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 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 1963 VFL Night Premiership Cup was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in September and October of the 1963 VFL Premiership Season. Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1963 VFL finals series. It was the eighth 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. Footscray won its first night series cup defeating Richmond in the final by 6 points.
The 1964 VFL Night Premiership Cup was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in August and September of the 1964 VFL Premiership Season. Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1964 VFL finals series. It was the ninth 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. Footscray won its second consecutive night series cup defeating St Kilda in the final by 5 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 1941 VFL Lightning Premiership was an Australian rules football knockout competition played entirely on Saturday 24, May. It was played during a weeks break of the Victorian Football Leagues's 1941 VFL season between rounds 4 and 5 with all games being played at the MCG. The competition was also played on the same day as an interstate match between New South Wales and Victoria in Sydney. This was the second time a lightning premiership had been contested in the VFL. It was contested by the 12 VFL teams who competed in the 1941 VFL season. A crowd of 19,572 attended the competition. Collingwood won the competition by 1 point, defeating Melbourne in the final.
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 1967 VFL Golden Fleece Night Premiership was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in August and September of the 1967 VFL Premiership Season. Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1967 VFL finals series. It was the twelfth 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. Footscray won its third night series cup defeating South Melbourne in the final by 45 points.
The 1969 VFL Golden Fleece Night Premiership was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in September of the 1969 VFL Premiership Season. Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1969 VFL finals series. It was the 14th 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. Hawthorn won its second night series cup in a row, defeating Melbourne in the final by 5 points.
The 1970 VFL Radiant Night Premiership was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in September of the 1970 VFL Premiership Season. Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1970 VFL finals series. It was the 15th 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. Footscray won its fourth night series cup defeating Melbourne in the final by 2 points.
Lightning football is a shortened variation of Australian rules football, often played at half of the duration of a full match.
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.
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.
