The 1955 VFL season was the 59th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 16 April until 17 September, and comprised an 18-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.

1955 VFL premiership season
Teams12
PremiersMelbourne
7th premiership
Minor premiersMelbourne
3rd minor premiership
Brownlow MedallistFred Goldsmith (South Melbourne)
Coleman MedallistNoel Rayson (Geelong)
Matches played112
Highest88,053
← 1954
1956 →

The premiership was won by the Melbourne Football Club for the seventh time, after it defeated Collingwood by 28 points in the 1955 VFL Grand Final.

Background

edit

In 1955, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances.

Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-away reverse" of matches 1 to 7.

Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1955 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system.

Home-and-away season

edit

Round 1

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Geelong 15.14 (104) South Melbourne 9.12 (66) Kardinia Park 20,976 16 April 1955
Fitzroy 13.15 (93) Hawthorn 7.16 (58) Brunswick Street Oval 16,000 16 April 1955
Collingwood 6.12 (48) Footscray 15.14 (104) Victoria Park 33,398 16 April 1955
Carlton 19.20 (134) North Melbourne 10.5 (65) Princes Park 25,041 16 April 1955
St Kilda 8.11 (59) Melbourne 17.16 (118) Junction Oval 20,000 16 April 1955
Richmond 9.23 (77) Essendon 13.16 (94) Punt Road Oval 30,000 16 April 1955

Round 2

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Footscray 16.16 (112) Richmond 12.9 (81) Western Oval 33,753 23 April 1955
Essendon 16.24 (120) St Kilda 8.7 (55) Windy Hill 18,000 23 April 1955
Melbourne 16.15 (111) Geelong 8.14 (62) MCG 32,363 23 April 1955
South Melbourne 16.11 (107) Fitzroy 9.15 (69) Lake Oval 18,000 23 April 1955
North Melbourne 9.16 (70) Collingwood 21.11 (137) Arden Street Oval 21,000 23 April 1955
Hawthorn 12.15 (87) Carlton 9.6 (60) Glenferrie Oval 19,000 23 April 1955

Round 3

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Geelong 15.13 (103) Richmond 9.11 (65) Kardinia Park 19,565 30 April 1955
Essendon 11.14 (80) North Melbourne 9.15 (69) Windy Hill 21,000 30 April 1955
Collingwood 16.20 (116) St Kilda 8.11 (59) Victoria Park 18,095 30 April 1955
Carlton 17.4 (106) Fitzroy 6.13 (49) Princes Park 23,435 30 April 1955
South Melbourne 7.14 (56) Hawthorn 15.8 (98) Lake Oval 18,000 30 April 1955
Melbourne 6.22 (58) Footscray 6.10 (46) MCG 49,280 30 April 1955

Round 4

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Richmond 15.20 (110) South Melbourne 7.10 (52) Punt Road Oval 20,000 7 May 1955
Fitzroy 10.13 (73) Geelong 11.17 (83) Brunswick Street Oval 16,000 7 May 1955
North Melbourne 9.7 (61) Melbourne 10.14 (74) Arden Street Oval 13,500 7 May 1955
Footscray 4.12 (36) Essendon 2.11 (23) Western Oval 36,615 7 May 1955
Hawthorn 12.12 (84) Collingwood 12.3 (75) Glenferrie Oval 26,000 7 May 1955
St Kilda 7.22 (64) Carlton 15.9 (99) Junction Oval 23,000 7 May 1955

Round 5

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Hawthorn 14.7 (91) North Melbourne 13.15 (93) Glenferrie Oval 15,000 14 May 1955
Essendon 8.11 (59) Melbourne 10.13 (73) Windy Hill 25,299 14 May 1955
Carlton 12.17 (89) Collingwood 17.12 (114) Princes Park 37,065 14 May 1955
South Melbourne 25.16 (166) St Kilda 4.8 (32) Lake Oval 15,000 14 May 1955
Geelong 12.12 (84) Footscray 10.12 (72) Kardinia Park 28,288 14 May 1955
Richmond 11.11 (77) Fitzroy 15.9 (99) Punt Road Oval 15,000 14 May 1955

Round 6

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
North Melbourne 10.14 (74) Richmond 7.10 (52) Arden Street Oval 13,000 21 May 1955
Collingwood 15.11 (101) Essendon 6.11 (47) Victoria Park 35,000 21 May 1955
Carlton 11.9 (75) South Melbourne 12.11 (83) Princes Park 23,000 21 May 1955
Melbourne 11.5 (71) Hawthorn 6.8 (44) MCG 28,338 21 May 1955
St Kilda 4.5 (29) Geelong 6.12 (48) Junction Oval 11,000 21 May 1955
Footscray 8.10 (58) Fitzroy 10.6 (66) Western Oval 24,517 21 May 1955

Round 7

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Richmond 17.20 (122) St Kilda 7.14 (56) Punt Road Oval 12,500 28 May 1955
Footscray 10.9 (69) North Melbourne 8.14 (62) Western Oval 26,086 28 May 1955
Essendon 9.11 (65) Hawthorn 10.10 (70) Windy Hill 20,000 28 May 1955
South Melbourne 10.11 (71) Melbourne 11.6 (72) Lake Oval 24,000 28 May 1955
Fitzroy 6.9 (45) Collingwood 16.13 (109) Brunswick Street Oval 30,000 28 May 1955
Geelong 12.12 (84) Carlton 10.9 (69) Kardinia Park 21,088 28 May 1955

Round 8

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Hawthorn 9.8 (62) Richmond 8.12 (60) Glenferrie Oval 19,600 4 June 1955
Essendon 13.14 (92) South Melbourne 7.12 (54) Windy Hill 23,500 4 June 1955
Collingwood 11.11 (77) Geelong 10.7 (67) Victoria Park 34,000 4 June 1955
St Kilda 4.10 (34) Footscray 13.7 (85) Junction Oval 19,250 4 June 1955
North Melbourne 11.5 (71) Fitzroy 12.16 (88) Arden Street Oval 13,000 4 June 1955
Melbourne 20.15 (135) Carlton 9.16 (70) MCG 34,670 4 June 1955

Round 9

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Footscray 17.12 (114) Hawthorn 8.11 (59) Western Oval 28,807 11 June 1955
Carlton 4.4 (28) Essendon 11.20 (86) Princes Park 29,555 11 June 1955
South Melbourne 8.15 (63) Collingwood 9.18 (72) Lake Oval 35,000 11 June 1955
Melbourne 13.16 (94) Richmond 11.12 (78) MCG 39,949 13 June 1955
Fitzroy 19.14 (128) St Kilda 7.12 (54) Brunswick Street Oval 14,000 13 June 1955
North Melbourne 12.9 (81) Geelong 13.17 (95) Arden Street Oval 24,000 13 June 1955

Round 10

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Hawthorn 12.9 (81) St Kilda 6.7 (43) Glenferrie Oval 10,500 25 June 1955
Fitzroy 5.9 (39) Melbourne 10.11 (71) Brunswick Street Oval 21,000 25 June 1955
Carlton 6.7 (43) Footscray 11.15 (81) Princes Park 20,576 25 June 1955
South Melbourne 10.10 (70) North Melbourne 8.10 (58) Lake Oval 16,000 25 June 1955
Geelong 10.5 (65) Essendon 7.10 (52) Kardinia Park 23,654 25 June 1955
Richmond 6.12 (48) Collingwood 14.14 (98) Punt Road Oval 29,000 25 June 1955

Round 11

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Geelong 16.13 (109) Hawthorn 7.8 (50) Kardinia Park 17,238 2 July 1955
Footscray 11.16 (82) South Melbourne 6.13 (49) Western Oval 26,697 2 July 1955
Essendon 8.20 (68) Fitzroy 5.12 (42) Windy Hill 19,000 2 July 1955
Collingwood 7.6 (48) Melbourne 5.15 (45) Victoria Park 40,000 2 July 1955
St Kilda 10.8 (68) North Melbourne 8.13 (61) Junction Oval 10,500 2 July 1955
Richmond 14.12 (96) Carlton 7.7 (49) Punt Road Oval 16,000 2 July 1955

Round 12

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Melbourne 17.16 (118) St Kilda 3.3 (21) MCG 15,624 9 July 1955
Essendon 14.7 (91) Richmond 5.20 (50) Windy Hill 19,500 9 July 1955
South Melbourne 13.10 (88) Geelong 15.9 (99) Lake Oval 17,000 9 July 1955
Hawthorn 18.12 (120) Fitzroy 9.5 (59) Glenferrie Oval 10,500 9 July 1955
Footscray 5.13 (43) Collingwood 5.7 (37) Western Oval 42,354 9 July 1955
North Melbourne 13.10 (88) Carlton 16.9 (105) Arden Street Oval 12,000 9 July 1955

Round 13

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Geelong 10.11 (71) Melbourne 6.16 (52) Kardinia Park 26,755 16 July 1955
Fitzroy 14.16 (100) South Melbourne 6.10 (46) Brunswick Street Oval 12,500 16 July 1955
Collingwood 15.9 (99) North Melbourne 13.14 (92) Victoria Park 16,813 16 July 1955
Carlton 10.19 (79) Hawthorn 9.9 (63) Princes Park 15,763 16 July 1955
Richmond 8.9 (57) Footscray 6.12 (48) Punt Road Oval 17,500 16 July 1955
St Kilda 5.7 (37) Essendon 10.22 (82) Junction Oval 12,250 16 July 1955

Round 14

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Hawthorn 10.11 (71) South Melbourne 6.15 (51) Glenferrie Oval 12,100 23 July 1955
Footscray 11.8 (74) Melbourne 9.19 (73) Western Oval 32,735 23 July 1955
Richmond 14.16 (100) Geelong 14.13 (97) Punt Road Oval 25,000 23 July 1955
North Melbourne 9.7 (61) Essendon 17.23 (125) Arden Street Oval 18,000 23 July 1955
St Kilda 10.11 (71) Collingwood 16.20 (116) Junction Oval 18,500 23 July 1955
Fitzroy 11.14 (80) Carlton 13.16 (94) Brunswick Street Oval 19,500 23 July 1955

Round 15

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Melbourne 12.18 (90) North Melbourne 8.15 (63) MCG 15,486 30 July 1955
Essendon 9.18 (72) Footscray 5.22 (52) Windy Hill 32,000 30 July 1955
Collingwood 10.11 (71) Hawthorn 5.6 (36) Victoria Park 16,000 30 July 1955
Carlton 11.21 (87) St Kilda 3.13 (31) Princes Park 9,742 30 July 1955
South Melbourne 14.9 (93) Richmond 13.16 (94) Lake Oval 16,000 30 July 1955
Geelong 12.14 (86) Fitzroy 9.11 (65) Kardinia Park 14,033 30 July 1955

Round 16

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
St Kilda 8.5 (53) South Melbourne 11.16 (82) Junction Oval 10,150 6 August 1955
Footscray 10.13 (73) Geelong 10.16 (76) Western Oval 33,902 6 August 1955
Fitzroy 6.17 (53) Richmond 11.9 (75) Brunswick Street Oval 14,000 6 August 1955
North Melbourne 8.12 (60) Hawthorn 8.5 (53) Arden Street Oval 9,000 6 August 1955
Melbourne 16.23 (119) Essendon 7.12 (54) MCG 49,352 6 August 1955
Collingwood 12.17 (89) Carlton 7.10 (52) Victoria Park 28,000 6 August 1955

Round 17

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Hawthorn 12.13 (85) Melbourne 13.13 (91) Glenferrie Oval 16,000 13 August 1955
Geelong 19.17 (131) St Kilda 7.10 (52) Kardinia Park 13,444 13 August 1955
Fitzroy 9.7 (61) Footscray 11.13 (79) Brunswick Street Oval 20,000 13 August 1955
Richmond 12.20 (92) North Melbourne 10.9 (69) Punt Road Oval 14,500 13 August 1955
Essendon 19.19 (133) Collingwood 8.12 (60) Windy Hill 34,000 13 August 1955
South Melbourne 6.12 (48) Carlton 12.7 (79) Lake Oval 18,000 13 August 1955

Round 18

edit
Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date
Melbourne 12.22 (94) South Melbourne 4.7 (31) MCG 19,484 20 August 1955
Collingwood 7.17 (59) Fitzroy 7.7 (49) Victoria Park 19,270 20 August 1955
Carlton 10.6 (66) Geelong 8.12 (60) Princes Park 22,482 20 August 1955
St Kilda 6.7 (43) Richmond 19.23 (137) Junction Oval 13,000 20 August 1955
North Melbourne 5.5 (35) Footscray 14.11 (95) Arden Street Oval 20,000 20 August 1955
Hawthorn 7.8 (50) Essendon 13.14 (92) Glenferrie Oval 24,500 20 August 1955

Ladder

edit
(P) Premiers
Qualified for finals
# Team P W L D PF PA % Pts
1 Melbourne (P) 18 15 3 0 1559 1036 150.5 60
2 Collingwood 18 14 4 0 1526 1197 127.5 56
3 Geelong 18 14 4 0 1524 1241 122.8 56
4 Essendon 18 12 6 0 1435 1099 130.6 48
5 Footscray 18 12 6 0 1323 1018 130.0 48
6 Richmond 18 9 9 0 1471 1387 106.1 36
7 Carlton 18 9 9 0 1384 1403 98.6 36
8 Hawthorn 18 8 10 0 1262 1342 94.0 32
9 Fitzroy 18 6 12 0 1258 1421 88.5 24
10 South Melbourne 18 5 13 0 1276 1454 87.8 20
11 North Melbourne 18 3 15 0 1233 1617 76.3 12
12 St Kilda 18 1 17 0 861 1897 45.4 4

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 74.6
Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

edit

Semi-finals

edit
Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
Geelong 3.1 6.4 7.6 9.7 (61)
Essendon 0.2 1.4 2.7 7.11 (53)
Attendance: 68,109
Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
Melbourne 2.4 4.7 7.8 8.8 (56)
Collingwood 1.3 4.5 6.7 6.9 (45)
Attendance: 59,015

Preliminary final

edit
Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
Collingwood 5.1 8.4 10.9 14.12 (96)
Geelong 3.3 5.3 9.6 13.6 (84)
Attendance: 70,430

Grand final

edit
Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final
Melbourne 2.3 3.10 4.13 8.16 (64)
Collingwood 2.2 2.5 4.6 5.6 (36)
Attendance: 88,053

Season notes

edit
  • The 15-yard penalty (precursor to the modern 50-metre penalty) was introduced to the rules nationally by the Australian National Football Council, allowing the umpire to advance the spot of a mark or free kick by 15 yards in the event of crude, late challenges on the player with the mark.[1]
  • The highest aggregate score in a match for the year was only 207 points, which is the lowest for any VFL/AFL season since 1922. There was no match in which both teams scored more than 100 points.
  • St Kilda's average score of 47.8 per match was the lowest average by any team since 1919.
  • Towards the end of the Round 4 match between Fitzroy and Geelong at the Brunswick Street Oval Fitzroy full-forward Tony Ongarello was so upset with his own inaccurate kicking that, upon taking a mark, he indicated to the field umpire that he was going to kick a place-kick. He scored a goal. He was so impressed that he kicked one more goal in that match with a place kick. He kicked several goals later in the season from place kicks as well, but ultimately had little more success with place kicks than he had with punts.[2] Although it has never been (and is still not) against the rules to do so, he is on record as the last player ever to score a goal with a place kick in a senior VFL match. Ongarello was not the first player to attempt to revive the place kick in 1955: South Melbourne full forward Colin Vance had unsuccessfully attempted a place kick for goal on debut three weeks earlier.[3]
  • After North Melbourne's humiliating Round 11 loss to St Kilda – who had not won a match since Round 16 1954 and were now captain-coached by former North Melbourne star Les Foote – the North Melbourne committee suspended two of its senior players (Mick Grambeau and Laurie Icke) indefinitely from both playing and training with the club for "not having tried hard enough" in the match.
  • Defending Premiers Footscray missed out on a place in the Final Four by just 0.6%.
  • In the dying minutes of the Grand Final, Melbourne's 19th man Frank "Bluey" Adams rushed from the bench to take his place on the field and collided with the (unsighted by Adams) Collingwood winger Des Healey who, up to that stage, had been one of the best on the ground. Both participants in this horrific head clash were carried off unconscious. Healey had his nose broken in five places, a fractured skull, and never played for Collingwood again.[4] "Bluey" Adams 15-second playing time is the shortest in VFL history.(Ross, 1996, p. 202).

Awards

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Kevin Hogan (7 April 1955). ""Get tough" order given umpires on new rule". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 33.
  2. ^ "Snapshots from league grounds". The Argus. Melbourne. 6 June 1955. p. 18.
  3. ^ "Snapshots from League Grounds". The Argus. Melbourne. 18 April 1955. p. 4.
  4. ^ Atkinson, Graeme (1989). 3AW Book of Footy Records. South Melbourne: Magistra Publishing Company Pty Ltd. p. 278. ISBN 1863210091..
  • 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
  • Geoff McClure, "The place kick 50 years dead", the Age, 16 June 2005

Sources

edit