,000 , Sunday, 16 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Claremont , 10.13 (73) , Geelong , 9.14 (68) ,

, 3,783 , Tuesday, 25 March , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ,

, 20.20 (140) ,

East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

, 4.11 (35) ,

, 2,919 , Tuesday, 1 April , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Glenelg , 9.11 (65) ,

, 9.16 (70) ,

, 4,419 , Tuesday, 15 April , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , St Kilda , 16.11 (107) ,

South Adelaide The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University Stadium VFL Park Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) was an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. For most of its history, its purpose was as a neutral venue and used by all Victorian-based Victorian Football Le ...

, 3,594 , Tuesday, 29 April , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Footscray , 11.9 (75) , Collingwood , 18.13 (121) ,

, 9,995 , Tuesday, 6 May , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Richmond , 16.13 (109) ,

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

, 13.12 (90) ,

, 10,626 , Tuesday, 13 May

Quarter-finals

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Ground , Crowd , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Claremont , 12.12 (84) ,

, 7.10 (52) ,

, 5,326 , Tuesday, 20 May , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ,

, 18.11 (119) , St Kilda , 13.11 (89) ,

, 6,223 , Tuesday, 27 May , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Collingwood , 10.14 (74) , Richmond , 5.13 (43) ,

, 17,950 , Tuesday, 3 June , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ,

, 12.14 (86) , South Fremantle , 6.11 (47) ,

, 4,060 , Tuesday, 10 June

Semi-finals

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Ground , Crowd , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ,

, 15.10 (100) , Claremont , 9.9 (63) ,

, 4,299 , Tuesday, 24 June , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , Collingwood , 15.10 (100) ,

, 12.9 (81) ,

, 16,527 , Tuesday, 1 July

Grand final

, - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Home team , Home team score , Away team , Away team score , Ground , Crowd , Date , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" ,

, 8.9 (57) , Collingwood , 7.12 (54) ,

, 50,478 , Tuesday, 15 July

Notable events

*The competition sponsor at the time was the cigarette manufacturer W.D. & H.O. Wills – "Escort" was a brand name used by the company at the time. *The total prizemoney was $400,000, with the winners North Melbourne winning $64,000. *The grand final ended in controversy. Collingwood led by three points when the final siren sounded, but field umpire Ian Robinson was unable to hear it, and allowed play to continue for several seconds; indeed, many players were unable to hear the siren, although many could and some Collingwood players were already celebrating the victory. In the ensuing play, North Melbourne's

Malcolm Blight Malcolm Jack Blight AM (born 16 February 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Woodville Football Club in the South Australian Nati ...

passed the ball forward to Kerry Good, who marked and then kicked a goal after the final siren to secure victory for North Melbourne. To minimize the risk of a repeated incident, VFL umpires wore portable electronic beepers during the finals of the premiership season.

References

External links

1980 AFC Escort Championships - detailed review including quarter-by-quarter scores, best players and goalkickers for each match
{{AFL pre-season seasons Australian rules football competitions in Australia 1980 in Australian rules football