1951 VFL season
Encyclopedia
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League
season of 1951.
Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1951 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre system".
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
season of 1951.
Premiership season
In 1951, 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 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1951 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre system".
First Semi-Final
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essendon Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League... |
3.2 | 4.4 | 6.7 | 8.13 (61) |
| Footscray | 6.1 | 7.1 | 7.5 | 8.5 (53) |
| Attendance: 66,135 | ||||
Second Semi-Final
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geelong Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also... |
2.3 | 10.6 | 13.14 | 22.20 (152) |
| Collingwood Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League... |
6.3 | 7.5 | 9.7 | 10.10 (70) |
| Attendance: 74,085 | ||||
Preliminary Final
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collingwood Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League... |
1.2 | 7.4 | 9.7 | 10.8 (68) |
| Essendon Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League... |
1.2 | 3.3 | 5.7 | 10.10 (70) |
| Attendance: 73,539 | ||||
Grand final
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geelong Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also... |
3.8 | 4.10 | 9.13 | 11.15 (81) |
| Essendon Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League... |
1.0 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 10.10 (70) |
| Attendance: 85,795 | ||||
Awards
- The 1951 VFL Premiership team was GeelongGeelong Football ClubThe Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
. - The VFL's leading goalkicker was George GoninonGeorge GoninonGeorge Goninon is a former Australian rules footballer in the Tasmanian North West Football Union and Victorian Football League ....
of GeelongGeelong Football ClubThe Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
with 86 goals (including the finals series).- John Coleman of EssendonEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
kicked 75 goals in the home-and-away season and did not play in the final series — thus, if there had been such a thing as a Coleman MedalColeman MedalThe Coleman Medal is awarded yearly to the Australian Football League player who kicks the most goals in regular-season matches in that year...
in 1951, he would have won it.
- John Coleman of Essendon
- The winner of the 1951 Brownlow MedalBrownlow MedalThe Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
was Bernie SmithBernie SmithBernard Keith "Bernie" Smith was an Australian rules footballer in the South Australian National Football League and VFL, who is perhaps best remembered as one of the greatest back pockets in the history of the game.-SANFL career:Smith commenced his career with West Adelaide in the SANFL as a 16...
of GeelongGeelong Football ClubThe Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
with 23 votes. - MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
took the "wooden spoonWooden spoon (award)A wooden spoon is a mock or real award, usually given to an individual or team which has come last in a competition, but sometimes also to runners-up. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous events...
" in 1951.
Notable events
- "Coulter Law" payments are increased from ₤4-0-0 to ₤5-0-0 per match.
- VFL establishes the Dr. W. C. McClelland Club TrophyMcClelland TrophyThe McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy, currently awarded to the minor premiers in the Australian Football League each year...
. The trophy is awarded on the basis of an aggregate of the performances of all three club teams, week by week, over the entire season. A First Eighteen win gives a club 10 points, a Second Eighteen win gives a club 4 points, and a Third Eighteen win brings a club 2 points. In the case of a drawn match the relevant points are halved. - In the best performance by a centre half-back since "Duncan's match" in 1927, South Melbourne'sSydney SwansThe Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
centre half-back Ron CleggRon CleggRon "Smokey" Clegg was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.A brilliant key position player at either centre half-forward or centre half-back, he was awarded the Brownlow Medal in 1949 while playing with the then South Melbourne Football Club...
took 32 marks in the drawn match against FitzroyFitzroy Football ClubThe Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
. - Essendon'sEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
full-forward John Coleman was reported for striking Carlton'sCarlton Football ClubThe Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
back-pocket Harry Caspar in the last home and away match of the season. Coleman had scored seven goals during the match. Coleman was suspended for four matches and, as a consequence, he missed the entire final series (see Harry Caspar: "the man who cost Essendon the flag"). - In a desperate effort to cover for the loss of players through suspension, illness and injury, Essendon'sEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
coach Dick ReynoldsDick ReynoldsRichard Sylvannus 'Dick' Reynolds was an Australian rules footballer and coach who represented Essendon and Victoria with great distinction....
come out of retirement and plays in the Grand Final as 20th man. Reynolds came on in the last quarter. He did not score any goals and, when he accidentally bumped into Keith McDonaldKeith McDonald (footballer)Keith McDonald was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League ....
, he prevented McDonald taking a critical mark.