1986 VFA season

The 1986 Victorian Football Association season was the 105th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the 26th season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Williamstown Football Club, after it defeated Coburg in the Grand Final on 21 September by 13 points; it was Williamstown's eleventh Division 1 premiership, and its first since 1959. The Division 2 premiership was won by Box Hill; it was the club's second Division 2 premiership in three years, having competed in and been relegated from Division 1 in the intervening year.

1986 VFA Premiership Season
Teams22
Division 1
Teams10
PremiersWilliamstown
(11th premiership)
Minor premiersCoburg
(6th minor premiership)
Division 2
Teams12
PremiersBox Hill
(2nd D2 premiership)
Minor premiersSunshine
(3rd D2 minor premiership)
← 1985
1987 →

Division 1

The Division 1 home-and-away season was played over eighteen rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system. The finals were played at the Junction Oval.

Ladder
1986 VFA Division 1 Ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Coburg 18 15 3 0 2560 1658 154.4 60
2 Frankston 18 13 5 0 2203 1899 116.0 52
3 Williamstown (P) 18 12 6 0 2540 1718 147.8 48
4 Preston 18 12 6 0 2222 1647 134.9 48
5 Port Melbourne 18 10 8 0 2384 2106 113.2 40
6 Sandringham 18 10 8 0 2246 2015 111.5 40
7 Geelong West 18 7 11 0 1922 1870 102.8 28
8 Brunswick 18 7 11 0 1989 2215 89.8 28
9 Springvale 18 4 14 0 1835 2245 81.7 16
10 Camberwell 18 0 18 0 1091 3619 30.1 0
Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers.

Finals
Semi Finals
Sunday, 31 August (2:10pm) Williamstown 19.10 (124) def. Preston 18.6 (114) Junction Oval (crowd: 6,600) [2]
Sunday, 7 September (2:10pm) Coburg 25.19 (169) def. Frankston 17.5 (107) Junction Oval (crowd: 4,500) [3]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 14 September (2:10pm) Frankston 12.17 (89) def. by Williamstown 19.19 (133) Junction Oval (crowd: 8,000) [4]
1986 VFA Division 1 Grand Final
Sunday, 21 September (2:10pm) Coburg def. by Williamstown Junction Oval (crowd: 20,146) [5]
1.3 (9)
5.6 (36)
6.9 (45)
 14.14 (98)		 Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final		 2.3 (15)
6.4 (40)
14.6 (90)
 17.9 (111)		 Umpires: Graeme Marcy, Jeff Ryan
Norm Goss Memorial Medal: Tony Pastore (Williamstown)
Laidler 5, M. Harbinson 2, Allison, Christensen, Collins, Gumley, Ingram, Sheldon, Taranto Goals Fotheringham 5, Cahill 4, Smith 3, Simmons 2, Owen, Round, Sait
Cleary, for unduly rough play in the third quarter (ordered off)
Allison, for striking Wheeler in the final quarter
Gumley, for striking Sait in the final quarter
Sheldon, for striking Morrison in the final quarter		 Reports Smith, for striking Laidler in the first quarter
Owen, for striking Sheldon in the second quarter

Awards

Division 2

The Division 2 home-and-away season was played over eighteen rounds; the top four then contested the finals under the Page–McIntyre system. The finals were played at Junction Oval.

Ladder
1986 VFA Division 2 Ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Sunshine 18 16 2 0 2281 1302 175.2 64
2 Box Hill (P) 18 15 3 0 2543 1302 195.3 60
3 Prahran 18 15 3 0 2402 1427 168.3 60
4 Oakleigh 18 14 4 0 2378 1308 181.8 56
5 Dandenong 18 11 7 0 1718 1417 121.2 44
6 Waverley 18 10 8 0 2077 1639 126.7 40
7 Werribee 18 8 10 0 1640 1695 96.8 32
8 Moorabbin 18 8 10 0 1595 1739 91.7 32
9 Caulfield 18 7 11 0 1860 2191 84.9 28
10 Northcote 18 2 16 0 1466 2605 56.3 8
11 Berwick 18 2 16 0 1330 2595 51.3 8
12 Mordialloc 18 0 18 0 1066 3135 34.0 0
Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers.

Finals
Semi Finals
Sunday, 31 August (11:10am) Prahran 21.14 (140) def. Oakleigh 13.18 (96) Junction Oval (crowd: 6,600 (C-R)) [2]
Sunday, 7 September (11:10am) Sunshine 9.13 (67) def. by Box Hill 14.17 (101) Junction Oval (crowd: 4,500 (C-R)) [3]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 14 September (11:10am) Sunshine 16.16 (112) def. Prahran 17.7 (109) Junction Oval (crowd: 8,000 (C-R)) [4]
1986 VFA Division 2 Grand Final
Sunday, 21 September (11:10am) Box Hill def. Sunshine Junction Oval (crowd: 20,146 (C-R)) [5]
4.6 (30)
8.9 (57)
11.11 (77)
 14.14 (98)		 Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final		 2.4 (16)
5.7 (37)
9.11 (65)
 11.14 (80)		 Umpires: Casey, Marshall
L. Bolton 3, Withers 3, Dwyer 2, Brown, Bourke, Garth, Nicholson, O'Shae, Teakel Goals Litchfield 4, Shepparbottom 3, Scanlan 2, Brown, Nelson
Reports Quinn, for striking Nicholson in the first quarter
Protetto, for striking Withers in the first quarter
Hodges, for striking Witnish in the first quarter
Quinn, for striking Nicholson in the second quarter
Nelson, for striking Sheridan in the second quarter
Wagland, for striking Nicholson in the second quarter
Protetto, for striking L. Bolton in the third quarter
Protetto, for using abusive language in the third quarter
Brown, for striking Garth in the final quarter
Mitrovski, for striking Dwyer in the final quarter

Awards
  • The leading goalkicker for Division 2 was Rino Pretto (Oakleigh), who kicked 146 goals in the home-and-away season,[1] and 151 goals overall.[2]
  • The J. Field Medal was won by Darren Hall (Dandenong) for the second consecutive year. Hall polled 30 votes to finish ahead of Pepe Protetto (Sunshine), who polled 25 votes, and Chris Rourke (Oakleigh), who polled 23 votes.[6]
  • Dandenong won the Seconds premiership. Dandenong 14.19 (103) defeated Waverley 9.8 (62) in the Grand Final, played as a curtain-raiser to the Division 1 Seconds Grand Final on 21 September.[4]

Notable events

Interleague matches

The Association played one interleague match during the season, against the Victorian Amateur Football Association. Phil Cleary (Coburg) took over from Gary Brice as coach.[8]

1986 Interleague Matches
Sunday, 8 June V.A.F.A. 10.8 (68) def. by V.F.A. 14.13 (97) Elsternwick Park [9]

Other notable events
  • In the Thirds competition, the second division was re-established from the 1986 season. The Thirds had played as a single division for the previous two seasons, after the second division was abandoned at the start of 1984.[10]
  • In its first home game, at which its 1985 Division 2 flag was unfurled, Brunswick led Williamstown by fifty points late in the third quarter, before Williamstown staged a comeback to win by two points; Williamstown 20.12 (132) d. Brunswick 20.10 (130).[11]
  • During the season, Brunswick recruited former VFL and WAFL player Mark 'Jacko' Jackson, a strong full forward better known for his larrikinism and on-field antics. Jackson's celebrity status was a drawcard for Brunswick; his first match for the club on 18 May drew a crowd of more than 10,000 to Gillon Oval,[12] and helped the club secure $50,000 in sponsorships.[13] Jackson was sacked by the club in mid-July after missing training.[14]
  • On Saturday 19 July, the Association attempted an innovation by staging two matches as a double-header at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the first time an Association game had been played at the venue since the 1961 Anzac Day game, and it was the first time an Association match had been played on Saturday for more than a decade. The Association needed a crowd of 15,000 to break even on the venture, and hoped to achieve it with three of the clubs who were then in the top four on display, and with only two VFL matches scheduled for the day due to a split-round;[15] but the crowd was a disappointing 6,253, resulting a large financial loss. In the two games, Sandringham 26.8 (164) d. Brunswick 19.13 (127), and Coburg 20.20 (140) d. Frankston 18.13 (121).[14]
  • On 3 August, Mordialloc player Graeme Pelikan, playing his first senior game, was suspended for life for striking field umpire Greg Hutchinson. Hutchinson had reported Pelikan for striking two Caulfield opponents in a melee – for each of which Pelikan was suspended for four weeks – and in retaliation Pelikan punched Hutchinson in the side of the head, concussing him.[16]
  • On 10 August, Williamstown set new records for the highest score and greatest winning margin in Association history, when it defeated Camberwell by the score of Williamstown 55.17 (347) d. Camberwell 4.8 (32).[17] Both records still stand as of 2019.
  • Three separate players scored hauls of twenty or more goals in matches during the 1986 season:
  • Network Ten expanded its coverage of Association games to include one match in each of the last four rounds of the home-and-away season (instead of two rounds, as had been the case in previous years), plus all of the finals.[21]

See also
  • List of VFA/VFL Premiers

References
  1. Hugo Kelly (25 August 1986). "The Hills are alive after last-gasp win". The Age. Melbourne. p. 32.
  2. Hugo Kelly (1 September 1986). "Williamstown's big men prove that might is right". The Age. Melbourne. p. 27.
  3. Hugo Kelly (8 September 1986). "Lions hot fancies but Cleary wary". The Age. Melbourne. p. 36.
  4. Hugo Kelly (15 September 1986). "Seagulls hope for better luck this time around". The Age. Melbourne. pp. 35, 37.
  5. Brian Walsh (22 September 1986). "Wonderful Willy takes VFA flag". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 77.
  6. Hugo Kelly (28 August 1986). "Brunswick's West wins Liston in last-vote thriller". The Age. Melbourne. p. 28.
  7. Fiddian, Marc (2004); The VFA; A History of the Victorian Football Association 1877-1995; pp. 300-302
  8. Hugo Kelly (7 June 1986). "VFA ignores the seconds". The Age. Melbourne. p. 35.
  9. Sophie Arnold (9 June 1986). "Amateurs succumb to VFA". The Age. Melbourne. p. 28.
  10. Fiddian, Marc (2004), The VFA: a history of the Victorian Football Association, 1877–1995, p. 302
  11. Hugo Kelly (14 April 1986). "Coburg quick to prove it's a flag contender". The Age. Melbourne. p. 31.
  12. Hugo Kelly (19 May 1986). "Aggressive Sandringham steals the Jacko Show". The Age. Melbourne. p. 31.
  13. Hugo Kelly (17 May 1986). "Brunswick's big week comes to a climax". The Age. Melbourne. p. 35.
  14. Hugo Kelly (21 July 1986). "Revolution over before it started". The Age. Melbourne. p. 33.
  15. Hugo Kelly (3 July 1986). "VFA tips 25,000 for MCG games". The Age. Melbourne. p. 30.
  16. Hugo Kelly (6 August 1986). "Life ban – plus 8 weeks". The Age. Melbourne. pp. 40, 38.
  17. Hugo Kelly (11 August 1986). "Hungry Seagulls kick 55.17 to break record and Cobras". The Age. Melbourne. p. 33.
  18. Hugo Kelly (21 April 1986). "Coburg overcomes Seagulls and win by 37 points". The Age. Melbourne. p. 33.
  19. Hugo Kelly (26 April 1986). "Pretto in hospital with diabetes". The Age. Melbourne. p. 31.
  20. Hugo Kelly (28 July 1986). "Williamstown defeats Port at Port". The Age. Melbourne. p. 37.
  21. Hugo Kelly (2 August 1986). "Channel 10 to cover VFA in run to finals". The Age. Melbourne. p. 35.
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