1978 NFL Championship Series (Australia)

The 1978 NFL Championship Series was the third edition of the NFL Night Series, a NFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the SANFL, the WANFL, the VFA and State Representative Teams.[1]

1978 NFL Championship Series
NFL Escort Cup
Tournament details
Dates25 April - 25 July 1978
Teams16
Venue(s)4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsSouth Adelaide (1st title)
Runners-upGlenelg
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
Attendance52,529 (3,502 per match)

The 1978 NFL edition continued on a similar basis to the previous season with the VFL again running their own Night Series at VFL Park. However, the first signs of a breakaway appeared with the Tasmanian Representative Side choosing to participate in both the NFL and VFL competitions – making them the first non-VFL team to play in the VFL Night Series.

Qualified teams
Team Nickname League Qualification Participation (bold indicates winners)1
Port Adelaide Magpies SANFL Winners of the 1977 South Australian National Football League 7th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1976, 1977)
Glenelg Tigers SANFL Runners-Up in the 1977 South Australian National Football League 4th (Previous: 1973, 1976, 1977)
West Adelaide Bloods SANFL Third Place in the 1977 South Australian National Football League 5th (Previous: 1908, 1909, 1911, 1977)
South Adelaide Panthers SANFL Fourth Place in the 1977 South Australian National Football League 4th (Previous: 1893, 1896, 1977)
Norwood Redlegs SANFL Fifth Place in the 1977 South Australian National Football League 6th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975, 1976, 1977)
Perth Demons WANFL Winners of the 1977 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1977)
East Fremantle Sharks WANFL Runners-Up in the 1977 Western Australian National Football League 3rd (Previous: 1974, 1977)
West Perth Falcons WANFL Third Place in the 1977 Western Australian National Football League 4th (Previous: 1975, 1976, 1977)
East Perth Royals WANFL Fourth Place in the 1977 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1972, 1977)
Port Melbourne Boroughs VFA Winners of the 1977 Victorian Football Association Premiership 2nd (Previous: 1977)
Sandringham Zebras VFA Runners-Up in the 1977 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Coburg Lions VFA Third Place in the 1977 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Australian Capital Territory Rams ACTAFL State Representative Team 2nd (Previous: 1977)
New South Wales Blues NSWAFL State Representative Team 2nd (Previous: 1977)
Queensland Maroons QAFL State Representative Team 2nd (Previous: 1977)
Tasmania Devils TANFL State Representative Team 3rd (Previous: 1974, 1977)
1 Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia.

Venues
Adelaide Melbourne Perth Brisbane
Norwood Oval Lake Oval Subiaco Oval Brisbane Cricket Ground
Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 53,000 Capacity: 35,000

Knockout stage

Round 1

Quarter Finals

Semi Finals

NFL Championship Series Final

References
  1. David Eastman. "1978 NFL Escort Cup".
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