The Victorian Football League night series, also known during its history by a variety of sponsored names, was an
Australian rules football tournament held annually between 1956 and 1971, and again on three occasions in the late 1970's and 1980's. For most years the series was a consolation series, played on weekday nights each September as a knock-out tournament amongst teams which failed to reach 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 ...
finals.
History
The Night Premiership was first established in 1956, contested in September as a three-round knock-out tournament amongst the eight VFL teams who did not make the final four, based on a similar post-season night competition which had been established in the
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 ...
(SANFL) in 1954. All games were played at the
South Melbourne Cricket Ground
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 ...
, which was the only ground equipped to host night games. Despite the fact that not all VFL teams participated, the first season's average crowd was 20,000 for the seven matches played, and a crowd of 33,120 watched the first night Grand Final.
The series was expanded in 1957 to include all twelve teams. The four teams which contested the VFL finals entered the Night Series after their VFL premiership season was finished, resulting in the night series running more than two weeks beyond the end of the day premiership. This was ultimately not successful, and the VFL elected to return to the original format in 1958, and remained under this format until 1971.
Interest in the night series, particularly among the clubs, began to reduce in the late 1960s as the home-and-away season was extended from eighteen rounds to twenty rounds in 1968, then again to twenty-two rounds in 1970. Additionally, in 1972, the VFL switched from a final four to a final-five finals system, leaving only seven teams available to contest the Night Series. Consequently, the Night Series was abolished after the 1971 season.
The series returned in
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
and
1978, as the VFL went head-to-head with the
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 ...
in those years, the VFL clubs having left the latter competition after
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
. The VFL won out in the battle, with the last NFL series taking place in 1979, the same year that the VFL-owned
AFC Night Series commenced operations. With the AFC series underway, the VFL Night Series ended following the 1978 series, though it returned for one final year in
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
. These series in 1977, 1978 and 1987 were played by all the VFL clubs.
During its history, the Night Series was used to trial rule changes. Two particular rules which were trialled and later introduced were the free kick for kicking out of bounds on the full (trialled in 1966, introduced in the VFL in 1969 and nationally in 1970) and the centre square to control congestion at centre bounces (trialled in 1966, introduced nationally in 1973).
The consolation night series is generally considered to be of equivalent importance as the
Australian Football Championships Night Series
The Australian Football Championships (AFC) night series, known during its history by a variety of sponsored names, was an Australian rules football tournament held annually between 1979 and 1986. The competition was a knock-out competition featu ...
(1979–1986) and the
Australian Football League pre-season competition
In the Australian Football League (AFL), previously the Victorian Football League (VFL), the pre-season competition, known during its history by a variety of sponsored names and most recently as the NAB Cup, was an annual Australian rules footba ...
(1988–2013), and records relating to the three competitions are often combined.
Competition names
During its history, the night series was known by the following sponsored names:
*1965–1969 – Golden Fleece Cup
*1970 – Radiant Cup
*1971 – H. J. Heinz Cup
*1977-1978 – Amco-Herald Cup
*1987 – National Panasonic Cup
Winners
Most night series wins
See also
*
References
{{AFL Pre-season seasons
Defunct Australian rules football competitions in Victoria (Australia)