The 1973
Victorian Football Association season was the 92nd season of the top division of the
Australian rules football competition, and the 13th season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the
Prahran Football Club, after it came from fourth on the ladder to defeat
Oakleigh in the Grand Final on 23 September by 35 points; it was Prahran's fourth Division 1 premiership. The Division 2 premiership was won by
Caulfield; it was the first and only premiership in either division won by the club after its move from
Brighton to Caulfield in 1962.
Division 1
The Division 1 home-and-away season was played over 18 rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the
Page–McIntyre system. The finals were played at the
St Kilda Cricket Ground.
Cloke 3, Halliday 2, Ford, Forster, O'Kane,
Robbins, Taylor
Goals
Appleton 4, Weekes 3, Anderson 2, Smith 2,
Emselle, Payne, Sinclair,
Townsend
Quinn, for striking Rippon in the third quarter
Reports
Rippon, for striking Quinn in the third quarter Rippon, for striking Nesbit in the fourth quarter
Awards
The leading goalkicker for the home-and-away season was
Ian Cooper (
Sandringham), who kicked 104 goals in the home-and-away season, but did not participate in finals. The leading goalkicker for the whole season including finals was
Jim Miller (
Dandenong); he kicked 94 goals in the home-and-away season to be third behind Cooper and Graeme McLean (
Geelong West, 99 goals), then kicked fourteen goals in the finals to finish with 108 goals for the season.[1][3][4]
Port Melbourne won the seconds premiership for the second consecutive season. Port Melbourne 14.23 (107) defeated
Preston 12.16 (88) in the Grand Final,[4] played as a stand-alone match on Saturday 15 September at
Skinner Reserve.[3]
Geelong West won the
lightning premiership. Geelong West 8.3 (51) defeated
Preston 2.9 (21) in the Grand Final, played as a curtain-raiser to the senior Grand Final on Sunday 23 September.[5]
Division 2
The Division 2 home-and-away season was played over eighteen rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system; all finals were played on Sundays at
Toorak Park.
Scores were level in time-on in the final quarter before Caulfield kicked four late goals.
Awards
The leading goalkicker for Division 2 was Doug Baird (
Brunswick) who kicked 90 goals in the home-and-away season,[9] and 94 goals overall.[2][3][8]
The J. Field Medal was won by
Geoff Bryant (
Box Hill); Bryant polled 57 votes, at a very high average of 3.2 votes per game, despite his club failing to win a single game for the year. He was a comfortable winner over Ron Allen (
Waverley), who polled 45 votes, and Mick Martin (
Yarraville), who polled 41 votes.[10]
Caulfield won the seconds premiership. Caulfield 11.14 (80) drew
Brunswick 10.20 (80) in the Grand Final[3] at Northcote Park on Saturday, 8 September;[2] in the Grand Final Replay at
Toorak Park on Saturday, 15 September, Caulfield 18.11 (119) d. Brunswick 13.20 (98).[4]
Caulfield also won the thirds premiership to be premiers in all three grades; as was the case in the seconds, the Grand Final was drawn; Caulfield 18.19 (127) defeated Waverley 16.10 (106) in the Grand Final Replay, held as a curtain-raiser to the seconds Grand Final Replay.[4] It was the second time a club had won all three grades in the same season.
Notable events
On 22 April,
Dandenong defeated
Geelong West by five points, ending Geelong West's 22-game winning streak which dated back to 1971.[11]
On 29 April,
Waverley 36.20 (236) defeated
Box Hill 11.13 (81); at the time, it was the equal-third highest score in Association history.[12] On 13 May, only two weeks later, Waverley matched this score again; Waverley 35.26 (236) d.
Werribee 7.4 (46).[13]
In the final round of the Division 1 home-and-away season, the bottom two teams
Coburg and
Preston played off against each other at
Coburg City Oval in a match which directly determined which of the two clubs was relegated. Despite their respective positions on the ladder, the match attracted between 13,000 and 15,000 spectators, the highest crowd of the home-and-away season. Preston 27.9 (171) defeated Coburg 22.22 (154) in a high scoring game, to hold its place in the top division.[1][14]
Coburg was relegated despite a win–loss record 5–12–2 and a high percentage of 95.8,[1] setting a new record as the best performance by a wooden spooner in Association history.[15] In addition to its two draws, Coburg lost four matches by less than a goal.[16]
Camberwell qualified for the finals for the first time since
1961, clinching its finals position with a one-point win against
Waverley in the final round of the season; Camberwell 15.17 (107) d. Waverley 15.16 (106).[7]
Box Hill was the first club to finish a season winless since
Brighton in
1961;[7] however, the club did go on to win its first two matches in the lightning premiership.[1][8]
The Division 2 Grand Final was held up for four minutes during the final quarter when all of the match footballs were lost; a replacement ball was eventually found in the Toorak Park club rooms.[3]
^
abcdefJohn Holland (27 August 1973). "Preston stays in top division". The Age. Melbourne. p. 22.
^
abcdJohn Holland (3 September 1973). "Prahran sinks Port". The Age. Melbourne. p. 31.
^
abcdefgJohn Holland (10 September 1973). "Oakleigh wins on the post". The Age. Melbourne. p. 27.
^
abcdeJohn Holland (17 September 1973). "Prahran step closer to flag". The Age. Melbourne. p. 25.
^
abJohn Holland (24 September 1973). "Prahran by 35 points". The Age. Melbourne. p. 22.
^John Holland (30 August 1973). "Rookie wins award". The Age. Melbourne. p. 30.
^
abcJohn Holland (13 August 1973). "Cooper first VFA man to kick 100 this year". The Age. Melbourne. p. 28.
^
abcJohn Holland (20 August 1973). "Last VFA round vital". The Age. Melbourne. p. 20.
^"Results in the VFA". The Sun News-Pictorial (First ed.). Melbourne. 13 August 1973. p. 59.
^John Holland (16 August 1973). "Bruant takes VFA award". The Age. Melbourne. p. 31.
^John Holland (23 April 1973). "Substitutes clinch Oaks' win". The Age. Melbourne. p. 19.
^John Holland (30 April 1973). "Let-down as VFA sides tie". The Age. Melbourne. p. 28.
^John Holland (14 May 1973). "10 goals in a quarter and still beaten". The Age. Melbourne. p. 29.
^Stephen Phillips (27 August 1973). "West waits, but in vain". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 54.
^This reference shows Geelong West credited with the best record bya wooden spooner in 1971. By comparison, Coburg's in 1974 improves upon Geelong West's by virtue of its percentage. Terry O'Halloran (30 August 1971). "Roosters win, but relegated". The Age. Melbourne. p. 21.
^John Holland (30 July 1973). "Coburg causes VFA surprise". The Age. Melbourne. p. 17.