2003 VFL season

The 2003 Victorian Football League season was the 122nd season of the Australian rules football competition.

2003 VFL
Teams13
PremiersWilliamstown
(13th premiership)
Minor premiersPort Melbourne
(16th minor premiership)

The premiership was won by the Williamstown Football Club, after defeating Box Hill by 29 points in the Grand Final on 21 September.

League membership and affiliations

There were several changes to the VFL–AFL reserves affiliations prior to the 2003 season:[1]

  • Sydney, which had been partially affiliated with Port Melbourne, withdrew from having any connection with the VFL, instead electing to field a stand-alone reserves team in the AFL Canberra competition.[2] Sydney broke off the affiliation with one year left on the contract, prompting a lawsuit from Port Melbourne.[3]
  • North Melbourne, after spending the previous three years using the Murray Kangaroos as its VFL-affiliate, became affiliated with Port Melbourne. The Murray Kangaroos club, which had been a joint venture operation between North Melbourne and the Ovens & Murray Football League, dropped out of the VFL and folded.
  • Carlton, which had been fielding its reserves team in the VFL, became affiliated with the Northern Bullants. The Carlton reserves withdrew from the VFL.
  • Essendon, which had been fielding its reserves team in the VFL, became affiliated with Bendigo. Under the affiliation, Bendigo adopted Essendon's black and red guernsey, and changed its nickname from Diggers to Bombers. The Essendon reserves withdrew from the VFL.

As a result of the changes, the VFL was reduced from sixteen teams to thirteen. Geelong was now the only one of the ten Victorian AFL clubs left fielding its own reserves team in the VFL, with nine clubs in VFL-AFL affiliations.

Ladder
2003 VFL season
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Port Melbourne 18 14 3 1 1918 1439 133.3 58 Finals
2 Williamstown (P) 18 14 4 0 1856 1284 144.5 56
3 Box Hill 18 14 4 0 1789 1389 128.8 56
4 Sandringham 18 10 8 0 1623 1553 104.5 40
5 Tasmania 18 8 9 1 1708 1582 108.0 34
6 Springvale 18 8 9 1 1783 1702 104.8 34
7 Werribee 18 8 10 0 1656 1668 99.3 32
8 Geelong reserves 18 8 10 0 1623 1763 92.1 32
9 Frankston 18 8 10 0 1285 1420 90.5 32
10 Bendigo 18 7 10 1 1519 1791 84.8 30
11 Northern Bullants 18 6 12 0 1763 1824 96.7 24
12 Coburg 18 6 12 0 1408 1896 74.3 24
13 North Ballarat 18 4 14 0 1249 1869 66.8 16
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers.

Finals Series
  Qualifying / Elimination finals Semi-finals Preliminary finals Grand final
                                   
  QF1: August 30, North Port Oval  
1  Port Melbourne 14.18 (102)  
4  Sandringham 18.13 (121)     SF1: September 7, Bellerive Oval  
     Tasmania 14.21 (105)    
EF1: August 30, Bellerive Oval      Port Melbourne 17.14 (116)       PF1: September 13, North Port Oval
5  Tasmania 18.10 (118)        Sandringham 9.9 (63)  
8  Geelong 16.7 (103)          Box Hill 14.14 (98)     GF: September 21, Optus Oval
         Box Hill 9.9 (63)
  EF2: August 31, North Port Oval       PF2: September 14, North Port Oval      Williamstown 13.14 (92)
6  Springvale 6.8 (44)          Williamstown 17.11 (113)  
7  Werribee 21.18 (144)     SF2: September 6, North Port Oval        Port Melbourne 15.16 (106)  
     Box Hill 12.12 (84)    
QF2: August 30, Box Hill City Oval      Werribee 12.11 (83)    
2  Williamstown 16.14 (110)  
3  Box Hill 8.(13 61)  

Grand Final
2003 VFL Grand Final
Sunday 21 September

(2:00 pm)

 Box Hill def. by Williamstown Optus Oval (crowd: 10,500) [4]
1.1 (7)
2.4 (16)
8.6 (54)
 9.9 (63)		 Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final		 6.5 (41)
9.9 (63)
12.9 (81)
 13.14 (92)		 Norm Goss Memorial Medal: Adrian Fletcher (Williamstown)
Bayford 2, Kenna 2, Ball, Campbell, Harford, Johnson, Marguccio Goals Baldwin 4, Mahoney 2, Molloy 2, Cranage, McGouch, Smoker, Swan, Williams
M. Smith, for striking Maxwell in the fourth quarter Reports

Awards

Notable events
  • The VFL granted a favourable fixture to the three stand-alone VFL clubs, Tasmania, North Ballarat and Frankston to try to assist them financially. The clubs were given extra home games (Tasmania had twelve home games for the year, and North Ballarat and Frankston had ten) and they were given extra Sunday matches to avoid clashes with the local competitions which were still mainly played on Saturdays.[9]

See also

References
  1. Fiddian, Marc (2004); The VFA; A History of the Victorian Football Association 1877-1995; p. 188
  2. "Unearthing roots of Harbour City talent". The Age. 3 August 2003. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  3. "Port Melbourne to take Swans to court". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 7 March 2003. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  4. Rebecca Williams (22 September 2003). "Willy delivers flag for Fletch". Herald Sun. Melbourne, VIC. p. 53.
  5. "Frosty Miller Medallists". Fox Sports Pulse. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  6. "JJ Liston Trophy Night". Fox Sports Pulse. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  7. "Fothergill-Round Medallists". Sportingpulse. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  8. "Sport scoreboard". Herald Sun. Melbourne, VIC. 22 September 2003. p. 62.
  9. Dan Oakes (3 April 2003). "Three VFL clubs get extra aid". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
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