| 1985 VFL premiership season | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers | Essendon 14th premiership |
| Minor premiers | Essendon 12th minor premiership |
| Night series | Hawthorn 2nd Night series win |
| Brownlow Medallist | Brad Hardie (Footscray) |
| Coleman Medallist | Simon Beasley (Footscray) |
| Attendance | |
| Matches played | 138 |
| Total attendance | 3,113,173 (22,559 per match) |
| Highest | 100,042 |
The 1985 VFL season was the 89th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria.
The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 23 March until 28 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs. The season was the first to feature premiership matches on Friday nights.
The premiership was won by the Essendon Football Club for the 14th time and second time consecutively, after it defeated Hawthorn by 78 points in the 1985 VFL Grand Final.
Hawthorn defeated Essendon 11.11 (77) to 10.8 (68) in the final.
| Round 15 [2] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 6 July (2:10 pm) | Geelong 16.8 (104) | def. by | Carlton 19.16 (130) | Kardinia Park (crowd: 19,813) | Report |
| Saturday, 6 July (2:10 pm) | Collingwood 11.12 (78) | def. by | Essendon 13.11 (89) | Victoria Park (crowd: 26,014) | Report |
| Saturday, 6 July (2:10 pm) | Richmond 21.16 (142) | def. | Fitzroy 17.16 (118) | MCG (crowd: 19,794) | Report |
| Saturday, 6 July (2:10 pm) | Footscray 26.13 (169) | def. | Melbourne 6.13 (49) | Western Oval (crowd: 15,328) | Report |
| Saturday, 6 July (2:10 pm) | Hawthorn 23.18 (156) | def. | Sydney 12.11 (83) | Princes Park (crowd: 8,694) | Report |
| Saturday, 6 July (2:10 pm) | St Kilda 11.9 (75) | def. by | North Melbourne 21.13 (139) | VFL Park (crowd: 11,829) | Report |
| |||||
| (P) | Premiers |
| Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essendon (P) | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 2755 | 1991 | 138.4 | 76 |
| 2 | Footscray | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2417 | 2000 | 120.9 | 64 |
| 3 | Hawthorn | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 2647 | 2024 | 130.8 | 62 |
| 4 | Carlton | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2430 | 2104 | 115.5 | 60 |
| 5 | North Melbourne | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 2379 | 2431 | 97.9 | 54 |
| 6 | Geelong | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2277 | 2263 | 100.6 | 48 |
| 7 | Collingwood | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 2197 | 2180 | 100.8 | 40 |
| 8 | Richmond | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2362 | 2590 | 91.2 | 36 |
| 9 | Fitzroy | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 2301 | 2452 | 93.8 | 28 |
| 10 | Sydney | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 2219 | 2349 | 94.5 | 24 |
| 11 | Melbourne | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 1965 | 2527 | 77.8 | 24 |
| 12 | St Kilda | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 1899 | 2937 | 64.7 | 12 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 105.5
Source: AFL Tables
| Elimination final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 7 September (2:30 pm) | Carlton 16.11 (107) | def. by | North Melbourne 20.6 (126) | VFL Park (crowd: 49,126) | Report |
| Qualifying final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 8 September (2:30 pm) | Footscray 8.14 (62) | def. by | Hawthorn 22.23 (155) | MCG (crowd: 58,367) | Report |
| Semi-finals | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF1: Sunday, 15 September (2:30 pm) | Footscray 19.23 (137) | def. | North Melbourne 16.11 (107) | MCG (crowd: 56,112) | Report |
| SF2: Saturday, 14 September (2:30 pm) | Essendon 14.18 (102) | def. | Hawthorn 9.8 (62) | VFL Park (crowd: 67,063) | Report |
| Preliminary final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 21 September (2:30 pm) | Hawthorn 16.13 (109) | def. | Footscray 15.9 (99) | VFL Park (crowd: 55,246) | Report |
| Grand final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 28 September (2:50 pm) | Essendon 26.14 (170) | def. | Hawthorn 14.8 (92) | MCG (crowd: 100,042) | Report |
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