| 1986 VFL premiership season | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers | Hawthorn 6th premiership |
| Minor premiers | Hawthorn 5th minor premiership |
| Night series | Hawthorn 3rd Night series win |
| Brownlow Medallist | Greg Williams (Sydney) Robert DiPierdomenico (Hawthorn) |
| Coleman Medallist | Brian Taylor (Collingwood) |
| Attendance | |
| Matches played | 138 |
| Total attendance | 3,395,611 (24,606 per match) |
| Highest | 101,861 |
The 1986 VFL season was the 90th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 29 March until 27 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.
The premiership was won by the Hawthorn Football Club for the sixth time, after it defeated Carlton by 42 points in the 1986 VFL Grand Final.
Hawthorn defeated Carlton 9.12 (66) to 5.6 (36) in the final.
| (P) | Premiers |
| Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawthorn (P) | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 2698 | 1906 | 141.6 | 72 |
| 2 | Sydney | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 2470 | 2087 | 118.4 | 64 |
| 3 | Carlton | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2566 | 1809 | 141.8 | 60 |
| 4 | Fitzroy | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2068 | 2063 | 100.2 | 52 |
| 5 | Essendon | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2379 | 1978 | 120.3 | 48 |
| 6 | Collingwood | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2261 | 2070 | 109.2 | 48 |
| 7 | North Melbourne | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2324 | 2356 | 98.6 | 48 |
| 8 | Footscray | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1963 | 2010 | 97.7 | 44 |
| 9 | Geelong | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 2133 | 2599 | 82.1 | 28 |
| 10 | Richmond | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 2151 | 2745 | 78.4 | 28 |
| 11 | Melbourne | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 2003 | 2673 | 74.9 | 28 |
| 12 | St Kilda | 22 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 1846 | 2566 | 71.9 | 8 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 101.8
Source: AFL Tables