1968 VFA season

The 1968 Victorian Football Association season was the 87th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the eighth season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Preston Football Club, after it defeated Prahran in the Grand Final on 22 September by 14 points; it was Preston's first Division 1 premiership. The Division 2 premiership was won by Geelong West.

1968 VFA Premiership season
Division 1
Teams10
PremiersPreston
(1st premiership)
Minor premiersPreston
(1st minor premiership)
Division 2
Teams10
PremiersGeelong West
(2nd D2 premiership)
Minor premiersWilliamstown
(1st D2 minor premiership)

Division 1

The Division 1 home-and-home season was played over 18 rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system. The finals were held at the Punt Road Oval, in Richmond.

Ladder

1968 VFA Division 1 Ladder
TEAMPWLDPFPAPctPTS
1 Preston (P) 18 15 3 0 1648 1288 127.9 60
2 Prahran 18 13 5 0 1651 1294 127.6 52
3 Sandringham 18 12 6 0 1762 1435 124.9 48
4 Dandenong 18 11 6 1 1601 1315 121.7 46
5 Port Melbourne 18 10 7 1 1702 1480 115.0 42
6 Yarraville 18 9 9 0 1743 1749 99.6 36
7 Waverley 18 9 9 0 1400 1436 97.4 36
8 Brunswick 18 4 14 0 1370 1780 76.9 16
9 Oakleigh 18 4 14 0 1253 1762 71.1 16
10 Coburg 18 2 16 0 1149 1744 65.8 8
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points Source[1]

Finals

Semi Finals
Sunday, 1 September Sandringham 20.13 (133) def. Dandenong 11.19 (85) Punt Road Oval [2]
Sunday, 8 September Preston 13.17 (95) def. by Prahran 18.15 (123) Punt Road Oval [3]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 15 September Preston 22.11 (143) def. Sandringham 18.7 (115) Punt Road Oval [4]
1968 VFA Division 1 Grand Final
Sunday, 22 September Prahran def. by Preston Punt Road Oval (crowd: 18,000[5]) [6]
2.3 (15)
7.9 (51)
10.10 (70)
 12.12 (84)
Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final
4.3 (27)
8.4 (52)
12.7 (79)
 15.8 (98)
Umpires: Alan O'Neill
Power 6, Bartlett 3, Payne 2, Rose Goals Joyce 5, Dalton 3, Lempriere 2, Weston 2, Corbett, Heard, Reid

Awards

Division 2

The Division 2 home-and-home season was played over seventeen rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system.

Ladder

1968 VFA Division 2 Ladder
TEAMPWLDPFPAPctPTS
1 Williamstown 17 15 1 1 1911 1009 189.4 62
2 Geelong West (P) 17 14 3 0 1952 1441 135.5 56
3 Sunshine 17 11 5 1 1634 1158 141.1 46
4 Werribee 17 11 6 0 1417 1442 98.3 44
5 Northcote 17 9 8 0 1391 1435 96.9 36
6 Frankston 17 8 9 0 1599 1594 100.3 32
7 Caulfield 17 5 12 0 1382 1682 82.2 20
8 Mordialloc 17 4 13 0 1250 1672 74.4 16
9 Camberwell 17 4 13 0 1219 1925 63.3 16
10 Box Hill 17 3 14 0 1214 1611 75.4 12
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points Source[5]

Finals

Semi Finals
Sunday, 11 August Sunshine 13.24 (102) def. Werribee 10.11 (71) Yarraville Oval [8]
Sunday, 11 August Williamstown 19.18 (132) def. Geelong West 19.11 (125) Toorak Park (crowd: 8,000) [9]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 18 August Geelong West 17.12 (114) def. Sunshine 11.18 (84) Toorak Park [10]
1968 VFA Division 2 Grand Final
Sunday, 25 August Williamstown def. by Geelong West Toorak Park (crowd: 6,000[5]) [11]
4.3 (27)
11.8 (74)
15.11 (101)
 18.15 (123)
Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final
4.3 (27)
10.6 (66)
14.12 (96)
 20.15 (135)
Umpires: O'Neill
Ware 4, Camilleri 3, Mulligan 3, Barnes 2, Papley 2, Szyszka 2, Patterson, Raffle Goals W. Adams 5, Harris 3, Tenabel 3, Deeath 2, Emond 2, Stacey 2, Brushfield, Gibbons, Skowronksi
Mulligan, for striking an unknown player in the second quarter
Mulligan, for striking Keys in the second quarter
Johnson, for striking Skowronski in the third quarter
Reports Snell, for striking Papley in the first quarter

Awards

Notable events

Interstate matches

The Association contested two interstate matches during 1968. Keith Burns (Brunswick) captained the team against Canberra, and Max Papley (Williamstown) captained the team against Tasmania.[15]

As a consequence of the Association's expulsion from the ANFC in 1969/70, these were the last representative matches played by the Association until 1975.[16]

1968 Interstate Matches
Sunday, 26 May Canberra 6.15 (51) def. by Victoria (VFA) 21.16 (142) Manuka Oval (crowd: 3,000) [17]
Saturday, 29 June Tasmania 18.8 (116) def. by Victoria (VFA) 19.15 (129) York Park (crowd: 10,688) [18]

Other notable events

  • Following his win in the Division 2 Best and Fairest award, Ian Nankervis immediately sought a pay rise from the Williamstown Football Club; the request which was rejected, and the club omitted him from the Grand Final team for his disloyalty. Williamstown lost the Grand Final by twelve points, and has since been left to speculate whether dropping its best player cost it the flag.[19] He moved to Dandenong Football Club in 1969.
  • List of VFA/VFL Premiers

References

  1. Tom Valenta (26 August 1968). "Preston finishes clearly on top". The Age. Melbourne. p. 25.
  2. Noel Pascoe (2 September 1968). "Sandy the victor – 'on ability'". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 48.
  3. Noel Pascoe (9 September 1968). "Prahran bursts Preston 'bubble'". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 52.
  4. Noel Pascoe (16 September 1968). "Preston brought off a great victory". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 48.
  5. Andrew Robinson (7 February 2013). "Victorian Football Association – Season 1968".
  6. Noel Pascoe (23 September 1968). "Heard was star for Preston". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 48.
  7. "VFA trophy to Telford". The Age. Melbourne. 29 August 1968. p. 28.
  8. Tom Valenta (12 August 1968). "Sunshine wins semi". The Age. Melbourne. p. 24.
  9. Tom Valenta (12 August 1968). "W'town stalls off late challenge". The Age. Melbourne. p. 24.
  10. Tom Valenta (19 August 1968). "Geelong defeats Sunshine". The Age. Melbourne. p. 21.
  11. Tom Valenta (26 August 1968). "Win to Geelong in final". The Age. Melbourne. p. 25.
  12. Noel Pascoe (12 August 1968). "Dandenong 'machine' struck real trouble". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 48.
  13. Noel Pascoe (8 August 1968). "Nankervis scored". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 67.
  14. "Association 2nds". The Herald. Melbourne. 31 August 1968. p. 47.
  15. Noel Pascoe (25 June 1968). "Papley to lead team". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 46.
  16. David Eastman (2013). "VFA – 1970 -1989: the post-ANFC era". Hard Ball Get. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  17. Kevin Hogan (27 May 1968). "Easy for the VFA". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 45.
  18. Noel Pascoe (1 July 1968). "VFA side wins by 13 points". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 40.
  19. Fiddian, Marc (2003), Seagulls over Williamstown, Williamstown, VIC: Williamstown Football Club, p. 119
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