1952 VFA season

1952 VFA premiership season
1952 VFA premiership season
Teams	14
Premiers	Oakleigh ; 4th premiership
Minor premiers	Port Melbourne ; 4th minor premiership
	← 1951 1953 →

Last updated July 27, 2024

The 1952 Victorian Football Association season was the 71st season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Oakleigh Football Club, after it defeated Port Melbourne by 21 points in the Grand Final on 4 October. It was Oakleigh's fourth VFA premiership.

Premiership

The home-and-home season was played over twenty matches, before the top four clubs contested a finals series under the Page–McIntyre system to determine the premiers for the season.

Ladder

1952 VFA ladder
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	Port Melbourne	20	18	2	0	1911	1245	153.5	72
2	Coburg	20	15	5	0	1709	1272	134.4	60
3	Oakleigh (P)	20	13	7	0	1494	1226	121.9	52
4	Yarraville	20	13	7	0	1537	1434	107.2	52
5	Brunswick	20	12	8	0	1366	1278	106.9	48
6	Camberwell	20	11	8	1	1411	1363	103.5	46
7	Prahran	20	11	9	0	1511	1501	100.7	44
8	Moorabbin	20	10	10	0	1301	1326	98.1	40
9	Northcote	20	10	10	0	1270	1321	96.1	40
10	Williamstown	20	8	12	0	1767	1571	112.5	32
11	Preston	20	7	12	1	1495	1576	94.9	30
12	Sandringham	20	7	13	0	1393	1743	79.9	28
13	Box Hill	20	2	18	0	1228	1856	66.2	8
14	Brighton	20	2	18	0	1036	1717	60.3	8

Source: ^[1]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals


	Semifinals
Saturday, 13 September	Oakleigh 14.19 (103)	def.	Yarraville 13.15 (93)	St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 16,000)	^[2]
Saturday, 20 September	Port Melbourne 11.8 (74)	def.	Coburg 5.11 (41)	St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 16,000)	^[3]


	Preliminary Final
Saturday, 27 September	Coburg 8.10 (58)	def. by	Oakleigh 11.13 (79)	St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 17,000)	^[4]


	1952 VFA Grand Final
Saturday, 4 October	Port Melbourne	def. by	Oakleigh	St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 39,500)	^[5]^[6]
	1.4 (10) 2.7 (19) 5.12 (42) 8.15 (63)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.5 (17) 5.9 (39) 9.12 (66) 11.18 (84)	Umpires: Merrington


Bonnett 3, Caris 2, Bower, Houlihan, Murray		Goals	Scott 5, Wenn 3, Lambert, Newton, Watson

Murray (ribs), Tucker (knee)		Injuries	Cunningham ( knee), Savory (cramp)
Johnson, for kicking Lambert in the second quarter Murray, for unseemly conduct (interfering with the umpire) in the second quarter		Reports

Awards

The leading goalkicker for the season was Johnny Walker (Williamstown), who kicked 103 goals in the home-and-home season and did not participate in finals.^[1]
The J. J. Liston Trophy was won by Frank Johnson (Port Melbourne), who polled 47 votes. Jim Bohan (Camberwell) was second with 45 votes, and Bill Morris (Box Hill) was third with 23 votes.^[7]
Yarraville won the seconds premiership. Yarraville 14.13 (97) defeated Moorabbin 12.15 (87) in the Grand Final, played as a curtain raiser to the firsts Grand Final on 4 October.^[5]

Notable events

The Association's Thirds competition, contested by players under the age of 19, was established in 1952.^[8] Most clubs already operated Thirds teams, but they were fielded in local leagues rather than a dedicated Association-operated competition.
In its first match of the season on 19 April, Oakleigh 14.10 (94) comfortably defeated Brunswick 4.9 (33). However, two of Oakleigh's new recruits – Eric Guy and Bill Botten, both from the Carrum Football Club – were played before their clearances from the Mornington Peninsula Football League were formally lodged with the Association; as a result, on 5 May the Association awarded the match and the four premiership points to Brunswick, and Oakleigh was fined £10. Oakleigh argued that the paperwork error was made by the Permit Committee, not the club; but the Association found that the onus was on Oakleigh to ensure the paperwork was lodged correctly.^[9] In August, the club took the Association to the Supreme Court of Victoria, seeking to overturn the penalties and injunct the Association from staging the finals if the penalty affected Oakleigh's finishing position,^[10] but dropped the case prior to the final round of home-and-home matches after the injunction was refused and an unfavourable reserved judgement was delivered.^[11] Ultimately, the club's third placing on the ladder was unaffected by the penalty, and it went on to win the premiership. The legal action cost the club an estimated £453.^[12]
On 3 May, Box Hill won its first senior match in the Association, defeating Brighton 12.14 (86) d. 12.12 (84), to end a 22-game winless streak which included one draw.^[13]

Related Research Articles

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References

1 2 Gavin Cook (8 September 1952). "Yarraville wins way to first V.F.A. semi-final". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 25.
↑ Gavin Cook (15 September 1952). "Oakleigh stamina must improve to have final chance". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 25.
↑ Gavin Cook (22 September 1952). "Port is favoured for title in V.F.A.". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 27.
↑ Gavin Cook (29 September 1952). "Oakleigh is big threat to Port for title". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 25.
1 2 Gavin Cook (6 October 1952). "Pace, team-work, gives Oakleigh V.F.A. title win". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 23.
↑ Ian McDonald (6 October 1952). "Fighting spirit gives Oakleigh third (sic) V.F.A. flag". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 10.
↑ "Port ruckman wins J. J. Liston Trophy". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. 11 September 1952. p. 24.
↑ Fiddian, Marc (2004), The VFA: a history of the Victorian Football Association, 1877–1995, p. 36
↑ Ian McDonald (6 May 1952). "Oakleigh loses four points". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 8.
↑ "VFA named in writ". The Argus. Melbourne. 13 August 1952. p. 11.
↑ "Legal battle dropped". The West Australian. Perth, WA. 4 September 1952. p. 22.
↑ "V.F.A. recovery "in lap of Gods"". The Argus. Melbourne. 2 December 1952. p. 8.
↑ Jack Oates (5 May 1952). "Box Hill's first win in V.F.A.". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 20.

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[review-1] 1 2 Gavin Cook (8 September 1952). "Yarraville wins way to first V.F.A. semi-final". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 25.

[SF1-2] Gavin Cook (15 September 1952). "Oakleigh stamina must improve to have final chance". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 25.

[SF2-3] Gavin Cook (22 September 1952). "Port is favoured for title in V.F.A.". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 27.

[PF-4] Gavin Cook (29 September 1952). "Oakleigh is big threat to Port for title". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 25.

[GF1-5] 1 2 Gavin Cook (6 October 1952). "Pace, team-work, gives Oakleigh V.F.A. title win". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 23.

[GF2-6] Ian McDonald (6 October 1952). "Fighting spirit gives Oakleigh third (sic) V.F.A. flag". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 10.

[7] "Port ruckman wins J. J. Liston Trophy". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. 11 September 1952. p. 24.

[8] Fiddian, Marc (2004), The VFA: a history of the Victorian Football Association, 1877–1995, p. 36

[9] Ian McDonald (6 May 1952). "Oakleigh loses four points". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 8.

[10] "VFA named in writ". The Argus. Melbourne. 13 August 1952. p. 11.

[11] "Legal battle dropped". The West Australian. Perth, WA. 4 September 1952. p. 22.

[12] "V.F.A. recovery "in lap of Gods"". The Argus. Melbourne. 2 December 1952. p. 8.

[13] Jack Oates (5 May 1952). "Box Hill's first win in V.F.A.". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 20.

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v t e VFA/VFL seasons
Pre-VFA	1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876
VFA seasons	1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896
VFA seasons (post-VFL formation)	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
VFL seasons	1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e Australian rules football in Victoria
Representative side	Victoria
Governing bodies	AFL Victoria (metropolitan) AFL Victoria Country (regional)
Professional clubs	Carlton Collingwood Essendon Geelong Hawthorn Melbourne North Melbourne Richmond St Kilda Western Bulldogs
Statewide leagues	Victorian Football League Talent League (under-19) List of Australian rules football competitions in Victoria
Metropolitan leagues	Eastern Essendon District Northern Riddell District Southern VAFA Western
Regional leagues (major)	Ballarat Bellarine Bendigo Central Murray Geelong Gippsland Goulburn Valley Hampden Mornington Peninsula Nepean Murray North Central Outer East Ovens & Murray Sunraysia Wimmera
Regional leagues (district)	Central Highlands Colac East Gippsland Ellinbank Geelong & District Golden Rivers Heathcote Horsham Kyabram Loddon Valley Maryborough Castlemaine Mid Gippsland Millewa Mininera North Gippsland Omeo Ovens & King Picola South West Tallangatta Upper Murray Warrnambool West Gippsland
Women's leagues	AFL Victoria Youth Girls Competition Barwon North East Border Talent League Girls VFL Women's
Other leagues	Victorian Blind Football League Yarra Junior Football League
Defunct leagues	Alberton (1945–2019) Ararat (1931-1999) Benalla (1946–2009) Benalla Tungamah/Central Goulburn (1938-2005) Central Goulburn Valley (1946-1952) Chiltern (1912-1956) Euroa District (1903-1949) Federal DFA (1897-1902) Federal FL (1909–1981) Goulburn Valley FA (1888-1931) Heytesbury Mount Noorat (1992-2002) Lexton Plains (1999–2010) Mallee (1997–2015) Mount Noorat (1932–1991) Northern Mallee (1979–1996) Polwarth (1922-1970) Riviera (1986–2003) South East (2015–2018) South Eastern Women's (2017–2023) Southern Mallee (1932–1996) Tyrrell (1945–1978) VJFA (1883–1932) Victorian Womens' (1981–2016) Walhalla (1888-1913) West Wimmera (1923-1981) Western Plains (1920-1998) Yarra Valley Mountain (1966–2018) List of former Australian rules football competitions in Victoria
Principal venues	Melbourne Cricket Ground Docklands Stadium Princes Park Kardinia Park
Other articles	History (1859–1900) List of Australian rules football clubs in Victoria