The 1897 VFL season was the inaugural season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season ran from 8 May to 4 September, comprising a 14-round home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top four clubs. Eight Victorian Football Association (VFA) clubs – , , , , , , and – featured in the inaugural season after seceding from the VFA in 1896.
Essendon won the inaugural premiership after winning all three of its finals matches, with Geelong finishing as runners-up with two wins. Geelong won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with an 11–3 win–loss record. Geelong's Eddy James and Melbourne's Jack Leith tied for the leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkickers.
Background
In 1897, the VFL competition consisted of eight teams of 20 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves" (although any of the 20 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 14 rounds.
Once the 14-round home-and-away season had finished, the 1897 VFL Premiers were determined according to the conditions dictated by the specific format and conventions of the 1897 Finals System, which was used in this season only.
Home-and-away season
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Ladder
<onlyinclude>
<section begin=ladder/>
{| class=wikitable
| (P) || Premiers
|-
| bgcolor=FFFFBB | || Qualified for finals
|}
|- style=background:#FFFFBB
| 1 || align=left | || 14 || 11 || 3 || 0 || 704 || 383 || 183.8 || 44
|- style=background:#FFFFBB
| 2 || align=left | (P) || 14 || 11 || 3 || 0 || 706 || 445 || 158.7 || 44
|- style=background:#FFFFBB
| 3 || align=left | || 14 || 10 || 4 || 0 || 685 || 473 || 144.8 || 40
|- style=background:#FFFFBB
| 4 || align=left | || 14 || 9 || 5 || 0 || 509 || 445 || 114.4 || 36
|-
| 5 || align=left | || 14 || 8 || 5 || 1 || 595 || 430 || 138.4 || 34
|-
| 6 || align=left | || 14 || 4 || 9 || 1 || 509 || 485 || 104.9 || 18
|-
| 7 || align=left | || 14 || 2 || 12 || 0 || 376 || 737 || 51.0 || 8
|-
| 8 || align=left | || 14 || 0 || 14 || 0 || 280 || 966 || 29.0 || 0
|}
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for<br>Average score: 39.0<br>Source: AFL Tables<section end=ladder/></onlyinclude>
Progression by round
{| class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:center
! Team !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! 13 !! 14
|-
| align=left | || || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || || || || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=CCFFCC |
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=FFFFBB |
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB |
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || || || || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB |
|-
| align=left | || || || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || || || || || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || ||
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | || || || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=C0C0C0 |
|}
Source: AFL Tables
Finals series
Finals week 1
Finals week 2
Finals week 3
Finals ladder
<onlyinclude>
<section begin=Finals ladder/>
{| class=wikitable
| style=width:1em bgcolor=CCFFCC | || Won the premiership
|}
|- style=background:#CCFFCC
| 1 || align=left | || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 119 || 67 || 177.6 || 12
|-
| 2 || align=left | || 3 || 2 || 1 || 0 || 127 || 120 || 105.8 || 8
|-
| 3 || align=left | || 3 || 1 || 2 || 0 || 129 || 169 || 76.3 || 4
|-
| 4 || align=left | || 3 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 92 || 111 || 82.9 || 0
|}
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for<br>Source: AFL Tables<section end=Finals ladder/></onlyinclude>
Win–loss table
The following table can be sorted from biggest winning margin to biggest losing margin for each round. If two or more matches in a round are decided by the same margin, these margins are sorted by percentage (i.e. the lowest-scoring winning team is ranked highest and the lowest-scoring losing team is ranked lowest). Opponents are listed above the margins and home matches are in bold.
{| class=wikitable style=font-size:85%
| style="background:#CCFFCC; width:1em" align=center | + || style=width:5em | Win || style="background:#FFFFBB; width:1em" | || Qualified for finals
|-
| style="background:#FFCFCF; width:1em" align=center | − || style=width:5em | Loss || style="background:#C0C0C0; width:1em" | || Eliminated
|-
| style="background:#CCCCFF; width:1em" | || style=width:5em | Draw || colspan=2 |
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center"
! rowspan=2 | Team !! colspan=14 | Home-and-away season !! rowspan=2 | !! colspan=3 | Finals series !! rowspan=2 |
|-
! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! 13 !! 14 !! F1 !! F2 !! F3
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || 7<br>(2–12–0) || colspan=4 bgcolor=C0C0C0 |
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | 4<br>(9–5–0) || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | ||
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | 2<br>(11–3–0) || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC |
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCCCFF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || 6<br>(4–9–1) || colspan=4 bgcolor=C0C0C0 |
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | 1<br>(11–3–0) || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | ||
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFFFBB | 3<br>(10–4–0) || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | ||
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCCCFF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=CCFFCC | || 5<br>(8–5–1) || colspan=4 bgcolor=C0C0C0 |
|-
| align=left | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || bgcolor=FFCFCF | || 8<br>(0–14–0) || colspan=4 bgcolor=C0C0C0 |
|}
Source: AFL Tables
Season notes
- The game between Essendon and Melbourne in the third round of the finals holds the record for the lowest combined score in a match in VFL/AFL history: 1.16 (22).
- George Stuckey, the captain of the Essendon Football Club team that won the VFL's inaugural premiership, also won the 130-yard Stawell Gift in 1897 in 12.2 seconds off a handicap of 12 yards.
- In the first round of 1897, the VFL revoked the VFA's (then prevailing) push-in-the-back rule. The rule was reinstated before the second round's matches on the following Saturday due to complaints from fans, players and officials.
- On 12 June, a League representative team played against a Ballarat Football League representative team at the Brunswick Street Oval. Ballarat 13.11 (89) defeated the League 8.6 (54).
- On 3 July 1897, Fitzroy rover Bill McSpeerin weaved his way and bounced the ball the length of the Brunswick Street Oval to score a goal against St Kilda.
- Fred Waugh was unable to play in South Melbourne's team for the Round 11 game with St Kilda after attempting suicide. He had been spurned by his lover, and had become disconsolate. His mother found him in his room covered in blood, having cut his throat with a blunt knife. Luckily, he missed severing his windpipe and blood vessels, and a doctor was able to repair the wounds.
- Carlton's first six matches were all away games due to renovations at Princes Park, with the first game at Princes Park being a 5.6 (36) loss to Collingwood 6.4 (40) on 22 June, the Diamond Jubilee Holiday.
- The first-round finals match between Geelong and Essendon at the Corio Oval was the only finals match to be played in Geelong until 2013.