1979 AFC Night Series
The 1979 Australian Football Championships Night Series was the 1st edition of the AFC Night Series, a VFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the VFL, the WANFL and State Representative Teams.[1]
| AFC Escort Championships | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | 2 March – 3 July 1979 |
| Teams | 23 |
| Venue(s) | 7 (in 5 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Collingwood (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Hawthorn |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 22 |
| Attendance | 156,625 (7,119 per match) |
In June 1978 the VFL announced their plans to form a new company to oversee a night series that would be broadcast nationally and Australian Football Championships Pty. Ltd. was incorporated on 28 July 1978 to run a rival national night competition, in opposition to the NFL Night Series. By October 1978, The VFL were joined by the WAFL, TANFL, NSWAFL and ACTAFL in the joint venture and transferred from NFL Night Series to the AFC Night Series. However, the SANFL rejected the VFL's overtures, choosing to remain aligned with the NFL instead. They were joined by the VFA and QAFL in a greatly-reduced NFL Series.
Qualified Teams
| Team | Nickname | League | Qualification | Participation (bold indicates winners)1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enter in Round 2 | ||||
| Hawthorn | Hawks | VFL | Winners of the 1978 Victorian Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1971, 1976) |
| North Melbourne | Kangaroos | VFL | Runners-up in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1975, 1976) |
| Collingwood | Magpies | VFL | Third place in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1896, 1910) |
| Carlton | Blues | VFL | Fourth place in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 8th (Previous: 1907, 1908, 1914, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1976) |
| Geelong | Cats | VFL | Fifth place in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 1st |
| East Perth | Royals | WANFL | Winners of the 1978 Western Australian National Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1972, 1977, 1978) |
| Perth | Demons | WANFL | Runners-up in the 1978 Western Australian National Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1977, 1978) |
| South Fremantle | Bulldogs | WANFL | Third place in the 1978 Western Australian National Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1976, 1977) |
| Australian Capital Territory | Rams | ACTAFL | State Representative Team | 3rd (Previous: 1977, 1978) |
| Enter in Round 1 | ||||
| St Kilda | Saints | VFL | Sixth place in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 1st |
| Richmond | Tigers | VFL | Seventh place in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 5th (Previous: 1969, 1973, 1974, 1976) |
| South Melbourne | Swans | VFL | Eighth place in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 4th (Previous: 1888, 1890, 1909) |
| Fitzroy | Lions | VFL | Ninth place in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 2nd (Previous: 1913) |
| Essendon | Bombers | VFL | Tenth place in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 3rd (Previous: 1893, 1911) |
| Footscray | Bulldogs | VFL | Eleventh Place in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 2nd (Previous: 1976) |
| Melbourne | Demons | VFL | Twelfth Place in the 1978 Victorian Football League | 1st |
| West Perth | Falcons | WANFL | Fourth place in the 1978 Western Australian National Football League | 5th (Previous: 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978) |
| Claremont | Tigers | WANFL | Fifth place in the 1978 Western Australian National Football League | 2nd (Previous: 1977) |
| East Fremantle | Sharks | WANFL | Sixth place in the 1978 Western Australian National Football League | 4th (Previous: 1974, 1977, 1978) |
| Subiaco | Lions | WANFL | Seventh place 1978 Western Australian National Football League | 2nd (Previous: 1973) |
| Swan Districts | Swans | WANFL | Eighth place in the 1978 Western Australian National Football League | 2nd (Previous: 1976) |
| New South Wales | Blues | NSWAFL | State Representative Team | 3rd (Previous: 1977, 1978) |
| Tasmania | Devils | TANFL | State Representative Team | 4th (Previous: 1974, 1977, 1978) |
- 1 Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia and NFL Night Series.
Venues
| Melbourne | Perth | Sydney | Hobart | Canberra | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waverley Park | Perth Oval | Subiaco Oval | Leederville Oval | Sydney Showground | North Hobart Oval | Phillip Oval |
| Capacity: 72,000 | Capacity: 27,000 | Capacity: 53,000 | Capacity: 25,000 | Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 26,000 | Capacity: 15,000 |
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Knockout stage
Round 1
| 2 March 1979 | South Melbourne | 93–55 | West Perth | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 13.5 (93) | 7.13 (55) | Attendance: 6,815 |
| 4 March 1979 | Swan Districts | 122–160 | Essendon | Perth Oval, Perth | |
| 18.14 (122) | 21.14 (160) | Attendance: 5,000 (estimate) |
| 9 March 1979 | Richmond | 150–66 | Subiaco | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 22.18 (150) | 9.12 (66) | Attendance: 5,808 |
| 11 March 1979 | New South Wales | 77–133 | Fitzroy | Sydney Showground, Sydney | |
| 11.11 (77) | 20.13 (133) | Attendance: 3,000 (estimate) |
| 16 March 1979 | St Kilda | 82–114 | East Fremantle | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 12.10 (82) | 16.18 (114) | Attendance: 4,894 |
| 18 March 1979 | Tasmania | 60–125 | Footscray | North Hobart Oval, Hobart | |
| 9.6 (60) | 19.11 (125) | Attendance: 7,243 |
| 25 March 1979 | Claremont | 111–96 | Melbourne | Leederville Oval, Perth | |
| 17.9 (111) | 15.6 (96) | Attendance: 4,500 (estimate) |
Round 2
| 23 March 1979 | South Melbourne | 109–61 | South Fremantle | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 16.13 (109) | 8.13 (61) | Attendance: 3,000 |
| 25 March 1979 | Australian Capital Territory | 52–162 | North Melbourne | Phillip Oval, Canberra | |
| 7.10 (52) | 24.18 (162) | Attendance: 8,300 |
| 27 March 1979 | Collingwood | 89–47 | Essendon | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 12.7 (89) | 6.11 (47) | Attendance: 8,813 |
| 3 April 1979 | Geelong | 77–51 | Richmond | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 10.17 (77) | 6.15 (51) | Attendance: 4,885 |
| 10 April 1979 | Fitzroy | 90–78 | Carlton | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 12.18 (90) | 11.12 (78) | Attendance: 5,160 |
| 24 April 1979 | Footscray | 59–63 | East Perth | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 8.11 (59) | 9.9 (63) | Attendance: 4,338 |
| 1 May 1979 | Perth | 89–75 | East Fremantle | Subiaco Oval, Perth | |
| 13.11 (89) | 11.9 (75) | Attendance: 3,000 |
| 1 May 1979 | Hawthorn | 114–93 | Claremont | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 16.18 (114) | 14.9 (93) | Attendance: 3,730 |
Quarter-finals
| QF #1 8 May 1979 | Collingwood | 102–51 | South Melbourne | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 15.12 (102) | 7.9 (51) | Attendance: 6,796 |
| QF #2 15 May 1979 | Fitzroy | 60–55 | Geelong | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 9.6 (60) | 7.13 (55) | Attendance: 7,119 |
| QF #3 22 May 1979 | East Perth | 87–67 | Perth | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 13.9 (87) | 11.1 (67) | Attendance: 2,583 |
| QF #4 29 May 1979 | Hawthorn | 52–50 | North Melbourne | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 7.10 (52) | 6.14 (50) | Attendance: 7,456 |
Semi-finals
| SF #1 5 June 1979 | Collingwood | 116–49 | Fitzroy | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 17.14 (116) | 4.7 (31) | Attendance: 12,389 |
| SF #2 19 June 1979 | Hawthorn | 67–31 | East Perth | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 9.13 (67) | 4.7 (31) | Attendance: 4,073 |
Australian Football Championships Night Series Final
| Final 3 July 1979 | Collingwood | 80–52 | Hawthorn | Waverley Park, Melbourne | |
| 2.1 (13) 5.1 (31) 9.7 (61) 12.8 (80) |
3.4 (22) 4.7 (31) 6.8 (44) 7.10 (52) |
Attendance: 37,753 Umpires: Cameron, Deller | |||
| Goals | |||||
| Austen 4 Banks, Davis 2 Wearmouth, Brewer, Valli, Anderson 1 |
Hendrie 2 Goss, Goad, Eade, Wilkinson, Turner 1 |
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