NON-PREMIERSHIP MATCHES

1956 VFL NIGHT PREMIERSHIP

RESULTS
ABOUT
TEAMS / FORMAT
EVENTS
IMAGES
MATCH REPORTS
RESULTS

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Date

Teams

1/4

1/2

3/4

Final

Margin

Venue

Day/Time

Crowd

ROUND 1

Aug-23

South Melbourne (9)

1.0 (6)

6.7 (43)

7.10 (52)

13.15 (93)

20

Lake Oval,

Thu

14,000

St Kilda (11)

3.6 (24)

5.7 (37)

10.12 (72)

10.13 (73)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Aug-28

Essendon (6)

1.1 (7)

4.5 (29)

7.6 (48)

8.11 (59)

2

Lake Oval,

Tue

13,500

North Melbourne (12)

2.4 (16)

4.7 (31)

8.12 (60)

8.13 (61)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Aug-30

Richmond (10)

2.4 (16)

6.8 (44)

8.8 (56)

12.10 (82)

9

Lake Oval,

Thu

15,200

Hawthorn (7)

2.4 (16)

4.8 (32)

6.16 (52)

9.19 (73)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Sep-04

Carlton (5)

5.3 (33)

7.10 (52)

10.15 (75)

13.18 (96)

14

Lake Oval,

Tue

25,000

Fitzroy (8)

5.1 (31)

6.3 (39)

9.8 (62)

12.10 (82)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

SEMI FINALS

Sep-06

South Melbourne (9)

4.1 (25)

7.7 (49)

8.8 (56)

9.13 (67)

5

Lake Oval,

Thu

17,500

North Melbourne (12)

3.7 (25)

3.10 (28)

7.12 (54)

8.14 (62)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Sep-12

Richmond (10)

2.5 (17)

5.7 (37)

7.12 (54)

9.15 (69)

12

Lake Oval,

Wed

25,500

Carlton (5)

3.5 (23)

8.7 (55)

8.8 (56)

11.15 (81)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

EXHIBITION MATCH

Sep-14

Footscray (3)

4.2 (26)

8.6 (54)

12.11 (83)

12.16 (88)

45

Lake Oval,

Fri

12,500

Geelong (4)

1.2 (8)

4.3 (27)

5.5 (35)

6.7 (43)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

GRAND FINAL

Sep-17

South Melbourne (9)

3.6 (24)

7.8 (50)

10.13 (73)

13.16 (94)

6

Lake Oval,

Mon

33,120

Carlton (5)

2.4 (16)

2.7 (19)

7.8 (50)

13.10 (88)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

 

ABOUT

ABOUT THE INAGURAL NIGHT SERIES

Years of frustration and false starts had seen metropolitan Melbourne fall behind other regions in the race for night football. The deadlock was broken when the South Melbourne Cricket Club (SMCC) decided to invest in four light towers to enable night football, soccer, baseball and other sports to be played at the venue.

The series was originally meant to involve VFL and VFA clubs. However, the SMCC set a deadline of September 12th for the night final to be played (that deadline was later extended to September 17th). The VFA home & away season only ended on September 1st which did not leave enough time for their clubs to participate. The VFL chose to go ahead with the series without VFA involvement.

The VFA's frustrations were eased by an assurance they would participate in the 1957 night series. They later chose to play night premiership matches at the Lake Oval during the 1957 season instead; a niche market that the VFL had shown no real interest in exploring at that stage. [The Argus 28-9-1956]
Picture
The Argus announces South Melbourne's night premiership triumph [Argus 18-9-1956]
The eight teams that missed the VFL finals series competed for the K.G. Luke Trophy (valued at £75 and donated by VFL President Kenneth Luke) with the winning team receiving a £200 cash prize. However, for this inaugural series no dividend sharing arrangement with the top-four clubs was in place.

The relatively large night series crowds meant a bottom-eight club that lost their opening round match in the night competition would bank around £700, with the winning club making as much as £2000. This was considerably more than the VFL's top-four clubs who had to divide their finals takings among all 12 clubs.

It was this financial imbalance that led to all clubs taking part in the 1957 Night Series, with the top-four entering the night competition as they were eliminated from the VFL finals race. [The Football Record 14-9-1956 / The Age 20-7-1982]

TEAMS / FORMAT

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

The series featured the eight teams that missed the VFL finals series:
5th - Carlton
6th - Essendon
7th - Hawthorn
8th - Fitzroy
9th - South Melbourne
10th - Richmond
11th - St Kilda
12th - North Melbourne
They competed for the K.G. Luke Trophy (valued at £75 and donated by VFL President Kenneth Luke) with the winning team receiving a £200 cash prize.

SERIES FORMAT

The teams were randomly drawn in the opening round (5 vs 8 / 6 vs 12 / 7 vs 10 / 9 vs 11) with winning teams advancing to the next stage, and losing teams eliminated from the series.

An exhibition match between the VFL's third and fourth-placed teams (Footscray and Geelong respectively) was also played between the night series semi-finals and grand final (see the EVENTS tab for more information about this game).

EVENTS

NOTABLE EVENTS

*Specially-made white footballs (manufactured by both T.W. Sherrin and Ross Faulkner) were used throughout the competition.

*The Lake Oval was the venue for the series, and also the home ground of the South Melbourne Football Club, so it was natural that the Swans played in the inaugural match. This soon developed into something of a tradition with South playing the opener in ten of the fifteen series they participated in during this era.

*An exhibition match was played in the period between the night series second semi-final and Grand Final. This was a charity match between the teams finishing 3rd (Footscray) and 4th (Geelong) in the VFL premiership. The match was a fundraiser for Operation Gratitude, a massive fundraising campaign for the RSL and Legacy which ran throughout the second half of 1956. 

*Alcohol consumption was a growing problem during the 1956 series with the large crowds transporting in and consuming copious amounts of alcohol. One report of the Richmond-Hawthorn match described night football as "becoming the Mecca of thousands of unruly drinkers, with thousands of empty bottles scattered about the terraces by halftime". [The Argus 31-8-1956]  

IMAGES

IMAGES FROM THE 1956 SERIES

Picture
St Kilda's Graham Minahan and Bill Gleeson train under the new Lake Oval lights [The Argus 21-8-1956]
Picture
South Melbourne and Carlton players fight for possession of the white football in the inaugural Night Grand Final [The Age 18-9-1956]
MATCH REPORTS

MATCH REPORTS

Listed below are match reports for all 7 games played during the series (plus the exhibition match). This is the first time these reports have been collated and published online or in print. Unless otherwise noted the information was sourced from The Football Record and The Age newspaper.

ROUND 1
SEMI FINALS
EXHIBITION MATCH
G.F. TEAMS
GRAND FINAL
ROUND 1

Match 1 - Thursday, August 23

SOUTH MELBOURNE

1.0 (6)

6.7 (43)

7.10 (52)

13.15 (93)

ST KILDA

3.6 (24)

5.7 (37)

10.12 (72)

10.13 (73)

BEST PLAYERS:

South Melbourne

McCormack, Ledwidge, Dorgan, E. Lane, Oaten, Marks

St Kilda

Roberts, Muir, Stephenson, Moloney, Gleeson, Walsh

GOALKICKERS:

South Melbourne

Goldsmith 4, McCormack 2, C. Lane 2, Oaten 2, Keyter, E. Lane, Ferguson

St Kilda

Young 4, Muir 2, Gleeson 2, B. McCarthy, Minahan

REPLACEMENTS:

South Melbourne

C. Lane replaced Skilton (first quarter)

Ferguson replaced Elder (third quarter)

St Kilda

Hanrahan replaced B. McCarthy (last quarter)

Watt replaced Williamson (last quarter)

UMPIRE:

Schwab

CROWD:

14,000

SOURCE:

AGE/ARGUS/Football Record

NOTES:

The opening game of the series ground to a halt when a South Melbourne player was flattened in the goalsquare.

According to The Argus match report about 14 players from both sides began to trade punches. It took nearly five minutes for
umpires to break up the fights, only for a skirmish to break-out at the other end of the field resulting in "opposing players
swinging punches wildly". Umpires were this time assisted by police to end the melee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 2 - Tuesday, August 28

ESSENDON

1.1 (7)

4.5 (29)

7.6 (48)*

8.11 (59)

NORTH MELBOURNE

2.4 (16)

4.7 (31)

8.12 (60)*

8.13 (61)

BEST PLAYERS:

Essendon

Clarke, Booth, Sewell, Gill, Pascoe, Heenan

North Melbourne

Aylett, O’Halloran, Dwyer, Martyn, Templar, Spencer

GOALKICKERS:

Essendon

Willey 3, Booth 2, Hutchison, Shearman, Donohue

North Melbourne

Spencer 4, Aylett 2, Mantello, Dwyer

REPLACEMENTS:

Essendon

Carstairs replaced Donohoe (third quarter)

Dench replaced Clarkson (third quarter)

North Melbourne

Crampton replaced Brady (selected side), Ford replaced English (selected side)

Dozzi replaced K. Dean (last quarter)

Wilson replaced Templar (last quarter)

UMPIRE:

Barbour

CROWD:

13,500

SOURCE:

AGE/Football Record

SCORE DISCREPANCIES:

NM's 3/4 time score in The Football Record = 8.12 (The Age has 7.11)

Essendon's 3/4 time score in The Football Record = 7.6 (The Age has 7.8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 3 - Thursday, August 30

RICHMOND

2.4 (16)

6.8 (44)

8.8 (56)

12.10 (82)

HAWTHORN

2.4 (16)

4.8 (32)

6.16 (52)

9.19 (73)

BEST PLAYERS:

Richmond

H. Rowe, D. Rowe, Branton, McDonald, Allsopp, Cations

Hawthorn

Coghlan, Metcalfe, O’Brien, Hughes, Kaine, M. Considine

GOALKICKERS:

Richmond

Dummett 4, Branton 3, Allsopp, McDonald, Cooke, Naismith, Poulter

Hawthorn

Douglas 2, Coghlan 2, Kaine, O’Brien, Cooper, Metcalfe, Peck

REPLACEMENTS:

Richmond

unknown

Hawthorn

unknown

UMPIRE:

Frood

CROWD:

15,200

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 4 - Tuesday, September 4

CARLTON

5.3 (33)

7.10 (52)

10.15 (75)

13.18 (96)

FITZROY

5.1 (31)

6.3 (39)

9.8 (62)

12.10 (82)

BEST PLAYERS:

Carlton

Hands, Mills, Kerr, Clarke, Beasy, Ousley

Fitzroy

Murray, Clark, Williams, Abraham, Johnstone, Henderson

GOALKICKERS:

Carlton

Ousley 4, Beasy 3, Mills 2, Clarke 2, Hands, Kerr

Fitzroy

Abraham 5, Johnstone 2, Ongarello, Aston, Clark, Campbell, Knight

REPLACEMENTS:

Carlton

Licciardo replaced Holt (third quarter)

Hamilton replaced Burnar (three-quarter time)

Fitzroy

Ashton replaced Furness (three-quarter time)

Chivers replaced McGregor (three-quarter time)

UMPIRE:

Nunn

CROWD:

25,000

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

-

 

SEMI FINALS

Match 5 - Thursday, September 6

 

SOUTH MELBOURNE

4.1 (25)

7.7 (49)

8.8 (56)

9.13 (67)

NORTH MELBOURNE

3.7 (25)

3.10 (28)

7.12 (54)

8.14 (62)

BEST PLAYERS:

South Melbourne

Sibun, Goldsmith, Younger, Taylor, Pratt, Primmer

 

North Melbourne

Aylett, Dwyer, Martyn, Templar, O’Halloran, Dugdale

 

GOALKICKERS:

South Melbourne

Goldsmith 4, D. Matthews 2, Clegg, Monks, Oaten

 

North Melbourne

Aylett 3, N. Dean, K. Dean, Templar, O’Halloran, Dugdale

 

REPLACEMENTS:

South Melbourne

Younger replaced Hogan (second quarter)

 

Oaten replaced Ledwidge (third quarter)

 

North Melbourne

Tobin replaced K. Dean (last quarter)

 

Ford replaced N. Dean (last quarter)

 

UMPIRE:

Woolfe

 

CROWD:

17,500

 

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

 

NOTES:

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 6 - Wednesday, September 12

 

RICHMOND

2.5 (17)

5.7 (37)

7.12 (54)

9.15 (69)

CARLTON

3.5 (23)

8.7 (55)

8.8 (56)

11.15 (81)

BEST PLAYERS:

Richmond

Poulter, D. Rowe, H. Rowe, Claxton, Branton, Dummett

 

Carlton

Nicholls, Milroy, Mills, Beasy, Hands, James

 

GOALKICKERS:

Richmond

Dummett 3, Poulter 2, Claxton 2, McDonald, Branton

 

Carlton

Crowe 3, Hands 2, Inglis, Beasy, Mills, Milroy, Zeunert, Clarke

 

REPLACEMENTS:

Richmond

(none)

 

Carlton

Ousley replaced Crowe (third quarter)

 

Berner replaced Sullivan (last quarter)

 

UMPIRE:

Flanagan

 

CROWD:

25,500

 

SOURCE:

AGE/Football Record

 

NOTES:

-

 

EXHIBITION MATCH

Exhibition Match - Friday, September 14

FOOTSCRAY

4.2 (26)

8.6 (54)

12.11 (83)

12.16 (88)

GEELONG

1.2 (8)

4.3 (27)

5.5 (35)

6.7 (43)

BEST PLAYERS:

Footscray

Whitten, Duffy, Collins, Gallagher, Reynolds, Dixon, Ryan

Geelong

O’Neill, Pianto, Tresize, Gazzard, O’Connell, Hovey, Williams

GOALKICKERS:

Footscray

Duffy 4, Collins 3, K. Smith, Ryan, Ross, Dixon, Westcott

Geelong

Wooller 2, O’Connell 2, Smith, Bartle

UMPIRE:

Rowe

CROWD:

12,500

SOURCE:

AGE

NOTES:

Fundraiser for 'Operation Gratitude' played by the VFL teams finishing 3rd (Footscray) and 4th (Geelong).

Operation Gratitude was a massive fundraising campaign for Legacy and the RSL that ran throughout the second half of 1956.

 

G.F. TEAMS

SOUTH MELBOURNE

COACH

Herbie Matthews

 

BACKS

Dorgan

Grant

Trethowan

HALF-BACKS

McLaughlin

Ferguson

Primmer

CENTRES

McCormack

Sibun

Monks

HALF-FORWARDS

Matthews

Clegg

Pratt

FORWARDS

Gillett (C)

Goldsmith

E. Lane

FOLLOWERS

Taylor

Seymour

ROVER

McGowan

 

RESERVES

Tagliabue

Woolley

EMERGENCIES

C. Lane, McNeill, Mellesso, Barry

CARLTON

COACH

Jim Francis

 

BACKS

Comben

Ferry

English

HALF-BACKS

Zeunert

James

Holt

CENTRES

Gilchrist

Nicholls

Sullivan

HALF-FORWARDS

Kerr

Milroy

Hamilton

FORWARDS

Webster

Crowe

Mills

FOLLOWERS

Hands (C)

Buckley

ROVER

Beasy

 

RESERVES

Berner

Ousley

EMERGENCIES

McCrae, Dawson, Licciardo, Benetti, K. O’Brien

 

GRAND FINAL

1956 VFL NIGHT PREMIERSHIP - GRAND FINAL

Match 7 - Monday, September 17

SOUTH MELBOURNE

3.6 (24)

7.8 (50)

10.13 (73)

13.16 (94)

CARLTON

2.4 (16)

2.7 (19)

7.8 (50)

13.10 (88)

BEST PLAYERS:

South Melbourne

Clegg, McGowan, Goldsmith, Matthews, Sibun, Taylor

Carlton

Hands, Zeunert, English, Crowe, Gilchrist, Kerr

GOALKICKERS:

South Melbourne

McGowan 4, Goldsmith 3, Sibun, Pratt, Matthews, Taylor, Clegg, Gillett

Carlton

Crowe 4, Kerr 2, Hands, Hamilton, Nicholls, English, Beasy, Berner, Sullivan

REPLACEMENTS:

South Melbourne

Tagliabue replaced McCormack (last quarter)

Carlton

Berner replaced Mills (third quarter)

Ousley replaced Hamilton (three-quarter time)

UMPIRE:

Beitzel

CROWD:

33,120*

SOURCE:

AGE

NOTES:

For winning the series South Melbourne received a cash prize of £200 and the K.G. Luke Trophy (valued at £75).

*CROWD DISCREPANCY:

Media reports of the day (and current AFL records) have the crowd for this match as 32,450.

Later editions of the Football Record (12-9-1957 / 26-9-1960 / 2-9-1965 / 25-9-1967 / 4-9-1968 / 28-9-1970) confirm it was
actually 33,120.

 

Written and researched by David Eastman
First published 15/2/2017
Last updated 11/7/2021