1913 VFL season explained

Year:	1913
Date:	26 April—27 September 1913
Teams:	10
Premcount:	5
Mpcount:	4
Leadinggoalkicker:	Roy Park
Goals:	53
Matches:	94

The 1913 VFL season was the 17th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured ten clubs and ran from 26 April to 27 September, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

won the premiership, defeating by 13 points in the 1913 VFL grand final; it was Fitzroy's fifth VFL premiership. Fitzroy also won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 16–2 win–loss record. 's Roy Park won the leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

Background

In 1913, the VFL competition consisted of ten teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume their place on the field at any time during the match.

Each team played each other twice in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds.

Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1913 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".

Home-and-away season

Round 1

Round 2

|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF"| Home team| Home team score| Away team| Away team score| Venue| Date|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 10.17 (77)| | 11.2 (68)| Victoria Park| 3 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 8.13 (61)| | 9.7 (61)| Princes Park| 3 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 10.12 (72)| | 14.15 (99)| MCG| 3 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 10.7 (67)| | 3.16 (34)| Junction Oval| 3 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 11.12 (78)| | 13.11 (89)| Punt Road Oval| 3 May 1913

Round 3

|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF"| Home team| Home team score| Away team| Away team score| Venue| Date|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 8.14 (62)| | 6.7 (43)| Brunswick Street Oval| 10 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 11.13 (79)| | 7.11 (53)| Princes Park| 10 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 9.11 (65)| | 10.13 (73)| MCG| 10 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 8.9 (57)| | 9.2 (56)| Lake Oval| 10 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 10.5 (65)| | 10.10 (70)| EMCG| 10 May 1913

Round 4

|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF"| Home team| Home team score| Away team| Away team score| Venue| Date|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 9.14 (68)| | 7.12 (54)| Punt Road Oval| 17 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 14.14 (98)| | 7.9 (51)| Corio Oval| 17 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 7.14 (56)| | 15.13 (103)| EMCG| 17 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 4.7 (31)| | 7.11 (53)| MCG| 17 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 6.8 (44)| | 5.8 (38)| Victoria Park| 17 May 1913

Round 5

|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF"| Home team| Home team score| Away team| Away team score| Venue| Date|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 7.15 (57)| | 9.17 (71)| Corio Oval| 24 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 9.16 (70)| | 6.12 (48)| Victoria Park| 24 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 8.13 (61)| | 7.14 (56)| Junction Oval| 24 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 7.9 (51)| | 5.6 (36)| Brunswick Street Oval| 24 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 8.8 (56)| | 10.12 (72)| MCG| 24 May 1913

Round 6

|- bgcolor="#CCCCFF"| Home team| Home team score| Away team| Away team score| Venue| Date|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 6.7 (43)| | 5.6 (36)| Brunswick Street Oval| 31 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 3.5 (23)| | 6.11 (47)| EMCG| 31 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 4.13 (37)| | 3.6 (24)| Princes Park| 31 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 6.16 (52)| | 4.4 (28)| Lake Oval| 31 May 1913|- bgcolor="#FFFFFF"| | 2.8 (20)| | 7.12 (54)| MCG| 31 May 1913

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
bgcolor=FFFFBB		Qualified for finals

|- style=background:#FFFFBB| 1 || align=left | (P) || 18 || 16 || 2 || 0 || 1137 || 788 || 144.3 || 64|- style=background:#FFFFBB| 2 || align=left | || 18 || 14 || 3 || 1 || 1256 || 977 || 128.6 || 58|- style=background:#FFFFBB| 3 || align=left | || 18 || 13 || 5 || 0 || 1158 || 984 || 117.7 || 52|- style=background:#FFFFBB| 4 || align=left | || 18 || 11 || 7 || 0 || 1149 || 1081 || 106.3 || 44|-| 5 || align=left | || 18 || 10 || 8 || 0 || 1264 || 1016 || 124.4 || 40|-| 6 || align=left | || 18 || 9 || 8 || 1 || 1110 || 1100 || 100.9 || 38|-| 7 || align=left | || 18 || 6 || 12 || 0 || 1034 || 1090 || 94.9 || 24|-| 8 || align=left | || 18 || 6 || 12 || 0 || 1072 || 1148 || 93.4 || 24|-| 9 || align=left | || 18 || 4 || 14 || 0 || 816 || 1143 || 71.4 || 16|-| 10 || align=left | || 18 || 0 || 18 || 0 || 907 || 1576 || 57.6 || 0|}

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 60.6
Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

All of the 1913 finals were played at the MCG, so the home team in the semi-finals and preliminary final was the higher ranked team from the ladder but in the grand final the home team was the team that won the preliminary final.

Semi-finals

Preliminary final

Grand final

See main article: 1913 VFL Grand Final.

Season notes

The VFL formed an independent tribunal to hear charges against players.
Prior to Melbourne's Round 4 match against Fitzroy, six of the club's players went on strike to protest the club committee's failure to support a player charged by police after striking a Carlton player in Round 3. After Melbourne President Dr. William C. McClelland entered the club rooms and personally informed the players they would be expelled from the club if they did not take the field, the players called off their strike.
In the round 14 match against Fitzroy, controversy erupted after VFL Stewards incorrectly reported Essendon follower Bill Walker.^[1]
University Football Club's full-forward Roy Park, who stood only 5"5" (165 cm), was selected as the Victorian Interstate team's full-forward, and kicked 53 of University's 115 goals for the season. Park was the second player to win the goalkicking when his team won the wooden spoon, after Charlie Baker of St Kilda in 1902, whose team also finished last without a win.

Awards

The 1913 VFL Premiership team was Fitzroy.
The VFL's leading goalkicker was Roy Park of University with 53 goals.
University took the "wooden spoon" in 1913.

References

Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998.

Sources

1913 VFL season at AFL Tables
1913 VFL season at Australian Football

Notes and References

Book: Ross. John. 100 Years of Australian Football. 1996. Viking Books. Ringwood, Australia. 9781854714343. 382.