1897 VFL Season

Season Details

Name: 1897 VFL Season
Team(s): 8
Round(s): 14
Finals System: Round-Robin System
Match(es): 62

Season Results

Premiers: Essendon
Runners-Up: Geelong
Minor Premiers: Geelong
Leading Goalkicker Medallist(s): Eddy James (Geelong), Jack Leith (Melbourne)

Team Results

Team Ladder (W-D-L & P%) Brownlow Leader(s) Goalkicking Leader(s) (Home-and-Away)
Geelong (R) 1st 11 -0- 3 183.8% Eddy James (22)
Essendon (P) 2nd 11 -0- 3 158.7% Norm Waugh (19)
Melbourne 3rd 10 -0- 4 144.8% Jack Leith (22)
Collingwood 4th 9 -0- 5 114.4% Archie Smith (14)
South Melbourne 5th 8 -1- 5 138.4% Dinny McKay (14)
Fitzroy 6th 4 -1- 9 104.9% Chris Kiernan (11)
Carlton 7th 2 -0- 12 51.0% Wally O'Cock (15)
St Kilda 8th 0 -0- 14 29.0% Bill Ahern, Reg Stewart (6)

Umpire Results

Umpire Position Umpire(s)
Field Umpire 7
Goal Umpire 13

Season Fixture

Round 1

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 08/05/1897 3:00 PM South Melbourne v Melbourne Lakeside Oval 27 - 44
SAT 08/05/1897 3:00 PM Geelong v Essendon Corio Oval 24 - 47
SAT 08/05/1897 3:00 PM Fitzroy v Carlton Brunswick Street Oval 49 - 16 3,000
SAT 08/05/1897 3:00 PM Collingwood v St Kilda Victoria Park 41 - 16

Round 2

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 15/05/1897 3:00 PM Melbourne v Geelong MCG 64 - 19
SAT 15/05/1897 3:00 PM South Melbourne v Carlton Lakeside Oval 40 - 36
SAT 15/05/1897 3:00 PM Essendon v Collingwood East Melbourne 30 - 50
SAT 15/05/1897 3:00 PM St Kilda v Fitzroy Junction Oval 26 - 66

Round 3

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 22/05/1897 3:00 PM Fitzroy v Melbourne Brunswick Street Oval 39 - 50 10,000
SAT 22/05/1897 3:00 PM Collingwood v Geelong Victoria Park 41 - 37
MON 24/05/1897 3:00 PM Essendon v Carlton East Melbourne 78 - 41
MON 24/05/1897 3:00 PM South Melbourne v St Kilda Lakeside Oval 59 - 2

Round 4

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 29/05/1897 3:00 PM Melbourne v St Kilda MCG 76 - 46
SAT 29/05/1897 3:00 PM Geelong v Carlton Corio Oval 44 - 22
SAT 29/05/1897 3:00 PM Fitzroy v Essendon Brunswick Street Oval 20 - 42
SAT 29/05/1897 3:00 PM South Melbourne v Collingwood Lakeside Oval 41 - 33

Round 5

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 05/06/1897 3:00 PM Melbourne v Carlton MCG 107 - 26
SAT 05/06/1897 3:00 PM Geelong v South Melbourne Corio Oval 72 - 24
SAT 05/06/1897 3:00 PM St Kilda v Essendon Junction Oval 26 - 63
SAT 05/06/1897 3:00 PM Collingwood v Fitzroy Victoria Park 37 - 21

Round 6

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 19/06/1897 3:00 PM Melbourne v Collingwood MCG 33 - 26
SAT 19/06/1897 3:00 PM Geelong v Fitzroy Corio Oval 31 - 15
SAT 19/06/1897 3:00 PM St Kilda v Carlton Junction Oval 24 - 35
SAT 19/06/1897 3:00 PM South Melbourne v Essendon Lakeside Oval 16 - 19

Round 7

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
TUE 22/06/1897 3:00 PM Essendon v Melbourne East Melbourne 63 - 27
TUE 22/06/1897 3:00 PM St Kilda v Geelong Junction Oval 31 - 114
TUE 22/06/1897 3:00 PM Carlton v Collingwood Princes Park 35 - 41
TUE 22/06/1897 3:00 PM Fitzroy v South Melbourne Brunswick Street Oval 43 - 43

Round 8

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 26/06/1897 3:00 PM Melbourne v South Melbourne MCG 20 - 73
SAT 26/06/1897 3:00 PM Essendon v Geelong East Melbourne 32 - 57
SAT 26/06/1897 3:00 PM Carlton v Fitzroy Princes Park 9 - 47
SAT 26/06/1897 3:00 PM St Kilda v Collingwood Junction Oval 29 - 53

Round 9

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 03/07/1897 3:00 PM Geelong v Melbourne Corio Oval 15 - 10
SAT 03/07/1897 3:00 PM Carlton v South Melbourne Princes Park 28 - 74
SAT 03/07/1897 3:00 PM Collingwood v Essendon Victoria Park 37 - 46
SAT 03/07/1897 3:00 PM Fitzroy v St Kilda Brunswick Street Oval 75 - 18

Round 10

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 10/07/1897 3:00 PM Melbourne v Fitzroy MCG 53 - 26
SAT 10/07/1897 3:00 PM Geelong v Collingwood Corio Oval 52 - 10
SAT 10/07/1897 3:00 PM Carlton v Essendon Princes Park 13 - 42
SAT 10/07/1897 3:00 PM St Kilda v South Melbourne Junction Oval 3 - 64

Round 11

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 17/07/1897 3:00 PM St Kilda v Melbourne Junction Oval 13 - 71
SAT 17/07/1897 3:00 PM Carlton v Geelong Princes Park 16 - 66
SAT 17/07/1897 3:00 PM Essendon v Fitzroy East Melbourne 62 - 30
SAT 17/07/1897 3:00 PM Collingwood v South Melbourne Victoria Park 8 - 27

Round 12

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 24/07/1897 3:00 PM Carlton v Melbourne MCG 18 - 46
SAT 24/07/1897 3:00 PM South Melbourne v Geelong Lakeside Oval 32 - 44
SAT 24/07/1897 3:00 PM Essendon v St Kilda East Melbourne 94 - 3
SAT 24/07/1897 3:00 PM Fitzroy v Collingwood Brunswick Street Oval 28 - 35

Round 13

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 31/07/1897 3:00 PM Collingwood v Melbourne Victoria Park 43 - 28
SAT 31/07/1897 3:00 PM Fitzroy v Geelong Brunswick Street Oval 21 - 33
SAT 31/07/1897 3:00 PM Carlton v St Kilda Princes Park 59 - 25
SAT 31/07/1897 3:00 PM Essendon v South Melbourne East Melbourne 49 - 45

Round 14

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 07/08/1897 3:00 PM Melbourne v Essendon MCG 56 - 39
SAT 07/08/1897 3:00 PM Geelong v St Kilda Corio Oval 96 - 18
SAT 07/08/1897 3:00 PM Collingwood v Carlton Victoria Park 54 - 22
SAT 07/08/1897 3:00 PM South Melbourne v Fitzroy Lakeside Oval 30 - 29

Round-Robin Final 1

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 21/08/1897 2:30 PM Melbourne v Collingwood MCG 47 - 51 7,000
SAT 21/08/1897 2:30 PM Geelong v Essendon Corio Oval 29 - 35 5,000

Round-Robin Final 2

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 28/08/1897 2:30 PM Geelong v Melbourne Brunswick Street Oval 46 - 37 4,000
SAT 28/08/1897 2:30 PM Essendon v Collingwood MCG 70 - 30 8,000

Round-Robin Final 3

Date Match Venue Result Attendance
SAT 04/09/1897 2:30 PM Essendon v Melbourne Lakeside Oval 14 - 8 3,800
SAT 04/09/1897 2:30 PM Geelong v Collingwood East Melbourne 52 - 48 3,000