1987 VFL season

Melbourne defeated Essendon 8.10 (58) to 8.6 (54) in the final at Waverley Park.

• This season saw the introduction of two new interstate sides: the West Coast Eagles, based in Perth, Western Australia, and the Brisbane Bears, based in Gold Coast, Queensland. They were the first new clubs to join the league since the expansion of 1925, and the first time the league would change from twelve teams since 1943. The clubs were admitted to the league in a meeting on 1 October 1986, with West Coast admitted by an 8–4 majority of the twelve clubs, and Brisbane admitted unanimously. The two new clubs each paid a $A4 million licence fee which was divided equally amongst the existing twelve clubs, many of whom were in desperate need of such a cash injection.[2]
• When the Seven Network refused to offer a significant increase on its previous deal – which the VFL thought was warranted, given the broader audience that interstate expansion would bring – the VFL sold the television rights to on-seller Broadcom, who sold them to the ABC and satellite network Sportsplay. The deals lasted one year, and Seven purchased the exclusive rights back from Broadcom in 1988 at almost double the 1986 rate.[3] FTA broadcasts, alongside the nationally aired games on ABC (and all locally broadcast games via ABV in Victoria), were split on state lines with Seven retaining broadcasts for Western Australia via TVW-7, the games were broadcast as well on SBS Television and The Prime Network (New South Wales) and on Network 10 (Queensland and South Australia).
• The Round 10 match between West Coast and Collingwood was played on the Foundation Day public holiday, which is not observed in Victoria.
• In awful conditions in Round 13, Collingwood kicked only 2.6 (18), the lowest score by any team since 1968. Brian Taylor kicked their only goals in the first few minutes of the second quarter.
• In three home games from Round 16 to Round 18, the Sydney Swans amassed the most prolific string of high scores in VFL history, scoring a total of 97.53 (635). Their individual scores were: 30.21 (201) against West Coast, winning by 130 points; 36.20 (236) against Essendon, winning by 163 points; and 31.12 (198) against Richmond, winning by 91 points.
• The VFL made a loss on the Round 17 match between Fitzroy and Brisbane Bears, which drew a meagre crowd of only 5,824 to Princes Park, despite being one of only three matches in Melbourne that weekend. The league had considered rescheduling the match as the first half of a double-header with one of the other two senior matches that weekend to reduce overall operating expenses, but contracts already in place precluded double-headers from being staged.[4]
• Melbourne ended the third longest finals drought in league history (twenty-three years or twenty-two seasons actual seasons) by finishing fifth, making the finals for the first time since 1964.
• The final round, Round 22, was one of the most dramatic and significant in VFL/AFL history. At the start of the round:
  • Carlton could secure top spot and a week's rest by winning
  • Hawthorn could finish on top if they beat Geelong and Carton lost to North
  • North could grab the double chance (third spot) from Sydney by beating Carlton if Sydney lost to Fitzroy
  • Any of Geelong, Footscray or Melbourne could finish fifth and make the finals.

As a warm-up for the round on the Friday night Richmond played the Brisbane Bears for the wooden spoon; the Bears won easily to ensure they didn't come last in their first season. The significant matches were all played on Saturday afternoon, and were all close. Geelong led by 35 points at one stage but were worn down by Hawthorn in the end, who won by 3 points; the Cats therefore missed the finals.

That meant the winner of Melbourne and Footscray would finish 5th. The Demons won by 15 points to make the finals for the first time since 1964.

Sydney beat Fitzroy by 8 points to ensure the double chance.

Carlton's new captain Stephen Kernahan kicked a goal after the siren against North to secure top spot. The week's rest may have made a difference to the eventual result of the Grand Final, which was played on a 33-degree day.

• In the Preliminary Final, Melbourne was leading by 4 points at the final siren, though Hawthorn's Gary Buckenara had a free kick 55 metres out. But Melbourne's Jim Stynes ran across the mark and incurred a 15-metre penalty, bringing Buckenara close enough to kick the winning goal after the siren.[5][6]
• The Under-19s Grand Final, in which North Melbourne 13.16 (94) defeated Richmond 13.11 (89), ended in controversy when the final siren was alleged to have been blown early. The timekeeper, who was independent of the clubs, was alleged to have blown the siren after only two minutes of time on; but there had been five goals kicked in the final quarter, which would usually have been expected to result in four or five minutes of time on. Richmond lodged a complaint against the timekeeper, but did not protest the result or seek a replay of the match.[7][8]

• McIntyre "Final Five" system

• Stephen Rodgers: Every Game Ever Played VFL/AFL Results 1897-1991 3rd Edition 1992. Penguin Books Australia ISBN 0-670-90526-7.
• 1987 Season - AFL Tables