1956 VFL season
Encyclopedia
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League
season of 1956.
were to be held in Melbourne, with a re-configured Melbourne Cricket Ground
as its Main Stadium.
The need to accommodate this fact brought certain unusual changes to the 1956 VFL home-and-away season:
It was a well-established VFL practice to treat the Melbourne
-Richmond
and South Melbourne
-St Kilda team pairs in a particular way: at no time would a pair of teams play a home game on the same day. This was done for:
The fact that Melbourne could not use the Melbourne Cricket Ground before 12 May (round 5), and that Melbourne would therefore have 4 "away" matches in rounds 1-4 was demonstrably unfair to the other 11 teams, because Melbourne would then have 4 "home" matches in rounds 12-15 (closer to the "business end" of the season). It would be even more unjust to its "paired" team Richmond, who would be forced to play 4 "home" matches in rounds 1-4 and 4 "away" matches in rounds 12-15. To overcome this perceived anomaly in the best possible way, the VFL designated Melbourne's round 4 match against Fitzroy
as a Melbourne "home" match and scheduled it to be played at the Punt Road Oval
.
In order, to accommodate all these extraordinary issues, the VFL eventually determined that Melbourne
would play their nine home and nine away matches as follows: (1) Away, (2) Away, (3) Away, (4) Home (Punt Road), (5) Home (MCG), (6) Away, (7) Home (MCG), (8) Away, (9) Home (MCG), (10) Home (MCG), (11) Away, (12) Home (MCG), (13) Home (MCG), (14) Home (MCG), (15) Away, (16) Away, (17) Home (MCG), (18) Away.
All of the other 11 teams' 1956 seasons were scheduled to accommodate Melbourne's extraordinary situation.
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 1956 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre system".
, South Melbourne
amongst those teams who had missed the regular final series.
The eight teams that had finished in places 5 to 12 on the end-of-season ladder played in a set of seven elimination matches at the end of the home-and-away season.
The Final was played on the evening of Monday 17 September 1956 (two days after the VFL Grand Final) in front of 33,120 spectators.
Final: South Melbourne
13.16 (94) defeated Carlton
13.10 (78)
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 1956.
1956 Summer Olympics
From 22 November to 8 December, the 1956 Summer Olympics1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
were to be held in Melbourne, with a re-configured Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
as its Main Stadium.
The need to accommodate this fact brought certain unusual changes to the 1956 VFL home-and-away season:
- Given VFL requirement that its Grand Final must be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the 1956 Grand Final had to be brought forward to 15 September in order to allow sufficient time for the MCG pre-Olympic reconfiguration.
- Given the VFL additional requirement of an 18 match home-and-away season, an earlier Grand Final also demanded an earlier start to the season.
- Due to the time constraints of the demolition of the old Grandstand and the construction of the new Northern (Olympic) Stand, the reconstructed and refurbished Melbourne Cricket Ground would not be available to 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....
for its home matches until 12 May 1956.
It was a well-established VFL practice to treat the Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
-Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
and South Melbourne
Sydney Swans
The 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...
-St Kilda team pairs in a particular way: at no time would a pair of teams play a home game on the same day. This was done for:
- Casual staffing reasons: the ground managements of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Richmond Cricket Ground (Punt Road OvalPunt Road OvalPunt Road Oval is a sporting ground located in Yarra Park, East Melbourne, Victoria situated only a few hundred metres to the east of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground....
), and those of the South Melbourne Cricket Ground (Lake OvalLake OvalThe Lake Oval was an Australian rules football and cricket stadium located in Albert Park, Victoria. It was the home of the South Melbourne Football Club from 1878 until their relocation to Sydney in 1982 , and also of the South Melbourne Cricket Club...
) and St Kilda Cricket Ground (Junction OvalJunction OvalThe Junction Oval is an historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its location near the St Kilda Junction gave rise to its nickname...
) drew on the same local casual labour pool. - Transport reasons: the grounds of each pair were served by the same tram, bus, and train routes.
The fact that Melbourne could not use the Melbourne Cricket Ground before 12 May (round 5), and that Melbourne would therefore have 4 "away" matches in rounds 1-4 was demonstrably unfair to the other 11 teams, because Melbourne would then have 4 "home" matches in rounds 12-15 (closer to the "business end" of the season). It would be even more unjust to its "paired" team Richmond, who would be forced to play 4 "home" matches in rounds 1-4 and 4 "away" matches in rounds 12-15. To overcome this perceived anomaly in the best possible way, the VFL designated Melbourne's round 4 match against Fitzroy
Fitzroy Football Club
The 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...
as a Melbourne "home" match and scheduled it to be played at the Punt Road Oval
Punt Road Oval
Punt Road Oval is a sporting ground located in Yarra Park, East Melbourne, Victoria situated only a few hundred metres to the east of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground....
.
In order, to accommodate all these extraordinary issues, the VFL eventually determined that Melbourne
would play their nine home and nine away matches as follows: (1) Away, (2) Away, (3) Away, (4) Home (Punt Road), (5) Home (MCG), (6) Away, (7) Home (MCG), (8) Away, (9) Home (MCG), (10) Home (MCG), (11) Away, (12) Home (MCG), (13) Home (MCG), (14) Home (MCG), (15) Away, (16) Away, (17) Home (MCG), (18) Away.
All of the other 11 teams' 1956 seasons were scheduled to accommodate Melbourne's extraordinary situation.
Premiership season
In 1956, 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 1956 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre system".
Consolation Night Series Competition
The first VFL night series was held under floodlights at Lake OvalLake Oval
The Lake Oval was an Australian rules football and cricket stadium located in Albert Park, Victoria. It was the home of the South Melbourne Football Club from 1878 until their relocation to Sydney in 1982 , and also of the South Melbourne Cricket Club...
, South Melbourne
South Melbourne, Victoria
South Melbourne is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne...
amongst those teams who had missed the regular final series.
The eight teams that had finished in places 5 to 12 on the end-of-season ladder played in a set of seven elimination matches at the end of the home-and-away season.
The Final was played on the evening of Monday 17 September 1956 (two days after the VFL Grand Final) in front of 33,120 spectators.
Final: South Melbourne
Sydney Swans
The 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...
13.16 (94) defeated Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The 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...
13.10 (78)
First 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... |
4.2 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 6.5 (41) |
| Footscray | 1.3 | 4.6 | 5.8 | 5.13 (43) |
| Attendance: 79,402 | ||||
Second Semi-Final
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria.... |
1.4 | 3.6 | 8.9 | 11.14 (80) |
| Collingwood Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League... |
1.4 | 3.7 | 8.10 | 8.16 (64) |
| Attendance: 91,480 | ||||
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... |
6.1 | 6.1 | 11.5 | 15.6 (96) |
| Footscray | 3.0 | 5.8 | 6.9 | 7.15 (57) |
| Attendance: 94,104 | ||||
Grand final
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria.... |
2.4 | 6.11 | 10.16 | 17.19 (121) |
| Collingwood Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League... |
3.3 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 6.12 (48) |
| Attendance: 115,802 | ||||
Awards
- The 1956 VFL Premiership team was 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....
. - The VFL's leading goalkickerColeman MedalThe Coleman Medal is awarded yearly to the Australian Football League player who kicks the most goals in regular-season matches in that year...
was Bill Young of St Kilda who kicked 56 goals (in 16 games). - The winner of the 1956 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 Peter BoxPeter BoxPeter Box was an Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League during the 1950s....
of Footscray with 22 votes. - North MelbourneNorth Melbourne Football ClubThe North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
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 1956.
Notable events
- The VFL introduced a "Night Premiership", played between teams that finished outside the final four. The seven elimination matches were played under lights at the Lake OvalLake OvalThe Lake Oval was an Australian rules football and cricket stadium located in Albert Park, Victoria. It was the home of the South Melbourne Football Club from 1878 until their relocation to Sydney in 1982 , and also of the South Melbourne Cricket Club...
. The matches were renowned for their violence both on and off the field. In 1956 Melbourne, with its "Six o'clock closingSix o'clock swillThe six o'clock swill was an Australian and New Zealand slang term for the last-minute rush to buy drinks at a hotel bar before it closed. During a significant part of the 20th century, most Australian and New Zealand hotels shut their public bars at 6 p.m. A culture developed of heavy drinking...
" the opportunity of having somewhere to have a drink after six o'clock, made these matches very attractive, and the seven matches were attended by an average of 20,000+ patrons, who were far from bothered that the somewhat dim lighting meant that most of the spectators standing on the terraces along the Albert Road side could not always clearly see what was happening on the other side of the ground over at the Lake outer wing (all the way from the back flank at the bowling club to the forward pocket in front of the scoreboard). On occasion the fights amongst the spectators were so fierce that the players stopped to watch. There was also much violence on the field, with players soon learning that keeping to the well-lit parts of the ground offered considerable protection. - In winning the Grand Final, 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....
creates a record by having defeated the same opponent (CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
) four times in a single senior VFL season. - The official Grand Final attendance of 115,802, based on gate entrance sales (it had been anticipated that it would be a very close and hard-fought match), breaks VFL records. The Melbourne Cricket GroundMelbourne Cricket GroundThe Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
was so packed that spectators sat between the fence and the boundary line. The gates were closed for safety. During the third quarter the crowd milling outside the MCG broke a perimeter fence and an estimated additional 15,000 people poured into the MCG; this crowd, estimated at 130,000, for an Australian sporting event, stands as a record still in 2008. Next year (in 1957), the ticket sales were first used for the final series to prevent overcrowding. - The 1956 season was somewhat disrupted by the 1956 Summer Olympics1956 Summer OlympicsThe 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
(see above). - Inspired by the imminent Olympic Games, the VFL decides to inaugurate a public 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...
presentation ceremony to be held at the First Semi-Final. - EssendonEssendon Football ClubThe Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
Third Eighteen footballer and junior champion athlete Ron ClarkeRon ClarkeRonald William "Ron" Clarke, MBE is a former Australian athlete, writer, and current Mayor of the Gold Coast. He is one of the best known middle and long distance runners in the 1960s, notable for setting seventeen world records.- Early life and family :He attended Melbourne High School...
, son of 1931 Essendon Best and Fairest Tom ClarkeTom Clarke (Australian rules footballer)Thomas Clarke was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL.A wingman, Clarke won Essendon's best and fairest in 1931. He finished his career in the VFA with Brunswick. His son Ron went on to become an Olympic medalist in athletics and his other son Jack played 263 games...
, and brother of Essendon champion Jack ClarkeJack E. ClarkeJack E. Clarke was an Australian rules footballer and coach in the VFL. An Essendon and Victorian champion, Clarke was one of the premier midfielders of the VFL for well over a decade, leading the mighty Dons to the flag in 1962 when captain and also playing in the victorious 1965 side...
, lit the Olympic FlameOlympic FlameThe Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...
in the 1956 Olympics' opening ceremony. - Australian Rules Football was a demonstration sportDemonstration sportA demonstration sport is a sport which is played to promote itself, most commonly during the Olympic Games, but also at other sporting events.Demonstration sports were officially introduced in 1912 Summer Olympics, when Sweden decided to include glima, traditional Icelandic wrestling, in the...
at the 1956 Olympics: on Friday 7 December 1956, as a curtain raiser to the soccer match to decide third and fourth places between Bulgaria and India at the Melbourne Cricket GroundMelbourne Cricket GroundThe Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, a combined team of amateur players from the VFA and VFL played a demonstration match of Australian Rules Football against a team of Victorian Amateur Football AssociationVictorian Amateur Football AssociationThe Victorian Amateur Football Association is an Australian rules football league in Victoria, Australia consisting purely of amateur players. Unlike the Victorian Football League and the VFL/AFL, the VAFA has always been strictly a purely amateur league and has affiliations with both AFL Victoria...
players in front of an audience of 21,236.
See also
- Australian football at the 1956 Summer OlympicsAustralian football at the 1956 Summer OlympicsAustralian football was one of two demonstration sports at the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia. The rules stated that the hosts must organize both a native game and a sport foreign to the organizing country as "demonstration sports"....
- 1956 Summer Olympics1956 Summer OlympicsThe 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
- Melbourne Cricket GroundMelbourne Cricket GroundThe Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...