1921 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1921.

Premiership season

In 1921, the VFL competition consisted of nine 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 18 rounds (i.e., 16 matches and 2 byes).

Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1921 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Ladder

Finals

All of the 1921 finals were played at the MCG so the home team in the Semi Finals and Preliminary Final is purely the higher ranked team from the ladder but in the Grand Final the home team was the team that won the Preliminary Final.

Semi finals

Preliminary Final

Grand final

Richmond defeated Carlton 5.6 (36) to 4.8 (32), in front of a crowd of 43,122 people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football).

Awards

• The 1921 VFL Premiership team was Richmond.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker was Cliff Rankin of Geelong with 61 goals.
• Essendon took the "wooden spoon" in 1921.

Notable events

• Umpires demand that the VFL provides greater protection, including the wire netting of the umpire's race to the ground (in order to protect them from fists, projectiles and, particularly, ladies' hat-pins) and a stronger police guard.
• In the last quarter of the round 7 match between Richmond and Essendon at the Punt Road Oval, Richmond had kicked a point. The ball was returned from the crowd to the Essendon full-back Bert Day who was on the boundary line, not the goal line. The ball had been stabbed by someone in the crowd. Day, noticing the deflated condition of the ball, kicked it idly from the boundary line over to the field Umpire (E. P. Willamson) to inspect. Richmond full-forward George Bayliss pounced on the ball and kicked a goal with it. Day's kick from the boundary line was mistakenly treated as if it had been a kick out from the goal line and, despite all of Essendon's protests, a goal was awarded to Bayliss.
• Prior to the round 12 match between St Kilda and Carlton, a "ladies" football match was played between two female teams, "The Chorleys" and "The Fleetwoods", to the delight of the crowd. The Fleetwoods won 4.2 (26) to 2.4 (16). Whilst the women played in mens guernseys, shorts, socks, boots, etc. The (male) field umpire wore a dress.
• In round 11, St Kilda are unable to score a goal, and lose badly to a Fitzroy team that had six fewer scoring shots: Fitzroy 6.8 (44) to St Kilda 0.18 (18).
• The fourth Australian Football Carnival was held in Perth. Western Australia were the Australian Champions.
• In round 17, Essendon plays its last match at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground.
• The 15 October "Grand Final" between Richmond and Carlton was played in greasy conditions and drizzling rain. The previous week's (8 October) "Preliminary Final", also between Richmond and Carlton, had been played in deep mud — the second-half was delayed until a driving hail-storm, that had turned the Melbourne Cricket Ground's playing surface white, had passed — and the second half was played with the MCG covered with pools of water six inches (15 cm) deep.
• The five drawn matches during the 1921 season remains a VFL/AFL record for most draws in one season.

References

• Hogan, P., The Tigers Of Old, The Richmond Football Club, (Richmond), 1996. ISBN 0-646-18748-1
• Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872-1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
• Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897-1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN 0-670-90809-6
• 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

• 1921 Season - AFL Tables