1976 VFA premiership season
Division 1
Teams10
PremiersPort Melbourne
11th premiership
Minor premiersPort Melbourne
10th minor premiership
Division 2
Teams10
PremiersWilliamstown
2nd D2 premiership
Minor premiersFrankston
1st D2 minor premiership

The 1976 Victorian Football Association season was the 95th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the 16th season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Port Melbourne Football Club, after it defeated Dandenong in the Grand Final on 19 September by 57 points; it was Port Melbourne's 11th Division 1 premiership, taking it past Williamstown to become the club with the most Division 1 premierships in VFA history, a title it still holds outright as of 2019; and, it was the second of six premierships won by the club in nine seasons between 1974 and 1982. The Division 2 premiership was won by Williamstown; it was its second Division 2 premiership, won in its first season in after relegation.

Division 1

The Division 1 home-and-away season was played over 18 rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system. The finals were played at the St Kilda Cricket Ground.

Ladder

1976 VFA Division 1 Ladder
TEAMPWLDPFPAPctPTS
1 Port Melbourne (P) 18 15 3 0 2288 1883 121.5 60
2 Preston 18 13 5 0 2164 1920 112.7 52
3 Caulfield 18 11 7 0 2095 1978 105.9 44
4 Dandenong 18 10 8 0 1966 1781 110.3 40
5 Coburg 18 9 9 0 2052 1940 105.7 36
6 Geelong West 18 9 9 0 1960 2079 94.2 36
7 Prahran 18 8 10 0 1847 2019 91.4 32
8 Brunswick 18 5 12 1 1836 2105 87.2 22
9 Sandringham 18 5 13 0 1982 2068 95.8 20
10 Oakleigh 18 4 13 1 1639 2056 79.7 18
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points Source[1]

Finals

Semi-finals
Sunday, 29 August Caulfield 15.9 (99) def. by Dandenong 20.19 (139) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 11,352) [2]
Sunday, 5 September Port Melbourne 19.18 (132) def. Preston 14.9 (93) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 11,578) [3]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 12 September Preston 11.8 (74) def. by Dandenong 20.16 (136) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 10,828) [4]

Grand Final

The 1976 Division 1 Grand Final became infamous for violent clashes and brawls during the second quarter. Early in the second quarter Port Melbourne full-forward Fred Cook was king-hit more than 70m behind the play, sparking a brawl in Port Melbourne's forward-line; as this was in progress, Dandenong half-forward flanker Pat Flaherty was felled at the other end of the field, sparking further brawling.[5] The brawl delayed the restart of play for ten minutes.[6] Then, at the 16-minute mark of the same quarter, Port Melbourne captain-coach Norm Brown was king hit by Alan Harper, sparking further brawling.[5]

In all, nine players and officials were reported during the second quarter brawls.[5] Dandenong secretary Lionel Farrow described the game as being worse than the controversial 1967 Grand Final played between the same clubs nine years earlier. Cook required twenty-three stitches in his mouth as a result of his injuries, but recovered and kicked 5.6 for the game. Brown suffered a broken nose and lost teeth, and Dandenong's Alan Harper suffered a broken jaw.[7] At the time of the first brawl, Port Melbourne already held a large lead, and nothing changed on the scoreboard after the brawls; the rest of the game passed without incident, and Port Melbourne won the game comfortably.

1976 VFA Division 1 Grand Final
Sunday, 19 September Port Melbourne def. Dandenong St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 32,137) [5][6][7]
8.5 (53)
12.10 (82)
13.14 (92)
 19.18 (132)		 Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final		 3.2 (20)
5.6 (36)
8.11 (59)
 10.15 (75)		 Umpires: Graeme Marcy
Cook 5, Rasmussen 4, Bond 2, Christou 2, Holt 2, Kerr 2, Brown, Haenen Goals Flaherty 3, Briese 2, Taylor 2, Hibbert, Payze, Wright
Cook (lacerated mouth), Brown (broken nose, lost teeth) Injuries Miller (broken foot), Crane (groin), Harper (broken jaw)
Haenen, for striking boundary umpire Walker (cleared)
Harland, for striking Harper (four weeks)
Dermott, for kneeing Harper (reprimand)
Holt, for striking Droscher (two weeks)
Allen, for striking Thompson (two weeks)
Thomas (trainer), for grabbing Harper by the hair (entire 1977 season)		 Reports Droscher, for striking Holt (two weeks)
Shinners, for striking Thomas (trainer) (four weeks)
Melai (trainer), for using abusive language (six weeks)
  • All reports took place in the second quarter; the suspensions and penalties received are indicated in parentheses.

Awards

Division 2

The Division 2 home-and-away season was played over eighteen rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system; all finals were played on Sundays at Toorak Park.

Ladder

1976 VFA Division 2 Ladder
TEAMPWLDPFPAPctPTS
1 Frankston 18 16 1 1 2392 1668 143.4 66
2 Mordialloc 18 14 4 0 2623 1728 151.7 56
3 Williamstown (P) 18 12 6 0 2374 1901 124.6 48
4 Northcote 18 11 6 1 2225 1800 123.6 46
5 Camberwell 18 10 8 0 2262 2124 106.4 40
6 Werribee 18 7 11 0 1995 2138 93.3 28
7 Sunshine 18 6 12 0 1909 2161 88.3 24
8 Waverley 18 6 12 0 1895 2199 86.1 24
9 Box Hill 18 6 12 0 1835 2392 76.7 24
10 Yarraville 18 1 17 0 1557 2955 52.6 4
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points Source[9]

Finals

Semi-finals
Sunday, 15 August Williamstown 16.20 (116) def. Northcote 17.10 (112) Toorak Park (crowd: 9,500) [10]
Sunday, 22 August Frankston 13.14 (92) def. by Mordialloc 17.17 (119) Toorak Park (crowd: 11,000) [1]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 29 August Frankston 17.16 (118) def. by Williamstown 18.12 (120) Toorak Park (crowd: 8,000) [2]
1976 VFA Division 2 Grand Final
Sunday, 5 September Mordialloc def. by Williamstown Toorak Park (crowd: 10,000) [3]
3.4 (22)
4.10 (34)
8.12 (60)
 9.16 (70)		 Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final		 2.1 (13)
8.2 (50)
13.5 (83)
 19.13 (127)		 Umpires: Graeme Marcy
Johnston 3, Norris 2, Williamson 2, Deaton, Neville Goals Boxall 7, Mildenhall 3, Cross 2, Gardiner 2, Mahoney 2, Brown, Harley, Tweedley

Awards

  • The leading goalkicker for Division 2 was Peter Neville (Mordialloc) who kicked 129 goals in the home-and-away season,[9] and 134 goals overall.[1][3] Neville won the title in his first full season of senior football, having played a single game for Sandringham in 1975.[11]
  • The J. Field Medal was won by Colin Boyd (Williamstown), who polled 34 votes. Boyd finished ahead of Stephen Douglas (Werribee), who finished second with 29 votes, and John Johnston (Mordialloc), who finished third with 26 votes.[8]
  • Frankston won the seconds premiership. Frankston 14.23 (107) defeated Camberwell 14.20 (104) in the Grand Final,[3] played as a stand-alone match on Saturday, 4 September at Northcote Park.[2]

Notable events

Interleague matches

The Association played one interleague representative match during the season, against the Ovens & Murray Football League on Anzac Day. Tony Jewell (Caulfield) coached the Association team.[12]

1976 Interleague Matches
Sunday, 25 April O&M 17.14 (116) def. by V.F.A. 19.11 (125) Bunton Park, Albury (crowd: 4,000) [13]

Other notable events

  • In response to the poor reputation for on-field violence that the Association had developed, the Viscount Sportsmanship Award, valued at $1,000, was established to be awarded to the club in each division with the fewest reports and suspensions during the season.[14] Brunswick won the award in Division 1, losing only a single point for the season.[15]
  • On 2 May, Camberwell defeated Williamstown for the first time since 19 July 1952, ending a losing streak lasting 16 matches over 24 years.[16][17]
  • On 13 June, Geelong West lost at the Western Oval for the first time since Round 11, 1973,[18] ending a 25-match home winning streak.[19]
  • In a bizarre Division 2 match between Northcote and Williamstown, Williamstown scored eleven straight goals before scoring its first behind late in the second quarter, and Northcote scored sixteen straight behinds before scoring its first goal late in the third quarter. The final score was Williamstown 16.4 (100) d. Northcote 6.21 (57).[20]
  • In the final round of Division 1 home-and-away matches, Oakleigh trailed Dandenong by 39 points at three-quarter time, before kicking eight goals to one in the final quarter to win by four points. The result was inconsequential, as Oakleigh was already assured of relegation.[1]
  • Northcote reached the Division 2 finals for the first time since 1966; over the previous nine years, the club had finished in fifth place to just miss the finals on six occasions.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Marc Fiddian (23 August 1976). "Cook kicks 14 at Port". The Age. Melbourne. p. 23.
  2. 1 2 3 Marc Fiddian (30 August 1976). "Dandenong outsmarts the Bears". The Age. Melbourne. p. 25.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Marc Fiddian (6 September 1976). "Port has too many big guns". The Age. Melbourne. p. 33.
  4. 1 2 Marc Fiddian (13 September 1976). "Much too Dandy". The Age. Melbourne. p. 25.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Marc Fiddian (20 September 1976). "Cook all heart in Port win". The Age. Melbourne. p. 31.
  6. 1 2 Marc Fiddian; Ken Knox (22 September 1976). "Haenen in the clear". The Age. Melbourne. p. 34.
  7. 1 2 Ken Piesse (21 September 1976). "VFA won't see film". The Age. Melbourne. p. 33.
  8. 1 2 Marc Fiddian (26 August 1976). "Hibbert wins Liston". The Age. Melbourne. pp. 32, 36.
  9. 1 2 3 Marc Fiddian (9 August 1976). "Bears capture Coburg's spot". The Age. Melbourne. p. 27.
  10. ↑ Marc Fiddian (16 August 1976). "Zebras score as teams, fans brawl". The Age. Melbourne. p. 31.
  11. ↑ Marc Fiddian (19 June 1976). "Pete was worth Mordi's wait". The Age. Melbourne. p. 33.
  12. ↑ Marc Fiddian (3 April 1976). "Jewell VFA coach". The Age. Melbourne. p. 33.
  13. ↑ Marc Fiddian (26 April 1976). "Struggle for VFA". The Age. Melbourne. p. 23.
  14. ↑ Marc Fiddian (2 April 1976). "Nice-look VFA". The Age. Melbourne. p. 27.
  15. ↑ Marc Fiddian (30 August 1976). "Frosty plays second fiddle". The Age. Melbourne. p. 22.
  16. ↑ Marc Fiddian (1 May 1976). "Seaside drought to end". The Age. Melbourne. p. 35.
  17. ↑ Marc Fiddian (3 May 1976). "Roosters win final 'replay'". The Age. Melbourne. p. 23.
  18. ↑ Marc Fiddian (14 June 1976). "Glory day for Coburg". The Age. Melbourne. p. 16.
  19. ↑ Marc Fiddian (28 May 1983). "Injury just the start for Mills". The Age. Melbourne. p. 29.
  20. ↑ Fiddian, Marc (2003), Seagulls over Williamstown, Williamstown, VIC: Williamstown Football Club, p. 129
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