1966 VFA premiership season
Division 1
Teams10
PremiersPort Melbourne
9th premiership
Minor premiersPort Melbourne
8th minor premiership
Division 2
Teams10
PremiersPrahran
1st D2 premiership
Minor premiersNorthcote
2nd D2 minor premiership
← 1965
1967 →

The 1966 Victorian Football Association season was the 85th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the sixth season of its second division. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Port Melbourne Football Club, after it defeated Waverley in the Grand Final on 25 September by 43 points; it was Port Melbourne's ninth premiership. The Division 2 premiership was won by Prahran.

Association membership

[edit]

In July 1965, the Frankston Football Club was admitted to Division 2 of the Association for the 1966 season. The Association had been in favour of admitting Frankston for 1965, but the club failed to get a clearance from the Mornington Peninsula Football League. It was not until its third appeal for a clearance that the MPFL allowed Frankston to transfer.[1]

Frankston's admission brought the Association to a then-record twenty clubs. It was the end of a ten-year expansion plan which the Association had first announced in 1956 to increase the size of the competition from fourteen clubs to twenty.[2] It was the last change to the Association membership until 1982.

Grounds

[edit]

The following ground changes occurred in 1966:

Division 1

[edit]

The Division 1 home-and-home season was played over 18 rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system.

Ladder

[edit]
1966 VFA Division 1 Ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Port Melbourne (P) 18 15 3 0 1543 1139 135.5 60
2 Waverley 18 13 5 0 1660 1283 129.4 52
3 Yarraville 18 12 6 0 1605 1373 116.9 48
4 Preston 18 12 6 0 1500 1405 106.8 48
5 Sandringham 18 10 8 0 1632 1397 116.8 40
6 Williamstown 18 9 9 0 1265 1337 94.6 36
7 Brunswick 18 8 10 0 1400 1480 94.6 32
8 Dandenong 18 5 13 0 1331 1561 85.3 20
9 Coburg 18 4 14 0 1226 1542 79.5 16
10 Oakleigh 18 2 16 0 1227 1872 65.5 8
Source: [8]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals

[edit]
Semi-finals
Saturday, 3 September Yarraville 12.15 (87) def. by Preston 13.11 (89) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 6,000) [9]
Saturday, 10 September Port Melbourne 7.13 (55) def. by Waverley 9.9 (63) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 7,000) [10]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 18 September Port Melbourne 16.14 (110) def. Preston 11.6 (72) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 13,000) [11]


1966 VFA Division 1 Grand Final
Sunday, 25 September Waverley def. by Port Melbourne St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 25,000) [12]
3.7 (25)
3.8 (26)
4.11 (35)
6.11 (47)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Final
2.4 (16)
7.6 (48)
8.8 (56)
13.12 (90)
Umpires: Alan O'Neill
Gallus 2, Lawson 2, MacNamee 2 Goals Allen 3, Kerr 3, Bedford 2, Bollard, Bowen, Howell, Schmidt, Taggart
MacNamee (thigh), Rivis (calf) Injuries Griffiths (shoulder)
Reports Bowen, for striking Rivis in the second quarter

Awards

[edit]

Division 2

[edit]

The Division 2 home-and-home 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

[edit]
1966 VFA Division 2 Ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Northcote 18 13 5 0 1736 1413 122.9 52
2 Geelong West 18 12 5 1 1877 1390 135.0 50
3 Prahran (P) 18 12 6 0 1494 1325 112.8 48
4 Sunshine 18 11 7 0 1486 1421 104.6 44
5 Box Hill 18 9 7 2 1701 1464 116.2 40
6 Mordialloc 18 9 8 1 1680 1436 117.0 38
7 Frankston 18 9 9 0 1471 1580 93.1 36
8 Caulfield 18 6 11 1 1324 1678 78.9 24
9 Camberwell 18 4 14 0 1441 1926 74.8 16
10 Werribee 18 2 15 1 1256 1883 66.7 10
Source: [14]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals

[edit]
Semi-finals
Sunday, 21 August Prahran 11.15 (81) def. Sunshine 2.7 (19) Toorak Park (crowd: 5,000) [15]
Sunday, 28 August Northcote 8.19 (67) def. by Geelong West 15.15 (105) Toorak Park (crowd: 7,000) [16]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 4 September Northcote 13.12 (90) def. by Prahran 13.13 (91) Toorak Park (crowd: 6,000) [17]


1966 VFA Division 2 Grand Final
Sunday, 11 September Geelong West def. by Prahran Toorak Park (crowd: 10,000) [18]
2.9 (21)
3.13 (31)
3.14 (32)
5.15 (45)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Final
1.0 (6)
6.4 (40)
9.9 (63)
17.12 (114)
Umpires: R. Armstrong
Brushfield, Gibbons, Salter, Stacey, Williams Goals Pearson 6, Bartlett 4, Butler 3, Richardson 3, Kerley

Awards

[edit]

Notable events

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Interstate matches

[edit]

The Association contested the 1966 Hobart Carnival during June. The team was coached by Perc Bushby (Coburg)[20] and was captained by Keith Burns (Brunswick).[21] The Association had a poor tournament, finishing last and losing all four matches by large margins; and, no Association players were selected in the All-Australian team.[22]

1966 Hobart Carnival
Thursday, 9 June Western Australia 26.18 (174) def. Victoria (VFA) 5.11 (41) North Hobart Oval (crowd: 20,047CR) [20]
Saturday, 11 June Tasmania 19.27 (141) def. Victoria (VFA) 7.11 (53) North Hobart Oval (crowd: 23,764CR) [23]
Monday, 13 June Victoria (VFL) 14.17 (101) def. Victoria (VFA) 9.7 (61) North Hobart Oval (crowd: 13,969CR) [24]
Thursday, 16 June South Australia 21.20 (146) def. Victoria (VFA) 9.11 (65) North Hobart Oval (crowd: 10,199CR) [25]

Other notable events

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See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Frankston for VFA". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. 13 July 1965. p. 43.
  2. ^ Noel Carrick (2 July 1956). "Ballarat, Bendigo in V.F.A. plan to expand". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 29.
  3. ^ "Coburg has new ground". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. 25 March 1965. p. 58.
  4. ^ "Sunshine likely to move in 1966". The Age. Melbourne. 7 July 1964. p. 10.
  5. ^ "Oval for Sunshine". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. 28 September 1965.
  6. ^ Jim Blake (27 September 1966). "Coburg show hot form". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne. p. 6.
  7. ^ Chris de Kretser (1 May 1967). "VFA sides hard for battle". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 48.
  8. ^ a b Trevor Nash (29 August 1966). "Preston poses big challenge". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 40.
  9. ^ a b Trevor Nash (5 September 1966). "Preston has narrow victory". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 44.
  10. ^ a b Trevor Nash (12 September 1966). "Waverley lifts game, downs favourite". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 40.
  11. ^ a b c Trevor Nash (19 September 1966). "Port's strength told in the last quarter". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 48.
  12. ^ a b Trevor Nash (26 September 1966). "Revenge... and flag for Port". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 40.
  13. ^ Trevor Nash (1 September 1966). "Liston for Poore, twice in a row". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 64.
  14. ^ a b Trevor Nash (15 August 1966). "President has word to umpire". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 52.
  15. ^ Trevor Nash (22 August 1966). "Runaway win to Prahran". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 44.
  16. ^ a b Trevor Nash (29 August 1966). "Geelong W. wins easily". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 40.
  17. ^ a b Trevor Nash (5 September 1966). "Prahran in by a point". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 44.
  18. ^ a b c Trevor Nash (12 September 1966). "Prahran takes pennant". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 40.
  19. ^ "Geelong West player wins VFA award". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. 18 August 1966. p. 54.
  20. ^ a b Kevin Hogan (10 June 1966). "WA romps to victory". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 47.
  21. ^ Trevor Nash (6 June 1966). "Burns to lead VFA". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 45.
  22. ^ Kevin Hogan (20 June 1966). "Baldock gets top position". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 48.
  23. ^ Kevin Hogan (13 June 1966). "Battle for VFA". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 31.
  24. ^ Kevin Hogan (14 June 1966). "Satisfaction for the VFA". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 50.
  25. ^ Kevin Hogan (17 June 1966). "SA soundly beats VFA". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 49.
  26. ^ "Benetti resigns from Oakleigh". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. 2 July 1966. p. 51.
  27. ^ Trevor Nash (18 July 1966). "Dandenong protest on winning goal". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 40.
  28. ^ Trevor Nash (5 August 1966). "A Sunday game for Box Hill". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 46.
  29. ^ Paul Bartrop (1986). "The VFA and the search for an identity" (PDF). Sporting Traditions. 2 (2). The Australian Society for Sports History: 74–87.