| 1957 VFL premiership season | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers | Melbourne 9th premiership |
| Minor premiers | Melbourne 5th minor premiership |
| Consolation series | South Melbourne 2nd Consolation series win |
| Brownlow Medallist | Brian Gleeson (St Kilda) |
| Coleman Medallist | Jack Collins (Footscray) |
| Matches played | 112 |
| Highest | 100,324 |
The 1957 VFL season was the 61st season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 20 April until 21 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 ninth time and third time consecutively, after it defeated Essendon by 61 points in the 1957 VFL Grand Final.
In 1957, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th 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 1957 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 | Melbourne (P) | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 1567 | 1129 | 138.8 | 50 |
| 2 | Essendon | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1447 | 1223 | 118.3 | 44 |
| 3 | Hawthorn | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1321 | 1132 | 116.7 | 44 |
| 4 | Carlton | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1341 | 1348 | 99.5 | 44 |
| 5 | Collingwood | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1390 | 1366 | 101.8 | 38 |
| 6 | Footscray | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1263 | 1275 | 99.1 | 38 |
| 7 | Richmond | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1506 | 1604 | 93.9 | 36 |
| 8 | North Melbourne | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1404 | 1477 | 95.1 | 32 |
| 9 | St Kilda | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1318 | 1394 | 94.5 | 32 |
| 10 | South Melbourne | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 1349 | 1519 | 88.8 | 28 |
| 11 | Fitzroy | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1355 | 1611 | 84.1 | 24 |
| 12 | Geelong | 18 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 1368 | 1551 | 88.2 | 22 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 77.0
Source: AFL Tables
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawthorn | 5.3 | 7.6 | 9.7 | 10.11 (71) |
| Carlton | 0.2 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 6.12 (48) |
| Attendance: 69,455 | ||||
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | 2.4 | 2.6 | 6.15 | 8.19 (67) |
| Essendon | 1.3 | 10.6 | 11.9 | 12.11 (83) |
| Attendance: 70,232 | ||||
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | 4.4 | 11.4 | 16.9 | 22.12 (144) |
| Hawthorn | 1.4 | 4.8 | 9.9 | 11.10 (76) |
| Attendance: 74,090 | ||||
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essendon | 2.3 | 4.4 | 7.8 | 7.13 (55) |
| Melbourne | 6.2 | 9.9 | 12.11 | 17.14 (116) |
| Attendance: 100,324 | ||||
The night series were held under the floodlights at Lake Oval, South Melbourne.
In all other years of the night competition (i.e., 1956–1971), only teams that had finished 5th to 12th on ladder at the end of the home-and-away season competed; i.e., teams which were not playing in any of the end of season finals matches.
In 1957, due to the perceived popularity of the competition's initial year (1956), all twelve VFL clubs played in the 1957 Night Series. The series was marred by bad weather, with two matches having to be abandoned. Only an average of 16,000 spectators attending each of the 11 matches that were played. In 1958, the competition reverted to the 1956 structure, where only teams finishing 5th to 12th on the ladder competed.
Final: South Melbourne 15.13 (103) defeated Geelong 8.4 (52)