1923 VFL season

1923 VFL premiership season
Essendon Football Club, Premiers
Teams	9
Premiers	Essendon 5th premiership
Minor premiers	Essendon 3rd minor premiership
Leading Goalkicker Medallist	Greg Stockdale (Essendon)
Matches played	76
Highest	56,240
←  1922 1924  →

The 1923 VFL season was the 27th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs, ran from 5 May until 20 October, and comprised a 16-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.

The premiership was won by the Essendon Football Club for the fifth time, after it defeated Fitzroy by 17 points in the 1923 VFL Grand Final.

Background

In 1923, the VFL competition had 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 1923 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".

Home-and-away season

Round 1

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Melbourne	7.8 (50)	Richmond	7.13 (55)	MCG	17,939	5 May 1923
Essendon	15.13 (103)	St Kilda	8.12 (60)	Windy Hill	20,000	5 May 1923
South Melbourne	12.7 (79)	Collingwood	16.5 (101)	Lake Oval	16,000	5 May 1923
Fitzroy	11.13 (79)	Carlton	8.8 (56)	Brunswick Street Oval	30,000	5 May 1923

Round 2

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Geelong	5.22 (52)	Melbourne	11.14 (80)	Corio Oval	10,000	12 May 1923
Fitzroy	9.11 (65)	South Melbourne	9.9 (63)	Brunswick Street Oval	12,000	12 May 1923
Collingwood	9.11 (65)	Essendon	12.7 (79)	Victoria Park	30,000	12 May 1923
Carlton	8.8 (56)	St Kilda	14.16 (100)	Princes Park	15,000	12 May 1923

Round 3

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Geelong	10.11 (71)	Fitzroy	8.13 (61)	Corio Oval	12,000	19 May 1923
South Melbourne	4.15 (39)	Essendon	6.13 (49)	Lake Oval	20,000	19 May 1923
St Kilda	10.9 (69)	Collingwood	6.12 (48)	Junction Oval	20,000	19 May 1923
Richmond	7.10 (52)	Carlton	8.12 (60)	Punt Road Oval	15,000	19 May 1923

Round 4

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Richmond	8.8 (56)	St Kilda	8.13 (61)	Punt Road Oval	20,000	26 May 1923
Melbourne	11.18 (84)	South Melbourne	6.13 (49)	MCG	15,232	26 May 1923
Collingwood	16.23 (119)	Geelong	10.12 (72)	Victoria Park	12,000	26 May 1923
Carlton	9.11 (65)	Essendon	14.19 (103)	Princes Park	33,000	26 May 1923

Round 5

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Essendon	4.13 (37)	Fitzroy	8.12 (60)	Windy Hill	35,000	2 June 1923
St Kilda	8.15 (63)	Melbourne	12.13 (85)	Junction Oval	26,000	2 June 1923
Collingwood	11.16 (82)	Richmond	5.14 (44)	Victoria Park	22,000	4 June 1923
South Melbourne	13.11 (89)	Geelong	10.15 (75)	Lake Oval	12,000	4 June 1923

Round 6

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Geelong	7.16 (58)	St Kilda	6.10 (46)	Corio Oval	9,500	9 June 1923
Fitzroy	11.11 (77)	Melbourne	9.16 (70)	Brunswick Street Oval	18,000	9 June 1923
Carlton	5.19 (49)	South Melbourne	7.9 (51)	Princes Park	20,000	9 June 1923
Richmond	9.11 (65)	Essendon	12.15 (87)	Punt Road Oval	16,000	9 June 1923

Round 7

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Geelong	6.14 (50)	Richmond	8.8 (56)	Corio Oval	11,500	16 June 1923
St Kilda	4.14 (38)	Fitzroy	9.20 (74)	Junction Oval	17,000	16 June 1923
Melbourne	8.12 (60)	Essendon	11.8 (74)	MCG	29,979	16 June 1923
Collingwood	10.15 (75)	Carlton	6.14 (50)	Victoria Park	18,000	16 June 1923

Round 8

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Essendon	14.13 (97)	Geelong	8.6 (54)	Windy Hill	13,000	23 June 1923
South Melbourne	12.13 (85)	Richmond	4.10 (34)	Lake Oval	20,000	23 June 1923
Fitzroy	7.11 (53)	Collingwood	7.5 (47)	Brunswick Street Oval	20,000	23 June 1923
Melbourne	9.11 (65)	Carlton	11.8 (74)	MCG	17,558	23 June 1923

Round 9

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
St Kilda	7.14 (56)	South Melbourne	6.9 (45)	Junction Oval	20,000	7 July 1923
Collingwood	11.10 (76)	Melbourne	6.6 (42)	Victoria Park	8,000	7 July 1923
Carlton	13.10 (88)	Geelong	13.15 (93)	Princes Park	12,000	7 July 1923
Richmond	6.15 (51)	Fitzroy	10.10 (70)	Punt Road Oval	15,000	7 July 1923

Round 10

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Collingwood	8.8 (56)	South Melbourne	11.11 (77)	Victoria Park	15,000	14 July 1923
Carlton	13.8 (86)	Fitzroy	12.13 (85)	Princes Park	26,000	14 July 1923
Richmond	11.17 (83)	Melbourne	11.12 (78)	Punt Road Oval	11,000	14 July 1923
St Kilda	5.5 (35)	Essendon	1.12 (18)	Junction Oval	24,000	14 July 1923

Round 11

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Melbourne	8.8 (56)	Geelong	10.15 (75)	MCG	9,353	21 July 1923
South Melbourne	8.12 (60)	Fitzroy	8.8 (56)	Lake Oval	23,000	21 July 1923
Essendon	13.13 (91)	Collingwood	7.9 (51)	Windy Hill	15,000	21 July 1923
St Kilda	7.14 (56)	Carlton	6.11 (47)	Junction Oval	28,000	21 July 1923

Round 12

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Fitzroy	6.11 (47)	Geelong	7.10 (52)	Brunswick Street Oval	12,000	28 July 1923
Essendon	10.8 (68)	South Melbourne	7.9 (51)	Windy Hill	25,000	28 July 1923
Collingwood	6.7 (43)	St Kilda	4.7 (31)	Victoria Park	20,000	28 July 1923
Carlton	8.11 (59)	Richmond	5.10 (40)	Princes Park	14,000	28 July 1923

Round 13

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
St Kilda	8.12 (60)	Richmond	3.7 (25)	Junction Oval	18,000	4 August 1923
South Melbourne	9.13 (67)	Melbourne	5.11 (41)	Lake Oval	12,000	4 August 1923
Geelong	9.18 (72)	Collingwood	3.8 (26)	Corio Oval	15,000	4 August 1923
Essendon	15.13 (103)	Carlton	5.7 (37)	Windy Hill	25,000	4 August 1923

Round 14

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Melbourne	6.13 (49)	St Kilda	11.18 (84)	MCG	15,599	11 August 1923
Geelong	8.15 (63)	South Melbourne	10.10 (70)	Corio Oval	17,000	11 August 1923
Fitzroy	10.18 (78)	Essendon	8.9 (57)	Brunswick Street Oval	34,000	11 August 1923
Richmond	11.10 (76)	Collingwood	6.19 (55)	Punt Road Oval	12,000	11 August 1923

Round 15

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Essendon	9.8 (62)	Richmond	8.6 (54)	Windy Hill	18,000	25 August 1923
St Kilda	9.17 (71)	Geelong	13.9 (87)	Junction Oval	30,000	25 August 1923
Melbourne	7.4 (46)	Fitzroy	11.14 (80)	MCG	12,146	25 August 1923
South Melbourne	10.8 (68)	Carlton	13.11 (89)	Lake Oval	20,000	25 August 1923

Round 16

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Fitzroy	13.19 (97)	St Kilda	9.15 (69)	Brunswick Street Oval	23,000	1 September 1923
Essendon	13.20 (98)	Melbourne	6.5 (41)	Windy Hill	10,000	1 September 1923
Carlton	10.12 (72)	Collingwood	10.12 (72)	Princes Park	18,000	1 September 1923
Richmond	10.19 (79)	Geelong	13.13 (91)	Punt Road Oval	18,000	1 September 1923

Round 17

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Richmond	8.7 (55)	South Melbourne	14.16 (100)	Punt Road Oval	25,000	8 September 1923
Collingwood	12.12 (84)	Fitzroy	6.13 (49)	Victoria Park	20,000	8 September 1923
Carlton	9.20 (74)	Melbourne	7.4 (46)	Princes Park	12,000	8 September 1923
Geelong	9.6 (60)	Essendon	8.14 (62)	Corio Oval	20,000	8 September 1923

Round 18

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Fitzroy	13.11 (89)	Richmond	11.15 (81)	Brunswick Street Oval	9,000	15 September 1923
South Melbourne	8.20 (68)	St Kilda	7.6 (48)	Lake Oval	40,441	15 September 1923
Melbourne	11.21 (87)	Collingwood	21.12 (138)	MCG	9,414	15 September 1923
Geelong	15.13 (103)	Carlton	4.14 (38)	Corio Oval	16,000	15 September 1923

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
	Qualified for finals

#	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Essendon (P)	16	13	3	0	1188	875	135.8	52
2	Fitzroy	16	11	5	0	1120	968	115.7	44
3	South Melbourne	16	9	7	0	1061	989	107.3	36
4	Geelong	16	9	7	0	1128	1085	104.0	36
5	Collingwood	16	8	7	1	1138	1043	109.1	34
6	St Kilda	16	8	8	0	947	959	98.7	32
7	Carlton	16	6	9	1	1000	1191	84.0	26
8	Richmond	16	4	12	0	906	1139	79.5	16
9	Melbourne	16	3	13	0	980	1219	80.4	12

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 65.8
Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

Semi-finals

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Fitzroy	14.13 (97)	Geelong	8.14 (62)	MCG	56,240	22 September 1923
Essendon	8.9 (57)	South Melbourne	10.14 (74)	MCG	55,614	29 September 1923

Preliminary final

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
South Melbourne	6.7 (43)	Fitzroy	7.13 (55)	MCG	55,039	6 October 1923

Grand final

Main article: 1923 VFL Grand Final

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Essendon	8.15 (63)	Fitzroy	6.10 (46)	MCG	46,566	20 October 1923

Season notes

• New scoreboards are erected at each home ground by the VFL's publication, The Football Record. With the help of a key published in that Saturday afternoon's Record, spectators can decipher the coded quarter-by-quarter scores of the other three matches as they appear on these scoreboards throughout the afternoon.
• After the round 13 match against Essendon at Windy Hill, at an after-match function in the Essendon rooms, Carlton rover George Bolt and backman Jack Morrissey (who had not played in that game) came to blows. The Carlton Committee met the next day and suspended both players indefinitely. Bolt never played for Carlton again (he reappeared with Hawthorn in 1925, then he played for North Melbourne in 1926 and 1927); Jack Morrissey played his next game for Carlton on 27 June 1925 (round 9).
• The 1922 Victorian Interstate team captain, and Carlton star ruckman, Bert Boromeo was overheard being intensely critical of the Carlton captain-coach Horrie Clover at the same function. The Carlton Committee was upset at such behaviour occurring on the premises of another club, and suspended Boromeo immediately; eventually, in 1926, Carlton cleared Boromeo to Richmond for whom he played 14 games.
• Following Geelong's two-point loss against Essendon in Round 17, Geelong protested the result and sought that the game be replayed, arguing that the game had been played short of its full duration because the umpire had failed to blow time on on several occasions. Although the timekeepers agreed that the final quarter had been played at least 90 seconds short of full time, the protest was dismissed. ^[1]
• The Essendon Premiership team was known as the "Mosquito Fleet", due to the number of small, very fast players in the side. Six were 5'6" (167 cm) or less: Charlie Hardy 5'1" (155 cm), who played his first VFL game at the age of 34, George Shorten 5'5" (165 cm), Jack Garden 5'5" (165 cm), Frank Maher 5'6" (167.5 cm), Vince Irwin 5'6" (167.5 cm), and Jimmy Sullivan 5'6" (167.5 cm).
• In Round 10 against St. Kilda, Essendon kicked the season's lowest score, but they still won the premiership. They became the first premier team to have also kicked the season's lowest score, an occurrence replicated in 1968, 1970, 1992 and 1995.
• The Challenge Final match had to be postponed for a week as the Melbourne Cricket Ground was under water due to intense rain. This meant that the Challenge Final was played on Saturday 20 October 1923, Caulfield Cup Day.

Awards

• The 1923 VFL Premiership team was Essendon.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker was Greg Stockdale of Essendon with 68 goals.
• Melbourne took the "wooden spoon" in 1923.
• The Victorian Junior League premiership, which is today recognised as the VFL reserves, was won by Geelong (main: 1923 VJFL season).

References

1. "Geelong protest dismissed". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 15 September 1923. p. 38.

• 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

Sources

• 1923 VFL season at AFL Tables
• 1923 VFL season at Australian Football