| 1923 VFA premiership season | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers | Footscray 8th premiership |
| Minor premiers | Footscray 7th minor premiership |
The1923Victorian Football Association season was the 45th season of theAustralian rules football competition. The premiership was won by theFootscray Football Club, after it defeatedPort Melbourne by 14 points in the Grand Final on 1 October. It was the club's eighth VFA premiership, which meant that the club surpassedGeelong (L.) for the most premierships won in VFA history.
In 1923, the League and Association entered into a new agreement in which players could not transfer from one competition to the other without a clearance from his club and a permit from his current competition. Such a rule had existing prior to 1918, but since it had lapsed a refusal by one competition to permit a transfer was not binding in the other.[1] The League was motivated to enter into the agreement by the aggressive recruiting of some Association clubs over the previous few years. The agreement was intended to last for five years, but it was broken prior to the 1925 season during the off-field machinations which led toFootscray,Hawthorn andNorth Melbourne leaving the Association and joining the League.[2]
The home-and-home season was played over eighteen rounds, with each club playing the others twice; then, the top four clubs contested a finals series under theamendedArgus system to determine the premiers for the season.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Footscray(P) | 18 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1527 | 910 | 59.6 | 64 |
| 2 | Port Melbourne | 18 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1399 | 930 | 66.5 | 62 |
| 3 | Williamstown | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1187 | 966 | 81.4 | 48 |
| 4 | Hawthorn | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1203 | 975 | 81.0 | 44 |
| 5 | Brunswick | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1120 | 1109 | 99.0 | 38 |
| 6 | North Melbourne | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1143 | 1132 | 99.0 | 38 |
| 7 | Brighton | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1170 | 1213 | 103.7 | 32 |
| 8 | Prahran | 18 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 861 | 1535 | 178.3 | 14 |
| 9 | Northcote | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 952 | 1217 | 127.8 | 12 |
| 10 | Geelong | 18 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 855 | 1439 | 168.3 | 8 |
| Semifinals | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 8 September | Port Melbourne 14.11 (95) | def. | Hawthorn 9.13 (67) | North Melbourne Recreation Reserve (crowd: 12,000) | [4] |
| Saturday, 15 September | Footscray 12.7 (79) | def. | Williamstown 6.11 (47) | North Melbourne Recreation Reserve (crowd: 15,000) | [5] |
| Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 22 September | Footscray 5.11 (41) | def. by | Port Melbourne 8.9 (57) | North Melbourne Recreation Reserve (crowd: 20,000) | [6] |
| 1923 VFA Grand Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 29 September | Footscray | def. | Port Melbourne | North Melbourne Recreation Reserve (crowd: 18,000) | [7][8] |
| 3.4 (22) 3.4 (22) 6.9 (45) 7.10 (52) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 0.0 (0) 2.1 (13) 2.2 (14) 5.8 (38) | Umpires: Jones | ||
| Mullins 2,Eason, Howell,O'Brien, Samson, Scanlon | Goals | Kerley 2, Barfoot, Cruddin, Taylor | |||
| C. Howell, for elbowing H. Bissett C. Howell for fighting with H. Bissett V. Samson, for strikingG. Dobrigh A. Smith, for retaliating against G. Dobrigh after being struck | Reports | G. Ogilvie, for striking L. Zinnick J. Garbutt, for striking L. Mullins H. Bissett, for fighting with C. Howell G. Dobrigh, for charging A. Smith G. Dobrigh, for retaliating against V. Samson after being charged G. Dobrigh, for striking A. Smith G. Dobrigh, for using bad language with the umpire | |||