1911 VFA season

The 1911 Victorian Football Association season was the 35th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Essendon (Association) Football Club, after it defeated Brunswick by eight points in a rain-affected Grand Final on 23 September. It was the first premiership won by the club, and it came after having finished second on the ladder in three consecutive seasons without playing in the final match.

1911 premiership season
Teams10
PremiersEssendon (A.)
(1st premiership)
Minor premiersEssendon (A.)
(1st minor premiership)

Premiership

The home-and-home season was played over eighteen rounds, with each club playing the others twice; then, the top four clubs contested a finals series under the amended Argus system to determine the premiers for the season.

Ladder
1911 VFA Ladder
TEAMPWLDPFPAPctPTS
1 Essendon (P) 18 16 2 0 1292 732 176.5 64
2 North Melbourne 18 14 4 0 1179 749 157.4 56
3 Prahran 18 13 5 0 1284 890 144.2 52
4 Brunswick 18 12 6 0 1225 815 150.2 48
5 Port Melbourne 18 12 6 0 1044 797 130.9 48
6 Footscray 18 9 9 0 1098 865 126.9 36
7 Williamstown 18 5 13 0 724 975 74.0 20
8 Brighton 18 4 14 0 684 1080 63.3 16
9 Northcote 18 4 14 0 768 1292 58.2 16
10 Preston 18 1 17 0 662 1761 38.1 4
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points Source[1]

Finals
Semi Finals
Saturday, 2 September North Melbourne 3.7 (25) def. by Brunswick 5.10 (40) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve (crowd: 15,000) [2]
Saturday, 9 September Essendon 8.9 (57) def. Prahran 7.8 (50) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve (crowd: 15,000) [3]
Final
Saturday, 16 September Essendon 9.9 (63) def. by Brunswick 10.5 (65) North Melbourne Recreation Reserve (crowd: 20,000) [4]
1911 VFA Grand Final
Saturday, 23 September Essendon def. Brunswick North Melbourne Recreation Reserve (crowd: 30,000) [5]
1.3 (9)
2.5 (17)
4.10 (34)
 4.10 (34)		 Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final		 0.1 (1)
1.3 (9)
1.4 (10)
 3.8 (26)		 Umpires: Kendall
McNamara 2, Gough, McCann Goals Chase 2, McKenzie
Maine (leg) Injuries

Notable events
  • In the match between North Melbourne and Preston on 1 July, North Melbourne was penalised for having too many players on the field after Preston called for a head count early in the second quarter. North Melbourne was leading 7.5 (47) to 2.1 (13) at the time, and its score was re-set to zero. North Melbourne still went on to win the game 10.9 (69) to 7.6 (48).[6]
  • In the first final between Essendon and Brunswick on 16 September, Dave McNamara (Essendon) had a place kick after the final bell from 40 yards out directly in front, which would have won the match and the premiership if successful. Spectators streamed onto the ground before he took his kick, but he kicked before waiting for a space to be cleared and missed the goal by six feet, resulting in a two-point win to Brunswick and forcing a Grand Final the following week.[4] Essendon protested the result on the basis of interference from the crowd, and McNamara stated that the encroachment of the crowd prevented him from taking as long a run-up as he had desired; but, he was deemed to have voluntarily taken his kick without waiting for more space to be cleared (as he was entitled to do), and he was not interfered with after starting his run-up, so the protest was dismissed.[7]
  • Brunswick captain Jack McKenzie was approached to throw the Grand Final in Essendon's favour. He was offered £150 if he, Chase and Johnson all "played stiff" during the game. McKenzie refused the offer and reported it to the Association, and the Grand Final is not believed to have ultimately been compromised by any form of bribery.[8] This was the second match fixing scandal in Melbourne football in two years, with two players from League club Carlton banned for match fixing in 1910.
  • Dave McNamara (Essendon) was the Association's leading goalkicker for the season. Including finals, he set a new Association record of 81 goals, breaking the record of 76 goals set by Frank Caine (North Melbourne) in 1910.[5]

References
  1. Old Boy (28 August 1911). "Association clubs". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 4.
  2. Old Boy (4 September 1911). "Association Semi-Final – North Melbourne beaten". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 10.
  3. Old Boy (11 September 1911). "Association Semi-Final". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 5.
  4. Old Boy (18 September 1911). "Association Final – Magnificent contest". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 5.
  5. Old Boy (25 September 1911). "Association Final – Essendon premiers". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 5.
  6. Old Boy (22 July 1921). "Football – Notes and comments". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 4.
  7. "A football protest". The Coburg Leader. Coburg, VIC. 22 September 1911. p. 3.
  8. "Melbourne football scandal". Singleton Argus. 14 October 1911. p. 1.
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