1921 VFL season

The 1921 Victorian Football League season was the 25th season of the elite Australian rules football competition.

1921 VFL Premiership season
Richmond FC, Premiers
Teams9
PremiersRichmond
(2nd premiership)
Minor premiersCarlton
(7th minor premiership)
Matches played76
Highest attendance43,122
Leading Goalkicker MedallistCliff Rankin (Geelong)

Premiership season

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".

Round 1

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
St Kilda 10.6 (66) South Melbourne 9.13 (67) Junction Oval 15,000 7 May 1921
Essendon 11.12 (78) Melbourne 12.6 (78) EMCG 3,500 7 May 1921
Collingwood 10.13 (73) Fitzroy 9.3 (57) Victoria Park 20,000 7 May 1921
Richmond 7.11 (53) Carlton 8.14 (62) Punt Road Oval 32,000 7 May 1921

Round 2

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Fitzroy 7.11 (53) St Kilda 8.15 (63) Brunswick Street Oval 25,000 14 May 1921
South Melbourne 7.9 (51) Richmond 11.16 (82) Lake Oval 27,000 14 May 1921
Geelong 11.19 (85) Essendon 10.16 (76) Corio Oval 15,000 14 May 1921
Melbourne 7.11 (53) Collingwood 14.13 (97) MCG 14,994 14 May 1921

Round 3

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Fitzroy 5.6 (36) Richmond 5.14 (44) Brunswick Street Oval 18,000 21 May 1921
Collingwood 16.9 (105) Geelong 13.9 (87) Victoria Park 10,000 21 May 1921
Carlton 15.11 (101) St Kilda 11.12 (78) Princes Park 30,000 21 May 1921
South Melbourne 4.14 (38) Essendon 11.15 (81) Lake Oval 12,000 21 May 1921

Round 4

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Melbourne 10.10 (70) South Melbourne 9.15 (69) MCG 8,892 28 May 1921
Geelong 11.13 (79) Richmond 9.8 (62) Corio Oval 10,000 28 May 1921
Carlton 5.20 (50) Fitzroy 6.14 (50) Princes Park 28,000 28 May 1921
Essendon 7.12 (54) Collingwood 9.17 (71) EMCG 18,000 28 May 1921

Round 5

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Richmond 7.11 (53) Collingwood 6.16 (52) Punt Road Oval 30,000 4 June 1921
South Melbourne 10.10 (70) Carlton 10.10 (70) Lake Oval 25,000 4 June 1921
Fitzroy 8.14 (62) Geelong 12.12 (84) Brunswick Street Oval 35,000 6 June 1921
St Kilda 12.18 (90) Melbourne 13.12 (90) Junction Oval 20,000 6 June 1921

Round 6

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Geelong 11.13 (79) St Kilda 5.5 (35) Corio Oval 12,000 11 June 1921
Collingwood 9.13 (67) South Melbourne 6.8 (44) Victoria Park 20,000 11 June 1921
Richmond 14.11 (95) Melbourne 13.14 (92) Punt Road Oval 12,000 11 June 1921
Essendon 7.18 (60) Carlton 18.9 (117) EMCG 18,000 11 June 1921

Round 7

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Collingwood 17.12 (114) St Kilda 9.10 (64) Victoria Park 10,000 18 June 1921
Carlton 11.15 (81) Geelong 8.13 (61) Princes Park 40,000 18 June 1921
Melbourne 9.15 (69) Fitzroy 4.17 (41) MCG 11,214 18 June 1921
Richmond 12.14 (86) Essendon 10.11 (71) Punt Road Oval 12,000 18 June 1921

Round 8

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
St Kilda 5.12 (42) Richmond 13.11 (89) Junction Oval 15,000 25 June 1921
South Melbourne 10.14 (74) Geelong 8.5 (53) Lake Oval 15,000 25 June 1921
Fitzroy 12.13 (85) Essendon 6.10 (46) Brunswick Street Oval 10,000 25 June 1921
Melbourne 7.13 (55) Carlton 8.14 (62) MCG 19,889 25 June 1921

Round 9

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Geelong 11.10 (76) Melbourne 8.16 (64) Corio Oval 9,000 2 July 1921
Essendon 5.12 (42) St Kilda 11.17 (83) EMCG 6,000 2 July 1921
Carlton 12.16 (88) Collingwood 10.4 (64) Princes Park 35,000 2 July 1921
South Melbourne 8.18 (66) Fitzroy 6.12 (48) Lake Oval 12,000 2 July 1921

Round 10

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Carlton 14.15 (99) Richmond 6.12 (48) Princes Park 42,000 9 July 1921
South Melbourne 13.9 (87) St Kilda 11.8 (74) Lake Oval 20,000 9 July 1921
Melbourne 7.12 (54) Essendon 11.14 (80) MCG 7,783 9 July 1921
Fitzroy 8.18 (66) Collingwood 8.8 (56) Brunswick Street Oval 12,000 9 July 1921

Round 11

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Richmond 9.12 (66) South Melbourne 8.13 (61) Punt Road Oval 15,000 16 July 1921
Essendon 2.15 (27) Geelong 9.18 (72) EMCG 6,000 16 July 1921
Collingwood 3.14 (32) Melbourne 7.7 (49) Victoria Park 4,500 16 July 1921
St Kilda 0.18 (18) Fitzroy 6.8 (44) Junction Oval 6,000 16 July 1921

Round 12

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Essendon 8.13 (61) South Melbourne 5.13 (43) EMCG 15,000 23 July 1921
Richmond 8.12 (60) Fitzroy 14.13 (97) Punt Road Oval 27,000 23 July 1921
Geelong 10.12 (72) Collingwood 6.11 (47) Corio Oval 14,000 23 July 1921
St Kilda 5.14 (44) Carlton 22.10 (142) Junction Oval 17,000 23 July 1921

Round 13

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Collingwood 10.11 (71) Essendon 2.11 (23) Victoria Park 4,000 30 July 1921
South Melbourne 8.21 (69) Melbourne 7.11 (53) Lake Oval 5,000 30 July 1921
Richmond 9.15 (69) Geelong 5.6 (36) Punt Road Oval 10,000 30 July 1921
Fitzroy 4.15 (39) Carlton 3.6 (24) Brunswick Street Oval 15,000 30 July 1921

Round 14

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Melbourne 6.20 (56) St Kilda 5.19 (49) MCG 6,488 20 August 1921
Collingwood 6.10 (46) Richmond 10.12 (72) Victoria Park 25,000 20 August 1921
Carlton 11.15 (81) South Melbourne 7.14 (56) Princes Park 25,000 20 August 1921
Geelong 13.8 (86) Fitzroy 9.10 (64) Corio Oval 16,000 20 August 1921

Round 15

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Melbourne 8.11 (59) Richmond 12.6 (78) MCG 13,832 27 August 1921
Carlton 7.19 (61) Essendon 7.11 (53) Princes Park 10,000 27 August 1921
St Kilda 11.16 (82) Geelong 9.9 (63) Junction Oval 9,000 27 August 1921
South Melbourne 5.10 (40) Collingwood 8.7 (55) Lake Oval 25,000 27 August 1921

Round 16

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Fitzroy 9.8 (62) Melbourne 9.9 (63) Brunswick Street Oval 8,000 3 September 1921
Essendon 5.15 (45) Richmond 11.14 (80) EMCG 14,000 3 September 1921
St Kilda 10.7 (67) Collingwood 12.7 (79) Junction Oval 16,000 3 September 1921
Geelong 6.11 (47) Carlton 8.15 (63) Corio Oval 24,000 3 September 1921

Round 17

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Richmond 14.11 (95) St Kilda 7.5 (47) Punt Road Oval 15,000 10 September 1921
Geelong 10.7 (67) South Melbourne 3.10 (28) Corio Oval 14,000 10 September 1921
Essendon 10.14 (74) Fitzroy 11.8 (74) EMCG 6,000 10 September 1921
Carlton 14.16 (100) Melbourne 10.16 (76) Princes Park 16,000 10 September 1921

Round 18

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Fitzroy 10.19 (79) South Melbourne 6.9 (45) Brunswick Street Oval 8,000 17 September 1921
Melbourne 16.19 (115) Geelong 10.11 (71) MCG 9,789 17 September 1921
St Kilda 14.12 (96) Essendon 13.16 (94) Junction Oval 10,000 17 September 1921
Collingwood 5.7 (37) Carlton 9.10 (64) Victoria Park 30,000 17 September 1921

Ladder

1921 VFL ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Carlton 16 13 1 2 1265 891 142.0 56 Finals
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
Source: VFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers.

Finals

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.

Semi finals

Home team Score Away team Score Venue Crowd Date
Richmond 16.19 (115) Geelong 6.18 (54) MCG 41,649 24 September
Carlton 9.11 (65) Collingwood 7.10 (52) MCG 37,813 1 October

Preliminary final

Home team Score Away team Score Venue Crowd Date
Richmond 10.7 (67) Carlton 7.17 (59) MCG 42,866 8 October

Grand final

Richmond defeated Carlton 5.6 (36) to 4.8 (32), in front of a crowd of 43,122 people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football).

Awards

Notable events

Carlton, the minor premier of the season
  • Umpires demand that the VFL provides greater protection, including the wire netting of the umpire's race to the ground (in order to protect them from fists, projectiles and, particularly, ladies' hat-pins) and a stronger police guard.
  • In the last quarter of the Round 7 match between Richmond and Essendon at the Punt Road Oval, Richmond had kicked a point. The ball was returned from the crowd to the Essendon full-back Bert Day who was on the boundary line, not the goal line. The ball had been stabbed by someone in the crowd. Day, noticing the deflated condition of the ball, kicked it idly from the boundary line over to the field Umpire (E. P. Willamson) to inspect. Richmond full-forward George Bayliss pounced on the ball and kicked a goal with it. Day's kick from the boundary line was mistakenly treated as if it had been a kick out from the goal line and, despite all of Essendon's protests, a goal was awarded to Bayliss.
  • In Round 11, St Kilda failed to score a goal, and lost badly to a Fitzroy team that had four fewer scoring shots: Fitzroy 6.8 (44) to St Kilda 0.18 (18).
  • Prior to the Round 12 match between St Kilda and Carlton, a "ladies" football match was played between two female teams, "The Chorleys" and "The Fleetwoods", to the delight of the crowd. The Fleetwoods won 4.2 (26) to 2.4 (16). Whilst the women played in men's guernseys, shorts, socks, boots, etc. the (male) field umpire wore a dress.
  • The fourth Australian Football Carnival was held in Perth. Western Australia were the Australian Champions.
  • In Round 17, Essendon played its last match at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, before the ground was closed to make way for an expansion of the Flinders Street railyards. During the season, the club made arrangements to find a new home base for 1922, initially looking to move to the North Melbourne Recreation Reserve, and finally settling on the Essendon Recreation Reserve when a move to North Melbourne was blocked.
  • The Preliminary Final on 8 October, played between Richmond and Carlton, was played in deep mud, and the second half was delayed until a driving hail-storm, that had turned the Melbourne Cricket Ground's playing surface white, had passed. The second half was played with the surface covered with pools of water six inches deep. (The VFA preliminary final, played at the nearby East Melbourne Cricket Ground, was abandoned in the third quarter and replayed the following week due to the same hail-storm).[2]
  • The five drawn matches during the 1921 season remains a VFL/AFL record for most draws in one season.

References

  1. "Junior League Final". The Argus. Melbourne. 17 October 1921. p. 10.
  2. "The Association – final abandoned through hail". The Argus. Melbourne. 10 October 1921. p. 3.
  • Hogan, P., The Tigers Of Old, The Richmond Football Club, (Richmond), 1996. ISBN 0-646-18748-1
  • Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
  • Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN 0-670-90809-6
  • Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0
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