| 1933 VFL premiership season | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Date | 29 April – 30 September 1933 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers | South Melbourne 3rd premiership |
| Runners-up | Richmond 7th runners-up result |
| Minor premiers | Richmond 2nd minor premiership |
| Brownlow Medallist | Chicken Smallhorn (Fitzroy) 18 votes |
| Leading goalkicker medallist | Bob Pratt (South Melbourne) 102 goals |
| Attendance | |
| Matches played | 112 |
| Total attendance | 1,942,580 (17,344 per match) |
| Highest (H&A) | 43,000 (round 11, Carlton v Richmond) |
| Highest (finals) | 75,754 (grand final, South Melbourne v Richmond) |
The 1933 VFL season was the 37th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs and ran from 29 April to 30 September, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.
South Melbourne won the premiership, defeating Richmond by 42 points in the 1933 VFL grand final; it was South Melbourne's third VFL premiership. Richmond won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 15–3 win–loss record. Fitzroy's Chicken Smallhorn won the Brownlow Medal as the league's best and fairest player, and South Melbourne's Bob Pratt won the leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.
In 1933, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus one substitute player, known as the 19th 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 1933 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system.
| (P) | Premiers |
| Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1746 | 1237 | 141.1 | 60 |
| 2 | South Melbourne (P) | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1764 | 1383 | 127.5 | 52 |
| 3 | Carlton | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1702 | 1488 | 114.4 | 52 |
| 4 | Geelong | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1730 | 1327 | 130.4 | 48 |
| 5 | Fitzroy | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1534 | 1453 | 105.6 | 46 |
| 6 | Collingwood | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1760 | 1559 | 112.9 | 44 |
| 7 | Footscray | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1520 | 1555 | 97.7 | 44 |
| 8 | North Melbourne | 18 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 1463 | 1717 | 85.2 | 30 |
| 9 | St Kilda | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1380 | 1706 | 80.9 | 24 |
| 10 | Melbourne | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 1511 | 1842 | 82.0 | 12 |
| 11 | Hawthorn | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 1178 | 1607 | 73.3 | 12 |
| 12 | Essendon | 18 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 1392 | 1806 | 77.1 | 8 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 86.5
Source: AFL Tables