1976 VFL season
1976 VFL premiership season | |
---|---|
Teams | 12 |
Premiers | Hawthorn 3rd premiership |
Minor premiers | Carlton 13th minor premiership |
Brownlow Medallist | Graham Moss (Essendon) |
Coleman Medallist | Larry Donohue (Geelong) |
Attendance | |
Matches played | 138 |
Total attendance | 3,288,470 (23,829 per match) |
Highest | 110,143 |
The 1976 VFL season was the 80th season of the
The premiership was won by the
Background
In 1976, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances.
Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 22 rounds; matches 12 to 22 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 11 (except that rounds 14 and 15 were the reverse of 4 and 3 respectively).
Once the 22 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1976 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "McIntyre final five system".
Home-and-away season
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 22
Ladder
(P) | Premiers |
Qualified for finals |
# | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Carlton | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 2245 | 1690 | 132.8 | 66 |
2 | Hawthorn (P) | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2323 | 2035 | 114.2 | 64 |
3 | North Melbourne | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2041 | 1748 | 116.8 | 60 |
4 | Geelong | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2251 | 2166 | 103.9 | 48 |
5 | Footscray | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 1958 | 2023 | 96.8 | 46 |
6 | Melbourne | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 2319 | 2333 | 99.4 | 44 |
7 | Richmond | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 2192 | 2224 | 98.6 | 40 |
8 | South Melbourne | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2223 | 2364 | 94.0 | 36 |
9 | St Kilda | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2056 | 2282 | 90.1 | 36 |
10 | Essendon | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 1987 | 2253 | 88.2 | 36 |
11 | Fitzroy | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 2005 | 2161 | 92.8 | 28 |
12 | Collingwood | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 2033 | 2354 | 86.4 | 24 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 97.1
Source: AFL Tables
Finals series
Finals week 1
Finals week 2
Preliminary final
Grand final
Season notes
- The VFL introduced two field umpires per match.
- John Nicholls resigned as coach of Carlton three days before the VFL season commenced. Assistant coach Ian Thorogood was promoted to coach.
- The opening round match between Lake Oval saw the Swansset a new record for the highest losing score on record, beating Melbourne's 1940 previous record.
- The Round 1 match between Carlton and Collingwood at Princes Park saw a massive all-in brawl that involved virtually every player from both sides, with Collingwood's Phil Carman the chief target.
- In Round 10, North Melbourne's HSV 7 Melbournein September 1979)
- The Round 21 match between VFL Parkwas the first match to provide the lowest two scores of a season.
- Collingwood "won" its maiden wooden spoon after seventy-nine years, leaving Carlton as the only foundation VFL team yet to finish last. Carlton would "win" its maiden wooden spoon twenty-six years later in 2002.
- Collingwood's six wins is the most by a wooden spooner in VFL/AFL history.
Awards
- The 1976 VFL Premiership team was Hawthorn.
- The VFL's leading goalkicker was Larry Donohue of Geelong who kicked 105 goals (including 6 goals in the finals).
- The winner of the 1976 Brownlow Medal was Graham Moss of Essendon with 48 votes.
- Collingwood took the "wooden spoon" for the first time in 1976.
- The reserves premiership was won by Collingwood. Collingwood 23.17 (155) defeated North Melbourne 19.15 (129) in the grand final, held as a curtain-raiser to the seniors Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 25 September.[1]
References
- ^ "All the scores". The Age. Melbourne. 27 September 1976. p. 28.
- Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN 0-670-90809-6
- 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. ISBN 0-670-86814-0
Sources
- 1976 VFL season at AFL Tables
- 1976 VFL season at Australian Football