The 1921 VFL season was the 25th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs, ran from 7 May until 15 October, and comprised a 16-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
1921 VFL premiership season | |
---|---|
Teams | 9 |
Premiers | Richmond 2nd premiership |
Minor premiers | Carlton 7th minor premiership |
Leading Goalkicker Medallist | Cliff Rankin (Geelong) |
Matches played | 76 |
Highest | 43,122 |
The premiership was won by the Richmond Football Club for the second time and second time consecutively, after it defeated Carlton by four points in the 1921 VFL Grand Final.
In 1921, the VFL competition consisted of nine 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 team played each other twice in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds (i.e., 16 matches and 2 byes).
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1921 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".
(P) | Premiers |
Qualified for finals |
# | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Carlton | 16 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1265 | 891 | 142.0 | 56 |
2 | Richmond (P) | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1132 | 975 | 116.1 | 48 |
3 | Collingwood | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1066 | 953 | 111.9 | 36 |
4 | Geelong | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1118 | 1054 | 106.1 | 36 |
5 | Fitzroy | 16 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 957 | 921 | 103.9 | 28 |
6 | Melbourne | 16 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 1096 | 1149 | 95.4 | 28 |
7 | South Melbourne | 16 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 908 | 1073 | 84.6 | 22 |
8 | St Kilda | 16 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 998 | 1295 | 77.1 | 18 |
9 | Essendon | 16 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 965 | 1194 | 80.8 | 16 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 66.0
Source: AFL Tables
All of the 1921 finals were played at the MCG so the home team in the semi-finals and preliminary final is purely the higher ranked team from the ladder but in the grand final the home team was the team that won the preliminary final.