The1952 VFL season was the 56th season of theVictorian Football League (VFL), the highest level seniorAustralian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 19 April until 27 September, and comprised a 19-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.

The premiership was won by theGeelong Football Club for the fifth time and second time consecutively. Geelong defeatedCollingwood by 46 points in the1952 VFL Grand Final, as part of a 23-game winning streak spanning the 1952 and 1953 seasons which stands as the longest in league history.

In 1952, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the19th man and the20th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances.

Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 19 rounds.

There was an extra round (round 8), in addition to 1951's 18 rounds. Promoted as a "National Day Round", it was held on the Saturday (14 June) of theQueen's Birthday weekend and saw all clubs play a match for premiership points at country or interstate locations, while the Victorian State side played against the West Australian State side atMelbourne Cricket Ground.

The season was constructed as follows: in rounds 1 to 7 and 9 to 12 the teams played each other. Round 8, the "National Day Round", was the reverse of round 11 (and the designated round 8 "home team" was the reverse of that in round 11). Rounds 13 to 19 were the "home-and-away reverse" of rounds 1 to 7.

Once the 19 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1952 VFLPremiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of thePage–McIntyre system.

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 70.3
Source:AFL Tables

• Essendon wingerLance Mann won the 1952, 130-yardStawell Gift in eleven and fourteen-sixteenths seconds, off a handicap of 7¼yards; his teammate, half-back flankerNorm McDonald, running off a handicap of 5 yards, came second.
• Bowing to pressure from its players and supporters, Fitzroy abandoned "The Gorillas" as its emblem. Originally intended to signify strength, tenacity, aggression, power, etc. the symbol had become somewhat devalued when opposition supporters started referring to the team as "The Apes". "The Lions" was not introduced until 1957; in the interim they were known as either "The Maroons" or "The Roys".
• In May 1952, as part of its promotion of theBurt Lancaster movieTen Tall Men, the management of the Melbourne cinemaThe State Theatre on the corner ofFlinders Street andRussell Street (now known as theForum Theatre) measured the height of the ten tallest VFL players.Geoff Leek ofEssendon was officially declared to be the tallest, at 6'4½" (194.3 cm).^[1]
• As part of an effort by theAustralian National Football Council to promote the game, a special round of VFL premiership matches was held in different cities around Australia on round 8, which was Queen's Birthday weekend:Brisbane,Sydney,Euroa,Yallourn,Albury andHobart hosted matches. Wet weather across much of eastern Australia affected crowds at Yallourn^[2] and Sydney,^[3] and forced the postponement of the match at Brisbane from Saturday afternoon to Monday evening after theRNA feared the match would damage the rain-sodden turf;^[4] but matches not affected by rain drew huge crowds, including:
  • The crowd of 18,387 betweenFitzroy andMelbourne in Hobart set a new record for the largest crowd ever to attend a football match in Tasmania, breaking the record which had been set at the1947 Hobart Interstate Carnival.^[5]
  • The crowd of 15,000 betweenSouth Melbourne andNorth Melbourne in Albury set a new record for the largest football crowd in Albury's history.^[6]
  • The crowd of 28,000 betweenGeelong andEssendon at the postponed match in Brisbane was unable to be accommodated by the venue, and a further 2,000 spectators entered without paying after breaking through a perimeter fence.^[7]

The National Day Round was played in addition to the standard eighteen games, so that the people of Melbourne and Geelong would still have nine home matches. An interstate match betweenVictoria andWestern Australia was played in Melbourne during that weekend. The endeavour was financed by the ANFC, which turned a small profit on the event after having insured the gate against rain.^[3]

• In the First Semi-Final,Carlton's high marking centremanKeith Warburton received a heavy knock to his abdomen early in the match, but thought little of it. Later that evening he collapsed at the Carlton Club dance. He was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that he was suffering from a severed artery leading to his bowel. He hovered near death for some days, requiring almost continuous transfusions of blood. It was said that his physical fitness was the only reason he survived the injury.
• In Round 10, in a match played in atrocious conditions at theBrunswick Street Oval,Fitzroy's champion full-back,Vic Chanter, heldEssendon champion full-forwardJohn Coleman goalless for the only time in his 98-game career.
• Overall, the season was the wettest season for more than 20 years. Many matches were played in deep sticky mud on grounds that were covered in sheets of water. Mud was ankle deep at theBrunswick Street Oval in Round 11. White balls were introduced in July to help players see the ball in all of the mud.
  • The overall bad weather and the atrocious condition of the grounds throughout the season, and the effect that had on the condition of the ball, especially in relation to hand-passing, marking and kicking, as well as the physical problems of leading and being unable to spring from muddy ground, highlights the significance ofJohn Coleman's 103 goals in 18 matches.

• The 1952 VFL Premiership team wasGeelong.
• TheVFL's leading goalkicker wasJohn Coleman ofEssendon with 103 goals.
• The winner of the 1952Brownlow Medal wasRoy Wright ofRichmond with 21 votes. He won on a count-back fromBill Hutchison ofEssendon.
  • As a consequence of its 1981 decision to change its rules relating to tied Brownlow Medal contests, the AFL awarded a retrospective medal toBill Hutchison in 1989.
• St Kilda took the "wooden spoon" in 1952.

• Maplestone, M.,Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996.ISBN 0-9591740-2-8
• Rogers, S. & Brown, A.,Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998.ISBN 0-670-90809-6
• Ross, J. (ed),100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996.ISBN 0-670-86814-0

• 1952 VFL season at AFL Tables
• 1952 VFL season at Australian Football

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• 1952 in Australian rules football

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