The 1973 VFL season was the 77th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 7 April until 29 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.
1973 VFL premiership season | |
---|---|
Teams | 12 |
Premiers | Richmond 8th premiership |
Minor premiers | Collingwood 16th minor premiership |
Brownlow Medallist | Keith Greig (North Melbourne) |
Coleman Medallist | Peter McKenna (Collingwood) |
Attendance | |
Matches played | 138 |
Total attendance | 3,338,648 (24,193 per match) |
Highest | 116,956 |
The premiership was won by the Richmond Football Club for the eighth time, after it defeated Carlton by 30 points in the 1973 VFL Grand Final.
One of the most significant innovations that came into force in 1973 was the implementation of a painted centre diamond area with 45-metre long sides, with a maximum of four players from each team permitted to stand within the diamond at centre bounces.[1] Following a long period of lobbying by the VFL to the Australian Football Council for its introduction, the centre diamond was initially subject to a 12-month trial period. The purpose of this innovation was to try and solve the problem of congestion at centre bounces, as well as giving skilled players more space to benefit their teams.[2]
The home-and-away season consisted of 22 rounds, with teams facing each other twice; matches 12 to 22 were the "home-and-away reverse" of matches 1 to 11. At the conclusion of the home-and-away fixtures, the 1973 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "McIntyre final five system".
Round 22 | |||||
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Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) | Carlton 20.15 (135) | def. | St Kilda 13.9 (87) | Princes Park (crowd: 22,824) | Report |
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) | Essendon 16.6 (102) | def. by | Collingwood 17.10 (112) | Windy Hill (crowd: 28,049) | Report |
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) | Fitzroy 17.15 (117) | def. | Geelong 14.17 (101) | Junction Oval (crowd: 9,172) | Report |
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) | Richmond 10.16 (76) | def. by | Footscray 11.11 (77) | MCG (crowd: 24,671) | Report |
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) | Hawthorn 16.20 (116) | def. | South Melbourne 11.13 (79) | Glenferrie Oval (crowd: 9,932) | Report |
Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) | North Melbourne 11.5 (71) | def. | Melbourne 9.12 (66) | VFL Park (crowd: 9,411) | Report |
|
(P) | Premiers |
Qualified for finals |
# | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Collingwood | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 2356 | 1878 | 125.5 | 76 |
2 | Richmond (P) | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2301 | 1957 | 117.6 | 68 |
3 | Carlton | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2342 | 1850 | 126.6 | 60 |
4 | Essendon | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2443 | 2341 | 104.4 | 52 |
5 | St Kilda | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2024 | 1922 | 105.3 | 48 |
6 | North Melbourne | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 1938 | 1986 | 97.6 | 46 |
7 | Hawthorn | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 2194 | 2002 | 109.6 | 44 |
8 | Fitzroy | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 1990 | 2194 | 90.7 | 36 |
9 | Footscray | 22 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 1860 | 2109 | 88.2 | 30 |
10 | Melbourne | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1938 | 2111 | 91.8 | 28 |
11 | Geelong | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 1903 | 2426 | 78.4 | 24 |
12 | South Melbourne | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1932 | 2445 | 79.0 | 16 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 95.5
Source: AFL Tables
Qualifying final | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 8 September (2:30 pm) | Richmond 10.11 (71) | def. by | Carlton 13.13 (91) | MCG (crowd: 86,386) | Report |
Elimination final | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 8 September (2:30 pm) | Essendon 13.13 (91) | def. by | St Kilda 24.14 (158) | VFL Park (crowd: 53,405) | Report |
Semi-finals | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SF1: Saturday, 15 September (2:30 pm) | Richmond 15.18 (108) | def. | St Kilda 9.14 (68) | MCG (crowd: 86,483) | Report |
SF2: Saturday, 15 September (2:30 pm) | Collingwood 12.15 (87) | def. by | Carlton 15.17 (107) | VFL Park (crowd: 60,072) | Report |
Preliminary final | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 22 September (2:30 pm) | Collingwood 14.14 (98) | def. by | Richmond 15.15 (105) | MCG (crowd: 98,652) | Report |
|
Grand final | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 29 September (2:30 pm) | Carlton 12.14 (86) | def. by | Richmond 16.20 (116) | MCG (crowd: 116,956) | Report |
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