1966 VFL season

The 1966 Victorian Football League season was the 70th season of the elite Australian rules football competition.

1966 VFL Premiership season
Teams12
PremiersSt Kilda
(1st premiership)
Minor premiersCollingwood
(13th minor premiership)
Consolation seriesNorth Melbourne
(2nd Consolation series win)
Matches played112
Highest attendance102,055
Coleman MedallistTed Fordham (Essendon)
Brownlow MedallistIan Stewart (St Kilda)

Premiership season

In 1966, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances.

Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.

Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1966 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page-McIntyre System.

Round 1

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Essendon 11.6 (72) Geelong 9.4 (58) Windy Hill 31,560 23 April 1966
Collingwood 17.13 (115) Hawthorn 9.8 (62) Victoria Park 32,741 23 April 1966
South Melbourne 16.19 (115) Fitzroy 9.8 (62) Lake Oval 22,376 23 April 1966
Melbourne 4.9 (33) St Kilda 17.7 (109) MCG 64,934 25 April 1966
Footscray 11.9 (75) North Melbourne 13.9 (87) Western Oval 23,252 25 April 1966
Carlton 14.16 (100) Richmond 16.10 (106) Princes Park 43,695 25 April 1966

Round 2

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Hawthorn 7.14 (56) Melbourne 3.11 (29) Glenferrie Oval 14,000 30 April 1966
Geelong 13.16 (94) South Melbourne 11.8 (74) Kardinia Park 21,490 30 April 1966
Richmond 17.15 (117) Footscray 5.17 (47) MCG 28,596 30 April 1966
North Melbourne 5.13 (43) Essendon 12.20 (92) Arden Street Oval 19,813 30 April 1966
Fitzroy 5.12 (42) Collingwood 9.17 (71) Brunswick Street Oval 20,362 30 April 1966
St Kilda 15.17 (107) Carlton 7.12 (54) Moorabbin Oval 30,810 30 April 1966

Round 3

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
North Melbourne 9.13 (67) St Kilda 15.13 (103) Arden Street Oval 17,261 7 May 1966
Richmond 18.15 (123) Melbourne 11.14 (80) MCG 32,608 7 May 1966
South Melbourne 14.22 (106) Hawthorn 7.15 (57) Lake Oval 17,259 7 May 1966
Geelong 12.14 (86) Footscray 7.4 (46) Kardinia Park 17,395 7 May 1966
Essendon 8.18 (66) Collingwood 8.6 (54) Windy Hill 43,487 7 May 1966
Fitzroy 6.8 (44) Carlton 10.16 (76) Brunswick Street Oval 16,714 7 May 1966

Round 4

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Melbourne 12.17 (89) South Melbourne 17.17 (119) MCG 31,497 14 May 1966
Hawthorn 9.13 (67) North Melbourne 14.15 (99) Glenferrie Oval 10,873 14 May 1966
Collingwood 12.13 (85) Richmond 5.18 (48) Victoria Park 40,272 14 May 1966
Carlton 15.12 (102) Essendon 5.11 (41) Princes Park 31,819 14 May 1966
St Kilda 15.11 (101) Geelong 7.16 (58) Moorabbin Oval 37,140 14 May 1966
Footscray 12.12 (84) Fitzroy 5.16 (46) Western Oval 14,672 14 May 1966

Round 5

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Geelong 12.8 (80) Richmond 15.8 (98) Kardinia Park 21,655 21 May 1966
Footscray 10.10 (70) Hawthorn 4.10 (34) Western Oval 12,424 21 May 1966
South Melbourne 7.11 (53) St Kilda 13.17 (95) Lake Oval 33,255 21 May 1966
Fitzroy 9.10 (64) Essendon 17.11 (113) Brunswick Street Oval 15,279 21 May 1966
North Melbourne 7.4 (46) Collingwood 11.15 (81) Arden Street Oval 21,293 21 May 1966
Melbourne 3.14 (32) Carlton 11.13 (79) MCG 35,955 21 May 1966

Round 6

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Richmond 12.16 (88) South Melbourne 9.9 (63) MCG 45,254 28 May 1966
Essendon 15.15 (105) Hawthorn 12.9 (81) Windy Hill 15,400 28 May 1966
Collingwood 12.18 (90) Melbourne 8.9 (57) Victoria Park 26,153 28 May 1966
Carlton 11.13 (79) Footscray 6.10 (46) Princes Park 23,598 28 May 1966
North Melbourne 8.7 (55) Geelong 12.20 (92) Arden Street Oval 15,290 28 May 1966
St Kilda 17.16 (118) Fitzroy 8.6 (54) Moorabbin Oval 19,737 28 May 1966

Round 7

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Hawthorn 11.12 (78) St Kilda 15.12 (102) Glenferrie Oval 18,755 4 June 1966
Fitzroy 12.6 (78) Richmond 15.12 (102) Brunswick Street Oval 14,338 4 June 1966
South Melbourne 17.16 (118) North Melbourne 15.16 (106) Lake Oval 15,800 4 June 1966
Melbourne 14.10 (94) Essendon 9.6 (60) MCG 38,498 4 June 1966
Footscray 6.12 (48) Collingwood 8.20 (68) Western Oval 23,721 4 June 1966
Geelong 8.9 (57) Carlton 8.8 (56) Kardinia Park 25,398 4 June 1966

Round 8

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Footscray 11.5 (71) Melbourne 7.8 (50) Western Oval 15,983 11 June 1966
Collingwood 14.21 (105) Geelong 11.10 (76) Victoria Park 37,034 11 June 1966
Carlton 7.15 (57) South Melbourne 8.6 (54) Princes Park 26,510 11 June 1966
Fitzroy 8.13 (61) Hawthorn 11.14 (80) Brunswick Street Oval 12,987 13 June 1966
Richmond 10.11 (71) North Melbourne 8.23 (71) MCG 33,959 13 June 1966
St Kilda 8.8 (56) Essendon 7.7 (49) Moorabbin Oval 50,548 13 June 1966

Round 9

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Richmond 16.13 (109) St Kilda 11.8 (74) MCG 55,426 18 June 1966
Essendon 9.17 (71) Footscray 4.13 (37) Windy Hill 18,600 18 June 1966
North Melbourne 9.11 (65) Melbourne 4.12 (36) Arden Street Oval 8,957 18 June 1966
Geelong 20.24 (144) Fitzroy 5.1 (31) Kardinia Park 13,550 18 June 1966
South Melbourne 11.7 (73) Collingwood 13.20 (98) Lake Oval 25,100 18 June 1966
Hawthorn 9.13 (67) Carlton 9.9 (63) Glenferrie Oval 19,500 18 June 1966

Round 10

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Geelong 17.15 (117) Hawthorn 8.9 (57) Kardinia Park 13,941 25 June 1966
Footscray 8.19 (67) South Melbourne 8.7 (55) Western Oval 11,733 25 June 1966
Essendon 14.16 (100) Richmond 15.6 (96) Windy Hill 20,600 25 June 1966
Collingwood 17.15 (117) St Kilda 6.9 (45) Victoria Park 37,607 25 June 1966
Melbourne 11.17 (83) Fitzroy 3.7 (25) MCG 14,688 25 June 1966
North Melbourne 8.17 (65) Carlton 6.6 (42) Arden Street Oval 10,573 25 June 1966

Round 11

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Fitzroy 10.7 (67) North Melbourne 22.8 (140) Brunswick Street Oval 9,351 2 July 1966
Melbourne 9.21 (75) Geelong 13.15 (93) MCG 39,217 2 July 1966
St Kilda 15.15 (105) Footscray 7.12 (54) Moorabbin Oval 21,507 2 July 1966
Hawthorn 6.13 (49) Richmond 11.13 (79) Glenferrie Oval 15,880 9 July 1966
Carlton 7.11 (53) Collingwood 6.6 (42) Princes Park 29,240 9 July 1966
South Melbourne 12.10 (82) Essendon 13.12 (90) Lake Oval 22,750 9 July 1966

Round 12

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Fitzroy 8.5 (53) South Melbourne 10.15 (75) Brunswick Street Oval 6,936 16 July 1966
St Kilda 12.13 (85) Melbourne 6.6 (42) Moorabbin Oval 15,003 16 July 1966
North Melbourne 10.15 (75) Footscray 6.6 (42) Arden Street Oval 8,114 16 July 1966
Geelong 15.7 (97) Essendon 5.7 (37) Kardinia Park 23,114 16 July 1966
Hawthorn 5.7 (37) Collingwood 16.14 (110) Glenferrie Oval 13,990 16 July 1966
Richmond 8.13 (61) Carlton 4.6 (30) MCG 38,094 16 July 1966

Round 13

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Footscray 7.15 (57) Richmond 11.16 (82) Western Oval 16,573 23 July 1966
Essendon 6.16 (52) North Melbourne 6.6 (42) Windy Hill 19,400 23 July 1966
Collingwood 19.14 (128) Fitzroy 9.7 (61) Victoria Park 18,094 23 July 1966
Carlton 7.15 (57) St Kilda 5.11 (41) Princes Park 33,367 23 July 1966
Melbourne 23.13 (151) Hawthorn 9.5 (59) MCG 18,254 23 July 1966
South Melbourne 9.11 (65) Geelong 9.17 (71) Lake Oval 20,100 23 July 1966

Round 14

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Melbourne 10.12 (72) Richmond 14.13 (97) MCG 35,460 30 July 1966
Hawthorn 10.16 (76) South Melbourne 14.17 (101) Glenferrie Oval 12,237 30 July 1966
Footscray 7.9 (51) Geelong 10.11 (71) Western Oval 16,951 30 July 1966
Collingwood 7.10 (52) Essendon 18.9 (117) Victoria Park 38,918 30 July 1966
Carlton 12.15 (87) Fitzroy 9.6 (60) Princes Park 15,203 30 July 1966
St Kilda 10.18 (78) North Melbourne 4.16 (40) Moorabbin Oval 30,530 30 July 1966

Round 15

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Geelong 14.11 (95) St Kilda 10.12 (72) Kardinia Park 28,729 6 August 1966
Fitzroy 13.17 (95) Footscray 13.11 (89) Brunswick Street Oval 8,795 6 August 1966
South Melbourne 18.17 (125) Melbourne 15.19 (109) Lake Oval 14,200 6 August 1966
North Melbourne 11.16 (82) Hawthorn 12.11 (83) Arden Street Oval 5,835 6 August 1966
Richmond 13.8 (86) Collingwood 16.9 (105) MCG 73,834 6 August 1966
Essendon 18.7 (115) Carlton 10.13 (73) Windy Hill 28,000 6 August 1966

Round 16

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
St Kilda 19.19 (133) South Melbourne 10.6 (66) Moorabbin Oval 20,083 13 August 1966
Essendon 14.9 (93) Fitzroy 6.9 (45) Windy Hill 14,600 13 August 1966
Collingwood 12.21 (93) North Melbourne 6.8 (44) Victoria Park 19,900 13 August 1966
Carlton 14.15 (99) Melbourne 10.10 (70) Princes Park 13,127 13 August 1966
Richmond 6.12 (48) Geelong 11.16 (82) MCG 54,976 13 August 1966
Hawthorn 18.11 (119) Footscray 9.13 (67) Glenferrie Oval 8,429 13 August 1966

Round 17

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Geelong 17.16 (118) North Melbourne 11.13 (79) Kardinia Park 19,654 20 August 1966
Fitzroy 5.10 (40) St Kilda 17.22 (124) Brunswick Street Oval 12,165 20 August 1966
South Melbourne 10.11 (71) Richmond 10.12 (72) Lake Oval 20,200 20 August 1966
Hawthorn 11.13 (79) Essendon 15.10 (100) Glenferrie Oval 21,520 20 August 1966
Melbourne 12.12 (84) Collingwood 21.15 (141) MCG 46,319 20 August 1966
Footscray 4.1 (25) Carlton 12.14 (86) Western Oval 14,516 20 August 1966

Round 18

Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
North Melbourne 12.16 (88) South Melbourne 11.5 (71) Arden Street Oval 10,419 27 August 1966
Essendon 11.18 (84) Melbourne 7.7 (49) Windy Hill 22,200 27 August 1966
Collingwood 18.24 (132) Footscray 3.10 (28) Victoria Park 20,324 27 August 1966
Carlton 5.10 (40) Geelong 16.14 (110) Princes Park 37,236 27 August 1966
St Kilda 14.9 (93) Hawthorn 13.5 (83) Moorabbin Oval 23,860 27 August 1966
Richmond 20.23 (143) Fitzroy 11.10 (76) MCG 18,980 27 August 1966

Ladder

1966 VFL ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Collingwood 18 15 3 0 1687 1073 157.2 60 Finals
2 St Kilda (P) 18 14 4 0 1641 1149 142.8 56
3 Geelong 18 14 4 0 1599 1162 137.6 56
4 Essendon 18 14 4 0 1457 1204 121.0 56
5 Richmond 18 13 4 1 1626 1320 123.2 54
6 Carlton 18 10 8 0 1233 1143 107.9 40
7 North Melbourne 18 7 10 1 1294 1381 93.7 30
8 South Melbourne 18 7 11 0 1486 1505 98.7 28
9 Hawthorn 18 5 13 0 1224 1650 74.2 20
10 Footscray 18 4 14 0 1004 1458 68.9 16
11 Melbourne 18 3 15 0 1235 1580 78.2 12
12 Fitzroy 18 1 17 0 1004 1865 53.8 4
Source: VFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers.

Night Series Competition

The night series were held under the floodlights at Lake Oval, South Melbourne, for the teams (5th to 12th on ladder) out of the finals at the end of the season.

Final: North Melbourne 20.12 (132) defeated Hawthorn 12.7 (79).

Premiership Finals

First Semi-Final

Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
Geelong 3.4 3.5 7.9 12.14 (86)
Essendon 6.1 10.5 13.6 15.6 (96)
Attendance: 93,765

Second Semi-Final

Second Semi-final
10 September 2:30pm Collingwood def. St Kilda MCG (crowd: 95,614)
5.2 (32)
6.3 (39)
10.5 (65)
 15.9 (99)
Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final
0.1 (1)
6.5 (41)
10.9 (69)
 13.11 (89)
Umpires: L. Perkins
Television broadcast: Seven Network
Tuddenham 7
Searl, Wallis, Graham 2
Richardson, Price 1
Goals 3 Payze
2 Smith, Baldock, Neale
1 Mynott, Oakley, Cooper, Breen
Waters, Tuddenham, Wallis, Potter, K. Rose, Patterson, Clark, Montgomery, W. Richardson Best Murray, Morrow, Cooper, Breen, Smith, Payze, Griffiths, Synman

Preliminary Final

Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
St Kilda 4.1 10.2 10.2 15.4 (94)
Essendon[1] 2.7 3.4 3.9 7.10 (52)
Attendance: 93,453

Grand Final

Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
Collingwood 2.1 5.7 7.11 10.13 (73)
St Kilda 2.5 5.6 8.9 10.14 (74)
Attendance: 102,055

Awards

Notable events

  • At pre-season training in mid-April, at the behest of Collingwood coach Bob Rose, Collingwood club secretary Jack Burns informed Duncan Wright that his services were no longer required at Collingwood. (See Duncan Wright and John Somerville.)
  • Richmond, under coach Tom Hafey, trained pre-season with Percy Cerutty at his facilities in Portsea, Victoria.
  • In the Round 14 match between Carlton and Fitzroy, there was a once-off trial of a rule to ease congestion at centre bounces: a rectangle measuring 30yds goal-to-goal and 50yds wing-to-wing was drawn in the centre of the ground, and no more than four players from each team were permitted within the rectangle at a centre bounce.[3] The rule was trialled again, with the area expanded to a 50yd square, during the Night Series,[4] and it was eventually introduced as a permanent rule change in 1973.[5]
  • In Round 17, Fitzroy hosted its last senior VFL match at the Brunswick Street Oval, its home ground since 1883. A total of 612 VFL matches were played at the venue, including four finals games. Fitzroy began its nomadic journey of playing at various grounds over the next thirty years following its departure from Brunswick Street: Princes Park (twice), Junction Oval, Victoria Park, and Western (Whitten) Oval.
  • After the home-and-away season was finished, Richmond's reserves and under-19s teams were stripped of any premiership points earned in matches in which they fielded Frank Loughran, an unregistered player from the Latrobe Valley. The reserves team, which went through the entire season undefeated, was stripped of twelve premiership points; it fell from first to second on the ladder, but still went on to win the premiership. The under-19s team was stripped of 28 premiership points, and dropped out of the final four as a result.[6]
  • At the end of the season South Melbourne's captain-coach, Bob Skilton, resigned as coach in the belief that he could do more for the club by continuing to lead the players on the field.

See also

References

  1. Of the twenty players selected to play for Essendon, (see ) twelve of them — Greg Brown, Jack Clarke, Barry Davis, Kevin Egan, Ted Fordham, Ken Fraser, Darryl Gerlach, Geoff Gosper, Graeme Johnston, Don McKenzie, Hugh Mitchell, and Geoff Pryor — had grown up in the Essendon district (also, another two "locals", Russell Blew, and Barry Capuano had played and five and six senior games, respectively, that season) (see ).
  2. Rex Pullen (26 September 1966). "Hart clinched Tigers' win". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne, VIC. p. 42.
  3. Bob Crimeen (1 August 1966). "Angle on rectangle". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne, VIC. p. 42.
  4. "New rules in night series". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne, VIC. 18 August 1966. p. 46.
  5. "Rule changes 1858-2013". Australian Football League. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  6. "Richmond out of under-19 four". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne, VIC. 31 August 1966. p. 63.
  • 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
  • Strevens, S., Bob Rose: A Dignified Life, Allen & Unwin, (Crows Nest), 2004. ISBN 1-74114-465-5
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