1897 VFL Season

These are the results for the 1897 season of the Victorian Football League (currently known as the Australian Football League).

It featured fourteen rounds in a double round-robin format. Geelong were the minor premiers.

The season ended with a finals series following the Round-Robin system. Essendon were the premiers, with George Stuckey as the premiership captain.

Season Details

Name: 1897 VFL Season
Teams: 8
Rounds: 14
Finals System: Round-Robin System
Matches: 62

Team Details

Team	Home Ground	Coach (Appointed)	Coach (Caretaker)
Carlton	Princes Park
Collingwood	Victoria Park
Essendon	East Melbourne
Fitzroy	Brunswick Street Oval
Geelong	Corio Oval
Melbourne	MCG
South Melbourne	Lakeside Oval
St Kilda	Junction Oval

Season Results

Premiers: Essendon
Runners-Up: Geelong
Minor Premiers: Geelong

Team Results

Minor Premiership Results

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA	GF	BF	GA	BA
Geelong	1st	11	-0-	3	44	183.8%	704	383	95	134	52	71
Essendon	2nd	11	-0-	3	44	158.7%	706	445	99	112	60	85
Melbourne	3rd	10	-0-	4	40	144.8%	685	473	93	127	61	107
Collingwood	4th	9	-0-	5	36	114.4%	509	445	66	113	57	103
South Melbourne	5th	8	-1-	5	34	138.4%	595	430	78	127	57	88
Fitzroy	6th	4	-1-	9	18	104.9%	509	485	63	131	62	113
Carlton	7th	2	-0-	12	8	51.0%	376	737	51	70	98	149
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	14	0	29.0%	280	966	35	70	133	168

Major Premiership Results

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA	GF	BF	GA	BA
Essendon	1st	3	-0-	0	12	177.6%	119	67	15	29	7	25
Geelong	2nd	2	-0-	1	8	105.8%	127	120	16	31	16	24
Collingwood	3rd	1	-0-	2	4	76.3%	129	169	17	27	24	25
Melbourne	4th	0	-0-	3	0	82.9%	92	111	12	20	13	33

Overall Premiership Results

Team	Position (Outcome)
Essendon	1st	Premiers
Geelong	2nd	Runners-Up
Collingwood	3rd	3rd place in round-robin finals series
Melbourne	4th	4th place in round-robin finals series
South Melbourne	5th	Did not qualify for finals
Fitzroy	6th	Did not qualify for finals
Carlton	7th	Did not qualify for finals
St Kilda	8th	Did not qualify for finals

Season Fixture

Round 1

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

Round 1 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Fitzroy	1st	1	-0-	0	4	306.3%	49	16
Collingwood	2nd	1	-0-	0	4	256.3%	41	16
Essendon	3rd	1	-0-	0	4	195.8%	47	24
Melbourne	4th	1	-0-	0	4	163.0%	44	27
South Melbourne	5th	0	-0-	1	0	61.4%	27	44
Geelong	6th	0	-0-	1	0	51.1%	24	47
St Kilda	7th	0	-0-	1	0	39.0%	16	41
Carlton	8th	0	-0-	1	0	32.7%	16	49

Round 2

Date			Match	Venue	Result
SAT	15/05/1897	3:00 PM	Essendon v Collingwood	East Melbourne	30	-	50
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	St Kilda v Fitzroy	Junction Oval	26	-	66

Round 2 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Fitzroy	1st	2	-0-	0	8	273.8%	115	42
Melbourne	2nd	2	-0-	0	8	234.8%	108	46
Collingwood	3rd	2	-0-	0	8	197.8%	91	46
Essendon	4th	1	-0-	1	4	104.1%	77	74
South Melbourne	5th	1	-0-	1	4	83.8%	67	80
Carlton	6th	0	-0-	2	0	58.4%	52	89
St Kilda	7th	0	-0-	2	0	39.3%	42	107
Geelong	8th	0	-0-	2	0	38.7%	43	111

Round 3

Date			Match	Venue	Result			Attendance
SAT	22/05/1897	3:00 PM	Collingwood v Geelong	Victoria Park	41	-	37
SAT	22/05/1897	3:00 PM	Fitzroy v Melbourne	Brunswick Street Oval	39	-	50	10,000
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 3 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Melbourne	1st	3	-0-	0	12	185.9%	158	85
Collingwood	2nd	3	-0-	0	12	159.0%	132	83
Fitzroy	3rd	2	-0-	1	8	167.4%	154	92
South Melbourne	4th	2	-0-	1	8	153.7%	126	82
Essendon	5th	2	-0-	1	8	134.8%	155	115
Carlton	6th	0	-0-	3	0	55.7%	93	167
Geelong	7th	0	-0-	3	0	52.6%	80	152
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	3	0	26.5%	44	166

Round 4

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

Round 4 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Melbourne	1st	4	-0-	0	16	178.6%	234	131
Essendon	2nd	3	-0-	1	12	145.9%	197	135
South Melbourne	3rd	3	-0-	1	12	145.2%	167	115
Collingwood	4th	3	-0-	1	12	133.1%	165	124
Fitzroy	5th	2	-0-	2	8	129.9%	174	134
Geelong	6th	1	-0-	3	4	71.3%	124	174
Carlton	7th	0	-0-	4	0	54.5%	115	211
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	4	0	37.2%	90	242

Round 5

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

Round 5 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Melbourne	1st	5	-0-	0	20	217.2%	341	157
Essendon	2nd	4	-0-	1	16	161.5%	260	161
Collingwood	3rd	4	-0-	1	16	139.3%	202	145
South Melbourne	4th	3	-0-	2	12	102.1%	191	187
Fitzroy	5th	2	-0-	3	8	114.0%	195	171
Geelong	6th	2	-0-	3	8	99.0%	196	198
Carlton	7th	0	-0-	5	0	44.3%	141	318
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	5	0	38.0%	116	305

Round 6

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

Round 6 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Melbourne	1st	6	-0-	0	24	204.4%	374	183
Essendon	2nd	5	-0-	1	20	157.6%	279	177
Collingwood	3rd	4	-0-	2	16	128.1%	228	178
Geelong	4th	3	-0-	3	12	106.6%	227	213
South Melbourne	5th	3	-0-	3	12	100.5%	207	206
Fitzroy	6th	2	-0-	4	8	104.0%	210	202
Carlton	7th	1	-0-	5	4	51.5%	176	342
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	6	0	41.2%	140	340

Round 7

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

Round 7 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Essendon	1st	6	-0-	1	24	167.6%	342	204
Melbourne	2nd	6	-0-	1	24	163.0%	401	246
Collingwood	3rd	5	-0-	2	20	126.3%	269	213
Geelong	4th	4	-0-	3	16	139.8%	341	244
South Melbourne	5th	3	-1-	3	14	100.4%	250	249
Fitzroy	6th	2	-1-	4	10	103.3%	253	245
Carlton	7th	1	-0-	6	4	55.1%	211	383
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	7	0	37.7%	171	454

Round 8

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

Round 8 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Essendon	1st	6	-0-	2	24	143.3%	374	261
Collingwood	2nd	6	-0-	2	24	133.1%	322	242
Melbourne	3rd	6	-0-	2	24	132.0%	421	319
Geelong	4th	5	-0-	3	20	144.2%	398	276
South Melbourne	5th	4	-1-	3	18	120.1%	323	269
Fitzroy	6th	3	-1-	4	14	118.1%	300	254
Carlton	7th	1	-0-	7	4	51.2%	220	430
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	8	0	39.4%	200	507

Round 9

Date			Match	Venue	Result
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
SAT	03/07/1897	3:00 PM	Geelong v Melbourne	Corio Oval	15	-	10

Round 9 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Essendon	1st	7	-0-	2	28	140.9%	420	298
Geelong	2nd	6	-0-	3	24	144.4%	413	286
Melbourne	3rd	6	-0-	3	24	129.0%	431	334
Collingwood	4th	6	-0-	3	24	124.7%	359	288
South Melbourne	5th	5	-1-	3	22	133.7%	397	297
Fitzroy	6th	4	-1-	4	18	137.9%	375	272
Carlton	7th	1	-0-	8	4	49.2%	248	504
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	9	0	37.5%	218	582

Round 10

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

Round 10 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Essendon	1st	8	-0-	2	32	148.6%	462	311
Geelong	2nd	7	-0-	3	28	157.1%	465	296
Melbourne	3rd	7	-0-	3	28	134.4%	484	360
South Melbourne	4th	6	-1-	3	26	153.7%	461	300
Collingwood	5th	6	-0-	4	24	108.5%	369	340
Fitzroy	6th	4	-1-	5	18	123.4%	401	325
Carlton	7th	1	-0-	9	4	47.8%	261	546
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	10	0	34.2%	221	646

Round 11

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

Round 11 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Essendon	1st	9	-0-	2	36	153.7%	524	341
Geelong	2nd	8	-0-	3	32	170.2%	531	312
Melbourne	3rd	8	-0-	3	32	148.8%	555	373
South Melbourne	4th	7	-1-	3	30	158.4%	488	308
Collingwood	5th	6	-0-	5	24	102.7%	377	367
Fitzroy	6th	4	-1-	6	18	111.4%	431	387
Carlton	7th	1	-0-	10	4	45.3%	277	612
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	11	0	32.6%	234	717

Round 12

Date			Match	Venue	Result
SAT	24/07/1897	3:00 PM	Carlton v Melbourne	MCG	18	-	46
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
SAT	24/07/1897	3:00 PM	South Melbourne v Geelong	Lakeside Oval	32	-	44

Round 12 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Essendon	1st	10	-0-	2	40	179.7%	618	344
Geelong	2nd	9	-0-	3	36	167.2%	575	344
Melbourne	3rd	9	-0-	3	36	153.7%	601	391
South Melbourne	4th	7	-1-	4	30	147.7%	520	352
Collingwood	5th	7	-0-	5	28	104.3%	412	395
Fitzroy	6th	4	-1-	7	18	108.8%	459	422
Carlton	7th	1	-0-	11	4	44.8%	295	658
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	12	0	29.2%	237	811

Round 13

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

Round 13 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Essendon	1st	11	-0-	2	44	171.5%	667	389
Geelong	2nd	10	-0-	3	40	166.6%	608	365
Melbourne	3rd	9	-0-	4	36	144.9%	629	434
Collingwood	4th	8	-0-	5	32	107.6%	455	423
South Melbourne	5th	7	-1-	5	30	140.9%	565	401
Fitzroy	6th	4	-1-	8	18	105.5%	480	455
Carlton	7th	2	-0-	11	8	51.8%	354	683
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	13	0	30.1%	262	870

Round 14

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

Round 14 Ladder

Team	Ladder (W-D-L, PP & P%)						PF	PA
Geelong	1st	11	-0-	3	44	183.8%	704	383
Essendon	2nd	11	-0-	3	44	158.7%	706	445
Melbourne	3rd	10	-0-	4	40	144.8%	685	473
Collingwood	4th	9	-0-	5	36	114.4%	509	445
South Melbourne	5th	8	-1-	5	34	138.4%	595	430
Fitzroy	6th	4	-1-	9	18	104.9%	509	485
Carlton	7th	2	-0-	12	8	51.0%	376	737
St Kilda	8th	0	-0-	14	0	29.0%	280	966

Final Round 1

Round-Robin Final 1

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

Final Round 2

Round-Robin Final 2

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

Final Round 3

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

Links

Fixtures (VFL/AFL)

The information provided on this site does not necessarily align with the official record. The purpose of this site is to present its author's attempt to amalgamate a variety of sources of information on the VFL/AFL, VFA/VFL, SANFL, WAFL, TSL and other competitions to provide its users a unified view of the people (e.g. players, coaches, draftees and umpires), places, events (e.g. matches, drafts and awards) and other entities that have contributed to the rich history of Australian rules football.