The 1916 VFL season was the 20th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria.
1916 VFL premiership season | |
---|---|
Teams | 4 |
Premiers | Fitzroy 6th premiership |
Minor premiers | Carlton 6th minor premiership |
Leading Goalkicker Medallist | Dick Lee (Collingwood) |
Matches played | 28 |
Highest | 21,130 |
Played during the peak of World War I, the season was the smallest and shortest in the league's history, with only four of the nine senior clubs competing – Carlton, Collingwood, Fitzroy and Richmond. The season ran from 6 May until 2 September, and comprised a 12-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring all four clubs. The season saw the introduction of district football, allocating players to clubs based on residential address, a system which formed the basis of metropolitan recruiting until 1991.
The premiership was won by the Fitzroy Football Club for the sixth time. Despite finishing in last place in the home-and-away rounds with a 2–9–1 record, Fitzroy won its three finals, finishing by defeating Carlton by 29 points in the 1916 VFL Grand Final.
In 1916, the VFL competition consisted of four teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume their place on the field at any time during the match. Each of the four teams played each other four times in a 12 match home-and-away season (each team hosting each of the others twice); once the 12 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1916 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended Argus system.
The situation of the VFL in 1916 was rather complex.
Although the 1916 season itself was disrupted by the war, it was the first season to come under the VFL's new district football scheme. Under the new scheme:[1]
The scheme had been developed by a league sub-committee over the previous two years (and had originally allowed for players to qualify for University based on past or present enrolment at the University of Melbourne and affiliated academic bodies),[1] and the final approval for the scheme came in October 1915.[2] District/zone recruiting remained in place from 1916 until 1991.[3]
(P) | Premiers |
# | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Carlton | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 918 | 669 | 137.2 | 40 |
2 | Collingwood | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 803 | 803 | 100.0 | 26 |
3 | Richmond | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 792 | 881 | 89.9 | 20 |
4 | Fitzroy (P) | 12 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 711 | 871 | 81.6 | 10 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 67.2
Source: AFL Tables