1902 VFL season

1902 VFL premiership season
Collingwood 1902 VFL premiership team
Date	3 May – 20 September 1902
Teams	8
Premiers	Collingwood 1st premiership
Minor premiers	Collingwood 1st minor premiership
Leading goalkicker medallist	Charlie Baker (St Kilda) 30 goals
Matches played	72
←  1901 1903  →

The 1902 VFL season was the sixth season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured eight clubs and ran from 3 May to 20 September, comprising a 17-round home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

Collingwood won the premiership, defeating Essendon by 33 points in the 1902 VFL grand final; it was Collingwood's first VFL premiership. Collingwood also won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 15–2 win–loss record. St Kilda's Charlie Baker won the leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

Background

In 1902, the VFL competition consisted of eight 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 14 rounds. Then, based on ladder positions after those 14 rounds, three further 'sectional rounds' were played, with the teams ranked 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th playing in one section and the teams ranked 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th playing in the other.

Once the 17 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1902 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended Argus system.

Home-and-away season

Round 1

	Round 1
Saturday, 3 May (3:00 pm)	Carlton 6.4 (40)	def. by	Geelong 11.12 (78)	Princes Park
Saturday, 3 May (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 3.7 (25)	def. by	Collingwood 5.13 (43)	Lake Oval
Saturday, 3 May (3:00 pm)	Essendon 5.9 (39)	def. by	Fitzroy 7.10 (52)	East Melbourne Cricket Ground
Saturday, 3 May (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 15.15 (105)	def.	St Kilda 7.9 (51)	Melbourne Cricket Ground

Round 2

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
St Kilda	5.6 (36)	Fitzroy	14.20 (104)	Junction Oval	10 May 1902
Geelong	3.6 (24)	Essendon	10.17 (77)	Corio Oval	10 May 1902
Melbourne	4.10 (34)	Collingwood	8.3 (51)	MCG	10 May 1902
South Melbourne	8.13 (61)	Carlton	0.8 (8)	Lake Oval	10 May 1902

Round 3

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Fitzroy	8.10 (58)	South Melbourne	8.4 (52)	Brunswick Street Oval	17 May 1902
Essendon	7.6 (48)	Melbourne	3.7 (25)	EMCG	17 May 1902
Collingwood	11.15 (81)	Geelong	3.2 (20)	Victoria Park	17 May 1902
St Kilda	2.13 (25)	Carlton	4.9 (33)	Junction Oval	17 May 1902

Round 4

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Geelong	11.11 (77)	St Kilda	5.3 (33)	Corio Oval	24 May 1902
Essendon	5.8 (38)	South Melbourne	4.11 (35)	EMCG	24 May 1902
Collingwood	3.4 (22)	Fitzroy	7.13 (55)	Victoria Park	24 May 1902
Carlton	6.13 (49)	Melbourne	8.12 (60)	Princes Park	24 May 1902

Round 5

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Geelong	5.14 (44)	South Melbourne	3.9 (27)	Corio Oval	31 May 1902
Fitzroy	7.17 (59)	Melbourne	6.10 (46)	Brunswick Street Oval	31 May 1902
St Kilda	5.5 (35)	Collingwood	5.12 (42)	Junction Oval	31 May 1902
Essendon	7.16 (58)	Carlton	5.8 (38)	EMCG	31 May 1902

Round 6

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Collingwood	6.15 (51)	Essendon	11.10 (76)	Victoria Park	7 June 1902
Carlton	4.6 (30)	Fitzroy	9.14 (68)	Princes Park	7 June 1902
South Melbourne	5.13 (43)	St Kilda	1.3 (9)	Lake Oval	7 June 1902
Melbourne	2.13 (25)	Geelong	3.8 (26)	MCG	7 June 1902

Round 7

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Melbourne	7.5 (47)	South Melbourne	6.10 (46)	MCG	9 June 1902
Fitzroy	8.14 (62)	Geelong	3.8 (26)	Brunswick Street Oval	9 June 1902
St Kilda	6.4 (40)	Essendon	10.4 (64)	Junction Oval	9 June 1902
Collingwood	8.11 (59)	Carlton	3.3 (21)	Victoria Park	9 June 1902

Round 8

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Collingwood	4.26 (50)	South Melbourne	1.8 (14)	Victoria Park	14 June 1902
St Kilda	3.6 (24)	Melbourne	8.7 (55)	Junction Oval	14 June 1902
Fitzroy	5.12 (42)	Essendon	7.6 (48)	Brunswick Street Oval	14 June 1902
Geelong	6.7 (43)	Carlton	7.5 (47)	Corio Oval	14 June 1902

Round 9

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Fitzroy	12.8 (80)	St Kilda	2.7 (19)	Brunswick Street Oval	21 June 1902
Essendon	2.3 (15)	Geelong	4.10 (34)	EMCG	21 June 1902
Collingwood	7.19 (61)	Melbourne	4.7 (31)	Victoria Park	21 June 1902
Carlton	4.7 (31)	South Melbourne	2.6 (18)	Princes Park	21 June 1902

Round 10

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Carlton	10.12 (72)	St Kilda	7.7 (49)	Princes Park	5 July 1902
South Melbourne	6.10 (46)	Fitzroy	4.10 (34)	Lake Oval	5 July 1902
Melbourne	3.9 (27)	Essendon	6.12 (48)	MCG	5 July 1902
Geelong	6.8 (44)	Collingwood	12.12 (84)	Corio Oval	5 July 1902

Round 11

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
St Kilda	4.9 (33)	Geelong	7.7 (49)	Junction Oval	12 July 1902
South Melbourne	5.6 (36)	Essendon	6.7 (43)	Lake Oval	12 July 1902
Fitzroy	6.9 (45)	Collingwood	9.14 (68)	Brunswick Street Oval	12 July 1902
Melbourne	4.12 (36)	Carlton	4.9 (33)	MCG	12 July 1902

Round 12

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Collingwood	19.13 (127)	St Kilda	1.4 (10)	Victoria Park	19 July 1902
Carlton	4.9 (33)	Essendon	1.10 (16)	Princes Park	19 July 1902
South Melbourne	7.13 (55)	Geelong	6.9 (45)	Lake Oval	19 July 1902
Melbourne	5.7 (37)	Fitzroy	4.9 (33)	MCG	19 July 1902

Round 13

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
St Kilda	2.10 (22)	South Melbourne	5.7 (37)	Junction Oval	26 July 1902
Geelong	8.6 (54)	Melbourne	3.9 (27)	Corio Oval	26 July 1902
Essendon	5.6 (36)	Collingwood	7.5 (47)	EMCG	26 July 1902
Fitzroy	4.6 (30)	Carlton	6.8 (44)	Brunswick Street Oval	26 July 1902

Round 14

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Essendon	12.12 (84)	St Kilda	3.4 (22)	EMCG	2 August 1902
Carlton	2.3 (15)	Collingwood	7.10 (52)	Princes Park	2 August 1902
South Melbourne	3.9 (27)	Melbourne	9.9 (63)	Lake Oval	2 August 1902
Geelong	5.10 (40)	Fitzroy	9.7 (61)	Corio Oval	2 August 1902

Pre-sectional ladder

	Section A
	Section B

#	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Collingwood	14	12	2	0	838	461	181.8	48
2	Essendon	14	10	4	0	690	506	136.4	40
3	Fitzroy	14	9	5	0	783	553	141.6	36
4	Melbourne	14	7	7	0	618	610	101.3	28
5	Geelong	14	7	7	0	604	667	90.6	28
6	Carlton	14	6	8	0	494	653	75.7	24
7	South Melbourne	14	5	9	0	522	535	97.6	20
8	St Kilda	14	0	14	0	408	972	42.0	0

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Source: AFL Tables

Round 15 (Sectional round 1)

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Melbourne	7.5 (47)	Carlton	1.7 (13)	MCG	16 August 1902
Collingwood	12.12 (84)	South Melbourne	5.14 (44)	Victoria Park	16 August 1902
St Kilda	3.5 (23)	Essendon	10.12 (72)	Junction Oval	16 August 1902
Geelong	5.6 (36)	Fitzroy	6.15 (51)	Corio Oval	16 August 1902

Round 16 (Sectional round 2)

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Carlton	6.11 (47)	St Kilda	3.6 (24)	Princes Park	23 August 1902
Fitzroy	5.4 (34)	Collingwood	13.9 (87)	Brunswick Street Oval	23 August 1902
Essendon	11.11 (77)	Melbourne	8.8 (56)	MCG	23 August 1902
South Melbourne	12.12 (84)	Geelong	5.9 (39)	Lake Oval	23 August 1902

Round 17 (Sectional round 3)

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date
Carlton	5.10 (40)	Essendon	7.4 (46)	Princes Park	30 August 1902
Collingwood	16.16 (112)	Geelong	2.11 (23)	Victoria Park	30 August 1902
Fitzroy	6.10 (46)	South Melbourne	7.8 (50)	Brunswick Street Oval	30 August 1902
Melbourne	10.9 (69)	St Kilda	5.5 (35)	MCG	30 August 1902

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
	Qualified for finals

#	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Collingwood (P)	17	15	2	0	1121	562	199.5	60
2	Essendon	17	13	4	0	885	625	141.6	52
3	Fitzroy	17	10	7	0	914	726	125.9	40
4	Melbourne	17	9	8	0	800	735	108.8	36
5	South Melbourne	17	7	10	0	700	704	99.4	28
6	Carlton	17	7	10	0	594	770	77.1	28
7	Geelong	17	7	10	0	702	914	76.8	28
8	St Kilda	17	0	17	0	490	1170	41.9	0

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 45.6
Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

Semi-finals

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date	Attendance
Essendon	9.7 (61)	Melbourne	7.9 (51)	Princes Park	6 September 1902	8,000
Collingwood	6.12 (48)	Fitzroy	9.10 (64)	MCG	6 September 1902	13,000

Preliminary final

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Date	Attendance
Fitzroy	4.10 (34)	Essendon	6.9 (45)	MCG	13 September 1902	26,000

Grand final

Main article: 1902 VFL grand final

	Grand final
Saturday, 20 September (2:50 pm)	Collingwood 9.6 (60)	def.	Essendon 3.9 (27)	Melbourne Cricket Ground (crowd: 35,202)

Win–loss table

The following table can be sorted from biggest winning margin to biggest losing margin for each round. If two or more matches in a round are decided by the same margin, these margins are sorted by percentage (i.e. the lowest-scoring winning team is ranked highest and the lowest-scoring losing team is ranked lowest). Opponents are listed above the margins and home matches are in bold.

By having the best overall record for the season following the second week of finals, Collingwood won the right to challenge the preliminary final winner for the premiership. ^[1]

+	Win		Qualified for finals
−	Loss		Eliminated
X	Bye

Team	Home-and-away season																	Ladder	Finals series
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17		SF	PF	GF
Carlton	GEE −38	SM −53	STK +8	MEL −11	ESS −20	FIT −38	COL −38	GEE +4	SM +13	STK +23	MEL −3	ESS +17	FIT +14	COL −37	MEL −34	STK +23	ESS −6	6 (7–10–0)
Collingwood	SM +18	MEL +17	GEE +61	FIT −33	STK +7	ESS −25	CAR +38	SM +36	MEL +30	GEE +40	FIT +23	STK +117	ESS +11	CAR +37	SM +40	FIT +53	GEE +89	1 (15–2–0)	FIT −16	X	ESS +33
Essendon	FIT −13	GEE +53	MEL +23	SM +3	CAR +20	COL +25	STK +24	FIT +6	GEE −19	MEL +21	SM +7	CAR −17	COL −11	STK +62	STK +49	MEL +21	CAR +6	2 (13–4–0)	MEL +10	FIT +11	COL −33
Fitzroy	ESS +13	STK +68	SM +6	COL +33	MEL +13	CAR +38	GEE +36	ESS −6	STK +61	SM −12	COL −23	MEL −4	CAR −14	GEE +21	GEE +15	COL −53	SM −4	3 (10–7–0)	COL +16	ESS −11
Geelong	CAR +38	ESS −53	COL −61	STK +44	SM +17	MEL +1	FIT −36	CAR −4	ESS +19	COL −40	STK +16	SM −10	MEL +27	FIT −21	FIT −15	SM −45	COL −89	7 (7–10–0)
Melbourne	STK +54	COL −17	ESS −23	CAR +11	FIT −13	GEE −1	SM +1	STK +31	COL −30	ESS −21	CAR +3	FIT +4	GEE −27	SM +36	CAR +34	ESS −21	STK +44	4 (9–8–0)	ESS −10
South Melbourne	COL −18	CAR +53	FIT −6	ESS −3	GEE −17	STK +34	MEL −1	COL −36	CAR −13	FIT +12	ESS −7	GEE +10	STK +15	MEL −36	COL −40	GEE +45	FIT +4	5 (7–10–0)
St Kilda	MEL −54	FIT −68	CAR −8	GEE −44	COL −7	SM −34	ESS −24	MEL −31	FIT −61	CAR −23	GEE −16	COL −117	SM −15	ESS −62	ESS −49	CAR −23	MEL −44	8 (0–17–0)

Source: AFL Tables

Season notes

• The VFL instituted the amended Argus system to determine the season's premiers.
• St Kilda finished last without a win, their sixth consecutive wooden spoon, and seven games behind second-last Geelong, both VFL/AFL records.
• In each of Rounds 8 and 10, while Essendon champion Albert Thurgood was serving a three-match suspension for striking, one of his team-mates took the field each week under the nom de guerre "Goodthur"; the name was used (in quote marks) in all news reports of the matches. Football historians Michael Maplestone and Stephen Rogers, through a process of elimination, determined that Goodthur was most likely Fred Mann, and official statistics reflect this. ^[2]
• Collingwood's Charlie Pannam becomes the first VFL player to play 100 VFL games (at the end of the 1902 season, he had played in 104 of the 106 VFL games that Collingwood had played since the VFL's first round of games in 1897).

Awards

• The 1902 VFL Premiership team was Collingwood.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker in the home-and-away season was Charlie Baker of St Kilda with 30 goals; St Kilda kicked only 64 goals for the year, of which Baker kicked 46.9%, and Baker's proportion of his team's goals is a VFL/AFL record. Including finals, Ted Rowell of Collingwood scored the most goals with 33.

References

1. Rodgers, Stephen (1992). Every Game Ever Played, VFL/AFL Results 1897–1991 (3rd ed.). Ringwood, Victoria: Viking O'Neal.
2. (Maplestone (1996) p.61).

• Hogan, P., The Tigers Of Old, The Richmond Football Club, (Richmond), 1996. ISBN   0-646-18748-1
• 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

Sources

• 1902 VFL season at AFL Tables
• 1902 VFL season at Australian Football