1940 VFL season

1940 VFL premiership season
Melbourne Football Club, premiers
Teams	12
Premiers	Melbourne 4th premiership
Minor premiers	Melbourne 2nd minor premiership
Brownlow Medallist	Des Fothergill (Collingwood) Herbie Matthews (South Melbourne)
Leading Goalkicker Medallist	Jack Titus (Richmond)
Matches played	112
Highest	70,330
←  1939 1941  →

The 1940 VFL season was the 44th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 27 April until 28 September, and comprised an 18-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.

The premiership was won by the Melbourne Football Club for the fourth time and second time consecutively, after it defeated Richmond by 39 points in the 1940 VFL Grand Final.

Background

In 1940, 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 1940 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system.

Home-and-away season

Round 1

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Hawthorn	25.11 (161)	North Melbourne	13.11 (89)	Glenferrie Oval	14,000	27 April 1940
Fitzroy	13.13 (91)	St Kilda	10.20 (80)	Brunswick Street Oval	20,000	27 April 1940
Essendon	18.17 (125)	Melbourne	16.12 (108)	Windy Hill	23,000	27 April 1940
Richmond	14.19 (103)	Footscray	17.13 (115)	Punt Road Oval	24,000	27 April 1940
South Melbourne	11.14 (80)	Collingwood	13.14 (92)	Lake Oval	18,000	27 April 1940
Geelong	9.18 (72)	Carlton	12.27 (99)	Corio Oval	12,000	27 April 1940

Round 2

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Melbourne	18.14 (122)	Richmond	14.15 (99)	MCG	20,044	4 May 1940
Collingwood	11.13 (79)	Geelong	14.10 (94)	Victoria Park	11,000	4 May 1940
Carlton	15.19 (109)	South Melbourne	12.5 (77)	Princes Park	19,000	4 May 1940
St Kilda	12.25 (97)	Hawthorn	7.13 (55)	Junction Oval	17,000	4 May 1940
North Melbourne	15.16 (106)	Fitzroy	7.9 (51)	Arden Street Oval	11,000	4 May 1940
Footscray	17.9 (111)	Essendon	9.12 (66)	Western Oval	25,000	4 May 1940

Round 3

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Hawthorn	15.12 (102)	Richmond	19.15 (129)	Glenferrie Oval	16,000	11 May 1940
Essendon	12.14 (86)	South Melbourne	10.15 (75)	Windy Hill	16,000	11 May 1940
St Kilda	12.12 (84)	North Melbourne	9.11 (65)	Junction Oval	15,500	11 May 1940
Melbourne	20.21 (141)	Footscray	15.12 (102)	MCG	30,867	11 May 1940
Geelong	16.19 (115)	Fitzroy	13.8 (86)	Corio Oval	8,500	11 May 1940
Collingwood	18.19 (127)	Carlton	12.18 (90)	Victoria Park	23,000	11 May 1940

Round 4

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Footscray	9.16 (70)	St Kilda	13.14 (92)	Western Oval	16,000	18 May 1940
Carlton	13.12 (90)	Melbourne	16.20 (116)	Princes Park	18,000	18 May 1940
South Melbourne	22.13 (145)	Hawthorn	16.10 (106)	Lake Oval	9,000	18 May 1940
Richmond	17.15 (117)	Geelong	11.6 (72)	Punt Road Oval	13,000	18 May 1940
Fitzroy	12.15 (87)	Essendon	10.16 (76)	Brunswick Street Oval	13,000	18 May 1940
North Melbourne	14.15 (99)	Collingwood	10.15 (75)	Arden Street Oval	11,000	18 May 1940

Round 5

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Geelong	12.21 (93)	South Melbourne	10.12 (72)	Corio Oval	5,000	25 May 1940
Fitzroy	8.14 (62)	Richmond	12.11 (83)	Brunswick Street Oval	14,000	25 May 1940
Essendon	12.18 (90)	Hawthorn	9.19 (73)	Windy Hill	12,000	25 May 1940
North Melbourne	7.11 (53)	Footscray	9.12 (66)	Arden Street Oval	13,000	25 May 1940
Melbourne	17.12 (114)	Collingwood	13.20 (98)	MCG	20,043	25 May 1940
St Kilda	6.18 (54)	Carlton	11.19 (85)	Junction Oval	21,000	25 May 1940

Round 6

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Richmond	17.10 (112)	St Kilda	11.10 (76)	Punt Road Oval	20,000	1 June 1940
Hawthorn	12.15 (87)	Melbourne	11.15 (81)	Glenferrie Oval	8,000	1 June 1940
Footscray	10.6 (66)	Geelong	10.14 (74)	Western Oval	12,000	1 June 1940
Collingwood	12.13 (85)	Essendon	11.17 (83)	Victoria Park	11,000	1 June 1940
Carlton	10.16 (76)	Fitzroy	8.14 (62)	Princes Park	16,000	1 June 1940
South Melbourne	16.9 (105)	North Melbourne	16.8 (104)	Lake Oval	9,000	1 June 1940

Round 7

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Richmond	13.16 (94)	South Melbourne	12.13 (85)	Punt Road Oval	10,000	8 June 1940
Fitzroy	17.11 (113)	Hawthorn	12.14 (86)	Brunswick Street Oval	7,000	8 June 1940
North Melbourne	8.1 (49)	Melbourne	12.34 (106)	Arden Street Oval	5,000	8 June 1940
Geelong	9.13 (67)	Essendon	10.22 (82)	Corio Oval	5,000	8 June 1940
St Kilda	10.12 (72)	Collingwood	13.14 (92)	Junction Oval	13,000	8 June 1940
Footscray	12.18 (90)	Carlton	12.8 (80)	Western Oval	13,000	8 June 1940

Round 8

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Collingwood	6.13 (49)	Richmond	10.15 (75)	Victoria Park	20,000	15 June 1940
South Melbourne	12.9 (81)	St Kilda	10.16 (76)	Lake Oval	12,000	15 June 1940
North Melbourne	8.15 (63)	Geelong	13.20 (98)	Arden Street Oval	5,000	15 June 1940
Hawthorn	8.17 (65)	Footscray	15.20 (110)	Glenferrie Oval	10,000	15 June 1940
Essendon	12.14 (86)	Carlton	8.15 (63)	Windy Hill	16,000	15 June 1940
Melbourne	12.15 (87)	Fitzroy	12.13 (85)	MCG	19,737	17 June 1940

Round 9

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Geelong	12.18 (90)	Hawthorn	6.10 (46)	Corio Oval	4,000	22 June 1940
Fitzroy	10.30 (90)	South Melbourne	10.17 (77)	Brunswick Street Oval	12,000	22 June 1940
Carlton	16.20 (116)	North Melbourne	18.12 (120)	Princes Park	13,000	22 June 1940
St Kilda	16.16 (112)	Melbourne	17.21 (123)	Junction Oval	13,000	22 June 1940
Richmond	12.5 (77)	Essendon	12.10 (82)	Punt Road Oval	19,000	22 June 1940
Footscray	15.10 (100)	Collingwood	12.12 (84)	Western Oval	15,000	22 June 1940

Round 10

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
North Melbourne	13.11 (89)	Richmond	17.16 (118)	Arden Street Oval	11,000	29 June 1940
Footscray	15.15 (105)	South Melbourne	6.10 (46)	Western Oval	14,000	29 June 1940
Collingwood	12.17 (89)	Fitzroy	15.13 (103)	Victoria Park	14,000	29 June 1940
Carlton	13.11 (89)	Hawthorn	13.18 (96)	Princes Park	10,000	29 June 1940
Melbourne	22.19 (151)	Geelong	24.10 (154)	MCG	15,265	29 June 1940
St Kilda	14.18 (102)	Essendon	15.14 (104)	Junction Oval	15,000	29 June 1940

Round 11

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Geelong	12.22 (94)	St Kilda	11.10 (76)	Corio Oval	6,500	6 July 1940
Fitzroy	17.8 (110)	Footscray	14.13 (97)	Brunswick Street Oval	18,000	6 July 1940
Essendon	19.14 (128)	North Melbourne	16.9 (105)	Windy Hill	11,000	6 July 1940
South Melbourne	10.18 (78)	Melbourne	19.16 (130)	Lake Oval	10,000	6 July 1940
Hawthorn	10.17 (77)	Collingwood	14.17 (101)	Glenferrie Oval	10,000	6 July 1940
Richmond	9.11 (65)	Carlton	9.22 (76)	Punt Road Oval	18,000	6 July 1940

Round 12

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Footscray	12.10 (82)	Richmond	15.10 (100)	Western Oval	11,000	13 July 1940
Collingwood	19.14 (128)	South Melbourne	4.18 (42)	Victoria Park	6,500	13 July 1940
Carlton	11.24 (90)	Geelong	12.19 (91)	Princes Park	9,000	13 July 1940
North Melbourne	11.11 (77)	Hawthorn	9.16 (70)	Arden Street Oval	3,000	13 July 1940
St Kilda	8.11 (59)	Fitzroy	6.12 (48)	Junction Oval	10,000	13 July 1940
Melbourne	17.20 (122)	Essendon	7.12 (54)	MCG	18,640	13 July 1940

Round 13

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Hawthorn	17.17 (119)	St Kilda	8.15 (63)	Glenferrie Oval	8,000	20 July 1940
Fitzroy	16.17 (113)	North Melbourne	9.13 (67)	Brunswick Street Oval	10,000	20 July 1940
Essendon	13.17 (95)	Footscray	13.13 (91)	Windy Hill	17,000	20 July 1940
Richmond	13.9 (87)	Melbourne	13.16 (94)	Punt Road Oval	21,000	20 July 1940
Geelong	23.18 (156)	Collingwood	12.19 (91)	Corio Oval	8,500	20 July 1940
South Melbourne	17.11 (113)	Carlton	14.14 (98)	Lake Oval	8,000	20 July 1940

Round 14

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
North Melbourne	6.11 (47)	St Kilda	13.6 (84)	Arden Street Oval	4,500	27 July 1940
Footscray	12.19 (91)	Melbourne	15.20 (110)	Western Oval	12,000	27 July 1940
Fitzroy	10.27 (87)	Geelong	8.12 (60)	Brunswick Street Oval	17,000	27 July 1940
Carlton	14.18 (102)	Collingwood	13.9 (87)	Princes Park	9,000	27 July 1940
Richmond	11.13 (79)	Hawthorn	12.15 (87)	Punt Road Oval	9,000	27 July 1940
South Melbourne	9.6 (60)	Essendon	7.16 (58)	Lake Oval	10,000	27 July 1940

Round 15

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Hawthorn	10.19 (79)	South Melbourne	10.13 (73)	Glenferrie Oval	8,000	10 August 1940
Geelong	12.15 (87)	Richmond	16.11 (107)	Corio Oval	10,000	10 August 1940
Essendon	10.12 (72)	Fitzroy	10.15 (75)	Windy Hill	18,000	10 August 1940
Collingwood	12.21 (93)	North Melbourne	6.17 (53)	Victoria Park	6,500	10 August 1940
St Kilda	13.9 (87)	Footscray	15.22 (112)	Junction Oval	13,000	10 August 1940
Melbourne	14.12 (96)	Carlton	20.13 (133)	MCG	16,500	10 August 1940

Round 16

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Footscray	17.22 (124)	North Melbourne	8.13 (61)	Western Oval	8,000	17 August 1940
Collingwood	12.18 (90)	Melbourne	16.8 (104)	Victoria Park	8,000	17 August 1940
Carlton	13.14 (92)	St Kilda	6.16 (52)	Princes Park	6,000	17 August 1940
South Melbourne	12.19 (91)	Geelong	13.9 (87)	Lake Oval	7,000	17 August 1940
Richmond	14.15 (99)	Fitzroy	10.11 (71)	Punt Road Oval	22,000	17 August 1940
Hawthorn	11.18 (84)	Essendon	18.12 (120)	Glenferrie Oval	9,000	17 August 1940

Round 17

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
North Melbourne	8.5 (53)	South Melbourne	16.23 (119)	Arden Street Oval	5,000	24 August 1940
St Kilda	10.17 (77)	Richmond	20.15 (135)	Junction Oval	14,000	24 August 1940
Melbourne	26.20 (176)	Hawthorn	8.14 (62)	MCG	8,722	24 August 1940
Geelong	12.17 (89)	Footscray	11.18 (84)	Corio Oval	10,000	24 August 1940
Essendon	12.20 (92)	Collingwood	6.16 (52)	Windy Hill	13,000	24 August 1940
Fitzroy	10.11 (71)	Carlton	21.14 (140)	Brunswick Street Oval	20,000	24 August 1940

Round 18

Home team	Home team score	Away team	Away team score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Melbourne	18.21 (129)	North Melbourne	11.15 (81)	MCG	5,500	31 August 1940
Essendon	16.16 (112)	Geelong	7.10 (52)	Windy Hill	13,000	31 August 1940
Collingwood	15.19 (109)	St Kilda	10.15 (75)	Victoria Park	6,000	31 August 1940
Carlton	15.12 (102)	Footscray	11.14 (80)	Princes Park	9,000	31 August 1940
South Melbourne	8.13 (61)	Richmond	16.12 (108)	Lake Oval	17,000	31 August 1940
Hawthorn	13.16 (94)	Fitzroy	5.8 (38)	Glenferrie Oval	5,500	31 August 1940

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
	Qualified for finals

#	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Melbourne (P)	18	14	4	0	2110	1677	125.8	56
2	Richmond	18	12	6	0	1787	1489	120.0	48
3	Essendon	18	12	6	0	1611	1489	108.2	48
4	Geelong	18	11	7	0	1645	1599	102.9	44
5	Carlton	18	10	8	0	1730	1555	111.3	40
6	Footscray	18	9	9	0	1696	1558	108.9	36
7	Fitzroy	18	9	9	0	1443	1563	92.3	36
8	Collingwood	18	8	10	0	1621	1611	100.6	32
9	Hawthorn	18	7	11	0	1549	1760	88.0	28
10	South Melbourne	18	7	11	0	1480	1696	87.3	28
11	St Kilda	18	5	13	0	1418	1634	86.8	20
12	North Melbourne	18	4	14	0	1381	1840	75.1	16

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 90.1
Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

Semi-finals

Home team	Score	Away team	Score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Essendon	13.14 (92)	Geelong	10.14 (74)	MCG	44,187	7 September
Melbourne	14.17 (101)	Richmond	16.11 (107)	MCG	54,763	14 September

Preliminary final

Home team	Score	Away team	Score	Venue	Crowd	Date
Melbourne	12.18 (90)	Essendon	12.13 (85)	MCG	47,348	21 September

Grand final

Main article: 1940 VFL Grand Final

Season notes

• In April 1940, Essendon adopted the nickname The Bombers. ^[1]
• In Round 7, Melbourne set a new record for most behinds in a match, kicking 34 behinds in a score of 12.34 (106). This record stood until 1977. ^[2]
• The Round 10 match between Melbourne and Geelong produced an aggregate score of 46.29 (305). It was the first VFL match ever to see an aggregate of more than 300 points scored.
• The VFL suspended its round 15 matches and conducted a one-day lightning carnival, known as the Patriotic Premiership, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday 3 August 1940 to raise money for the war effort. Each match was played over a single twenty-minute period without time-on. ^[3] St Kilda 4.2 (26) defeated Richmond 0.2 (2) in the final. The carnival raised almost £3,000 for the war effort.
• The ANFC decided to cancel the 1940 Interstate Carnival, which was scheduled to have been held in Hobart, because of the war.
• In one of the most rugged seasons ever, 47 players were reported to the VFL Tribunal. ^[4]
• In the last quarter of the Grand Final, Jack Titus scored a goal with his last kick, bringing his season's total to 100 goals.

Awards

• The 1940 VFL Premiership team was Melbourne.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker was Jack "Skinny" Titus of Richmond with 92 goals (100 after finals).
• The joint winners of the 1940 Brownlow Medal were Herbie Matthews of South Melbourne and Des Fothergill of Collingwood with 32 votes each.
  • The rules of the award stated that there was only one medal to be awarded in any one season. A count-back revealed that each had the same number of 3, 2, and 1 votes; and, although the controversy associated with such a criterion being applied in the case of Stan Judkins in 1930 meant that it was never used again, having played the whole 18 home-and-away matches each, they could not have been separated on the basis of the number of matches played anyway.
  • The VFL announced the tied result and neither player received a medallion, but as a consequence of its 1981 decision to change its rules relating to tied Brownlow Medal contests, the AFL awarded retrospective medals to Matthews and Fothergill in 1989.
• North Melbourne took the "wooden spoon" in 1940.
• The seconds premiership was won by Collingwood. Collingwood 6.16 (52) defeated Carlton 3.12 (30) in the Grand Final, played as a curtain-raiser to the seniors Grand Final on Saturday 28 September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. ^[5]

References

1. Bombing to Victory, The Argus, (Wednesday, 10 April 1940), p. 17.
2. Australian Football League: Most Behinds
3. Taylor, Percy (2 August 1940), "Unique competition", The Argus, Melbourne, p. 14
4. VFL Tribunal 1940, Boyles Football Photos
5. "Collingwood Wins League Seconds' Final". The Argus. Melbourne. 30 September 1940. p. 9.

• 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
• 1940 Patriotic Cup – BoylesFootballPhotos

Sources

• 1940 VFL season at AFL Tables
• 1940 VFL season at Australian Football