The 1940 Victorian Football League season was the 44th season of the elite Australian rules football competition.
The Championship of Australia was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested between football clubs from the Victorian, South Australian, West Australian and Tasmanian football leagues. The Championship took place three times in the 19th century and then from 1907 to 1914 with the exception of 1912 and every year from 1968 to 1975. All but two of the Championships were played in Adelaide and all of them occurred after the respective league seasons had ended. The 1975 Championship of Australia was the last edition of the competition with the 1976 NFL Championship replacing the format, albeit for only one year with VFL clubs.
The 1941 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Melbourne Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 27 September 1941. It was the 45th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1940 VFL season. The match, attended by 79,687 spectators, was won by Melbourne by a margin of 29 points, marking that club's fifth premiership victory.
The 1956 VFL Night Premiership Cup was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in August and September of the Victorian Football League's 1956 Premiership Season. The competition was the first season of the VFL Night Series. Run as a three-round knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams who did not make the final four. Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games. Despite the fact that not all VFL teams participated, the first season's average crowd was 20,000 for the seven matches played, while a crowd of 32,450 watched the first night Grand Final.
The 1962 VFL Night Premiership Cup was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in August and September of the 1962 VFL Premiership Season. Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1962 VFL finals series. It was the seventh VFL Night Series competition. Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games. Richmond won its first night series cup defeating Hawthorn in the final by 4 points.
The 1965 VFL Golden Fleece Night Premiership was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in September of the 1965 VFL Premiership Season. Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1965 VFL finals series. It was the tenth VFL Night Series competition. Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games. This was the first time the Night Series cup had a naming rights sponsor in Golden Fleece petroleum products. North Melbourne won its first night series cup defeating Carlton in the final by 40 points.
The 1940 VFL Lightning Premiership was an Australian rules football knockout competition played entirely on Saturday, 3 August 1940, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It was played during a week's break of the Victorian Football Leagues's 1940 season between Rounds 14 and 15. It was contested by the 12 teams who competed in the 1940 VFL season. A total of 30,407 witnessed the day's matches. St Kilda won the lighting premiership competition, defeating Richmond in the final by 24 points. It was the first premiership of any kind at any grade that the St Kilda Football Club had won in its history.
The 1943 VFL Lightning Premiership was an Australian rules football knockout competition played entirely on Saturday 24, July. It was played during a weeks break of the Victorian Football Leagues's 1943 VFL season between rounds 11 and 12 with all games being played at Princes Park. The competition was played as a wartime charities fundraiser between the league's top four clubs. This was the third time a lightning premiership had been contested in the VFL. Approximately 11,000 people attended the three match competition. Essendon won the competition by 8 points, defeating Fitzroy in the final.
The 1951 VFL Lightning Premiership was an Australian rules football knockout competition played entirely on Wednesday, 9 May. It was played on the Jubilee Day holiday, held to celebrate 50 years of Federation of Australia, between rounds 3 and 4 of the Victorian Football League's 1951 season with all games played at the MCG. This was the fourth time a lightning premiership had been contested in the VFL, the first since 1943. It was contested by the 12 VFL teams who competed in the 1951 VFL season. A total of 25,882 people attended the competition. Collingwood won its second Lighting Premiership competition defeating Melbourne in the final by 6 points.
The 1952 VFL Lightning Premiership was an Australian rules football knockout competition played entirely on Saturday, 24 May. It was played on the Empire Day holiday between rounds 5 and 6 of the Victorian Football League's 1952 season with all games played at the MCG. This was the fifth time a lightning premiership had been contested in the VFL. It was contested by the 12 VFL teams who competed in the 1952 VFL season. A total of 33,719 people attended the competition. Melbourne won its first Lighting Premiership competition defeating South Melbourne in the final by 7 points.
The 1953 VFL Lightning Premiership was an Australian rules football knockout competition played entirely on Tuesday, 2 June. It was played on the same day as Elizabeth II's Coronation between rounds 6 and 7 of the Victorian Football League's 1953 season with all games played at the MCG. This was the sixth time a lightning premiership had been contested in the VFL. It was contested by the 12 VFL teams who competed in the 1953 VFL season. A total of 36,715 people attended the competition. Richmond won its first Lighting Premiership competition defeating St Kilda in the final by 14 points.
Lightning football is a shortened variation of Australian rules football, often played at half of the duration of a full match.
The NFL Night Series was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested annually from 1976 until 1979. The tournament, played concurrently with the premiership season, was contested at different times by football clubs from the Victorian, South Australian, West Australian and Queensland football leagues, and was operated by the National Football League, which was the national administrative body for the sport.
The 2000 Victorian Football League season was the 119th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Sandringham Football Club, after defeating North Ballarat by 31 points in the Grand Final on 27 August.
The Victorian Football League night series, also known during its history by a variety of sponsored names, was an Australian rules football tournament held annually between 1956 and 1971. The competition was a consolation series, played on weekday nights each September as a knock-out tournament amongst teams which failed to reach the Victorian Football League finals.
The Australian Football Championships (AFC) night series, known during its history by a variety of sponsored names, was an Australian rules football tournament held annually between 1979 and 1986. The competition was a knock-out competition featuring clubs from the Victorian Football League, South Australian National Football League, West Australian Football League and state representative teams from the minor states, and matches were played primarily on weekday nights concurrently with the respective leagues' premiership seasons.
The 1941 season was the Hawthorn Football Club's 17th season in the Victorian Football League and 40th overall.
This page is a collection of VFL/AFL premiership and grand final statistics. The Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) until 1990, is the elite national competition in men's Australian rules football. Each year, the premiership is awarded to the club that wins the AFL Grand Final. The grand final has been played in all VFL/AFL seasons except for 1897 and 1924, and has been an annual tradition in its current format since 1931.
