1903 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1903.

Premiership season

In 1903, the VFL competition consisted of eight teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume their place on the field at any time during the match.

Each team played each other twice in a home-and-away season of 14 rounds.

Once the 14 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1903 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".

Round 1

Round 2

The match between Geelong and Carlton was postponed due to a railway strike. It was played between Rounds 13 and 14, and was opportunistically moved to the Sydney Cricket Ground.^[1]

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Sectional Rounds

Sectional Round 1 (Round 15)

Sectional Round 2 (Round 16)

Sectional Round 3 (Round 17)

Ladder

Semi finals

First Semi Final

Second Semi Final

Grand final

Collingwood defeated Fitzroy 4.7 (31) to 3.11 (29). (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football).

Awards

• The 1903 VFL Premiership team was Collingwood.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker was Teddy Lockwood of Collingwood with 35 goals.
• South Melbourne took the "wooden spoon" in 1903.

Notable events

• On 5 May, the second round match between Geelong and Carlton had to be postponed. A railway strike prevented the Carlton team from getting to Geelong. (The following week, Melbourne had to travel to Geelong by boat as the strike still had not been resolved).
• On 23 May, a crowd of 18,000 attended the fourth round match between Fitzroy and Collingwood at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Fitzroy won 7.20 (62) to 6.9 (45). Players wore large numbers on the back of their guernseys to assist the crowd.
• On Monday, 3 August 1903, the postponed second round match between Geelong and Carlton was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Geelong won 8.7 (55) to 6.9 (45).
• 1903 was the first time that the VFL Premiership was decided on the last kick of the day. The usually accurate Fitzroy captain Gerald Brosnan missed the goal from 30 metres out, and Fitzroy lost to Collingwood by two points.

References

• Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0

External links

• 1903 Season - AFL Tables