The 1922 VFL season was the 26th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs, ran from 6 May until 14 October, and comprised a 16-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
| 1922 VFL premiership season | |
|---|---|
 Fitzroy Football Club, Premier team | |
| Teams | 9 |
| Premiers | Fitzroy 7th premiership |
| Minor premiers | Collingwood 7th minor premiership |
| Leading goalkicker medallist | Horrie Clover (Carlton) |
| Matches played | 76 |
| Highest | 64,148 |
The premiership was won by the Fitzroy Football Club for the seventh time, after it defeated Collingwood by eleven points in the 1922 VFL Grand Final.[1]
Background
In 1922, 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 1922 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".
Home-and-away season
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
| (P) | Premiers |
| Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collingwood | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1178 | 922 | 127.8 | 48 |
| 2 | Essendon | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1147 | 1028 | 111.6 | 42 |
| 3 | Fitzroy (P) | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1091 | 1003 | 108.8 | 42 |
| 4 | Carlton | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1232 | 1092 | 112.8 | 40 |
| 5 | Richmond | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 1039 | 1129 | 92.0 | 28 |
| 6 | Melbourne | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 1005 | 1131 | 88.9 | 28 |
| 7 | St Kilda | 16 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 1090 | 1164 | 93.6 | 22 |
| 8 | Geelong | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 1080 | 1285 | 84.0 | 20 |
| 9 | South Melbourne | 16 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 1127 | 1235 | 91.3 | 18 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 69.4
Source: AFL Tables
Finals series
All of the 1922 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
Season notes
- Essendon began playing its home games at the Essendon Recreation Reserve (known today as Windy Hill) from this season, after the closure of the East Melbourne Cricket Ground at the end of 1921.
- Boundary umpires became responsible for bringing the ball back to the centre after a goal has been scored.
- Angry Richmond fans invaded the field after Richmond's 10-point loss against Essendon in Round 5. Field umpire Arthur Norden, later received a letter threatening his life, and he retired.
- The first issue of the "pink paper", the Saturday evening newspaper, The Sporting Globe, was published on 22 July 1922.
- In the round 17 match against Geelong, St Kilda's centre half-forward Dave McNamara had 12 kicks for the match. From the twelve kicks he scored ten goals, nine of them with place-kicks (one 70 yards, another 65 yards), and tenth with a punt-kick. By contrast with that accurate kicking, on the following Saturday, in the round 18 match against Richmond, McNamara kicked 1.13 (19).
- South Melbourne's percentage is the highest ever by the team finishing last.
Awards
- The 1922 VFL Premiership team was Fitzroy.
- The VFL's leading goalkicker was Horrie Clover of Carlton with 54 goals (56 after finals).
- South Melbourne took the "wooden spoon" in 1922.
- The Victorian Junior League premiership, which is today recognised as the VFL reserves premiership, was won by Collingwood District (main: 1922 VJFL season).
References
- 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
Sources
- 1922 VFL season at AFL Tables
- 1922 VFL season at Australian Football