The 1897 Victorian Football League season was the inaugural season of the Victorian Football League and saw eight teams play in the first season. After fourteen rounds was played in the regular seasons, the top four teams played in a three week final series with claiming the premiership after they won all three of their games finishing ahead of minor premiers.
Premiership season
In 1897, the VFL competition consisted of eight teams of 20 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves". 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. A round-robin finals series would not be used again until 1924, and has not been used since then.
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
Win/Loss table
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
F1
F2
F3
Ladder
Fit 33
SM 4
Ess 37
Geel 22
Melb 81
StK 11
Coll 6
Fit 38
SM 46
Ess 29
Geel 50
Melb 28
StK 34
Coll 32
X
X
X
7
StK 25
Ess 20
Geel 4
SM 8
Fit 16
Melb 7
Carl 6
StK 24
Ess 9
Geel 42
SM 19
Fit 7
Melb 15
Carl 32
Melb 4
Ess 40
Geel 4
3
Geel 23
Coll 20
Carl 37
Fit 22
StK 37
SM 3
Melb 36
Geel 25
Coll 9
Carl 29
Fit 32
StK 91
SM 4
Melb 17
Geel 6
Coll 40
Melb 6
1
Carl 33
StK 40
Melb 11
Ess 22
Coll 16
Geel 16
SM 0
Carl 38
StK 57
Melb 27
Ess 32
Coll 7
Geel 12
SM 1
X
X
X
6
Ess 23
Melb 45
Coll 4
Carl 22
SM 48
Fit 16
StK 83
Ess 25
Melb 5
Coll 42
Carl 50
SM 12
Fit 12
StK 78
Ess 6
Melb 9
Coll 4
2
SM 17
Geel 45
Fit 11
StK 30
Carl 81
Coll 7
Ess 36
SM 53
Geel 5
Fit 27
StK 58
Carl 28
Coll 15
Ess 17
Coll 4
Geel 9
Ess 6
4
Melb 17
Carl 4
StK 57
Coll 8
Geel 48
Ess 3
Fit 0
Melb 53
Carl 46
StK 61
Coll 19
Geel 12
Ess 4
Fit 1
X
X
X
5
Coll 25
Fit 40
SM 57
Melb 30
Ess 37
Carl 11
Geel 83
Coll 24
Fit 57
SM 61
Melb 58
Ess 91
Carl 34
Geel 78
X
X
X
8
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
F1
F2
F3
Ladder
Bold – Home game Opponent for round listed above margin
Ladder
Ladder progression
Numbers highlighted in green indicates the team finished the round inside the top 4.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished in first place on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round.
Subscript numbers indicate ladder position at round's end.
The game between Essendon and Melbourne in the third round of the round robin tournament holds the record for the lowest combined score in a match in VFL/AFL history: 1.16.
In the first round of 1897, the VFL revoked the VFA's 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 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 loss to Collingwood 6.4 on the 22nd of June - 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.
