NON-PREMIERSHIP MATCHES

1971 HEINZ 'BIG RED' NIGHT PREMIERSHIP

RESULTS
ABOUT
TEAMS / FORMAT
EVENTS
MATCH REPORTS
RESULTS

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Date

Teams

1/4

1/2

3/4

Final

Margin

Venue

Day/Time

Crowd

ROUND 1

Sep-02

South Melbourne (12)

2.3 (15)

3.4 (22)

8.6 (54)

10.10 (70)

21

Lake Oval,

Thu

10,028

Footscray (8)

3.6 (24)

7.12 (54)

8.17 (65)

11.25 (91)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Sep-07

Fitzroy (6)

4.3 (27)

7.8 (50)

10.8 (68)

14.16 (100)

42

Lake Oval,

Tue

7,280

North Melbourne (9)

4.1 (25)

5.3 (33)

8.6 (54)

8.10 (58)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Sep-09

Carlton (5)

3.2 (20)

5.4 (34)

8.12 (60)

9.15 (69)

9

Lake Oval,

Thu

7,328

Essendon (11)

2.0 (12)

5.3 (33)

6.5 (41)

9.6 (60)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Sep-14

Melbourne (7)

2.2 (14)

10.6 (66)

15.10 (100)

19.20 (134)

60

Lake Oval,

Tue

8,108

Geelong (10)

4.3 (27)

7.4 (46)

11.7 (73)

11.8 (74)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

SEMI FINALS

Sep-16

Footscray (8)

3.3 (21)

4.5 (29)

5.9 (39)

11.12 (78)

35

Lake Oval,

Thu

12,124

Fitzroy (6)

4.4 (28)

7.10 (52)

11.13 (79)

16.17 (113)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Sep-21

Carlton (5)

3.2 (20)

6.5 (41)

8.7 (55)

11.8 (74)

26

Lake Oval,

Tue

11,919

Melbourne (7)

2.3 (15)

6.8 (44)

9.11 (65)

14.16 (100)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

GRAND FINAL

Sep-27

Fitzroy (6)

0.2 (2)

2.3 (15)

6.7 (43)

9.9 (63)

16

Lake Oval,

Mon

21,169

Melbourne (7)

3.2 (20)

5.5 (35)

11.6 (72)

12.7 (79)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

 

ABOUT

ABOUT THE 1971 SERIES

*The Demons return to the winner's circle - seven seasons after their glory era ended, Melbourne finally won another flag. The 1971 decider was their third straight Night Series Grand Final and first night premiership.

*Prizemoney - this was the first year that all prizemoney was provided by the sponsor of the series. From 1964 (the first year of sponsorship) to 1970 the VFL had paid 35% of the winner's cheque and 38% of the runner-up's cheque.


*Leading Goalkicker of the Series - Fitzroy's Paul Shanahan led all-scorers with 9 goals in his 3 matches.


*The end of an era - this was the last series played during the first era of the night premiership. Dwindling crowds were the main factor contributing to the series' demise. Since 1966 attendance had dropped every season (other than 1970) and the growing lack of interest from football fans had not gone unnoticed at league headquarters.

In 1972 the VFL expanded the final series from four teams to five, leaving just 7 clubs to compete in the night premiership. This was an unworkable number and the night series ended with little fanfare.
Picture
Action from the opening round Carlton-Essendon clash (1972 VFL Year Book)
TEAMS / FORMAT

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

The series featured the eight teams that missed the VFL finals series:
5th - Carlton
6th - Fitzroy
7th - Melbourne
8th - Footscray
9th - North Melbourne
10th - Geelong
11th - Essendon
12th - South Melbourne
They competed for the K.G. Luke Trophy (donated by VFL President Kenneth Luke) with the winning team receiving a $2800 cash prize.

SERIES FORMAT

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

EVENTS

NOTABLE EVENTS

*Bulldogs and Lions slug it out - the first semi-final between Fitzroy and Footscray ground to a halt due to an all-in brawl involving 28 players. It's not known who won the fight, but Fitzroy won the match comfortably.


*No coach, no worries - Melbourne’s senior coach Ian Ridley missed their Grand Final victory due to a work-related holiday in Fiji; assistant coach Bernie Massey led the team in Ridley’s absence.

MATCH REPORTS

MATCH REPORTS

Listed below are match reports for all 7 games played during the series. 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
G.F. TEAMS
GRAND FINAL
ROUND 1

Match 1 - Thursday, September 2

SOUTH MELBOURNE

2.3 (15)*

3.4 (22)

8.6 (54)

10.10 (70)

FOOTSCRAY

3.6 (24)

7.12 (54)

8.17 (65)

11.25 (91)

BEST PLAYERS:

South Melbourne

Hoffman, Bedford, Ball, Murphy, Doyle, McHenry

Footscray

Bisset, Salmon, Quinlan, Dempsey, Magee, McGowan

GOALKICKERS:

South Melbourne

Hoffman 4, McHenry 2, Pavone, Bedford, Doyle, Prentice

Footscray

Dempsey 3, Quinlan 2, Bishop 2, Dell 2, Salmon 2

REPLACEMENTS:

South Melbourne

Robertson replaced Pitura (selected side)

Pavone replaced Robertson (second quarter)

Footscray

(none)

UMPIRE:

Sheen

CROWD:

10,028

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

SCORE DISCREPANCY:

South Melbourne's 1/4 time score in The Football Record = 2.3 (The Age has 2.2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 2 - Tuesday, September 7

FITZROY

4.3 (27)

7.8 (50)

10.8 (68)

14.16 (100)

NORTH MELBOURNE

4.1 (25)

5.3 (33)

8.6 (54)

8.10 (58)

BEST PLAYERS:

Fitzroy

Murray, Zunneberg, Murphy, Molloy, Brown, Wall, Shanahan

North Melbourne

Hodgetts, Redenbach, Doolan, Dench, Feltham

GOALKICKERS:

Fitzroy

Shanahan 5, Murphy 2, Wilson 2, Irwin, Richards, Padley, Brown, Crow

North Melbourne

Hodgetts 4, Redenbach, Baker, Muir, Lasslett

REPLACEMENTS:

Fitzroy

Newton replaced Shanahan (last quarter)

North Melbourne

unknown

UMPIRE:

Coates

CROWD:

7,280

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 3 - Thursday, September 9

CARLTON

3.2 (20)

5.4 (34)

8.12 (60)

9.15 (69)

ESSENDON

2.0 (12)

5.3 (33)

6.5 (41)

9.6 (60)

BEST PLAYERS:

Carlton

Jesaulenko, Doull, Southby, Jones, Quirk, Robertson, O’Connell

Essendon

Fields, Noonan, Schultz, Williams, Smith, Davis, Cassin, Daniel

GOALKICKERS:

Carlton

Jones 4, Gallagher, Collins, Barrot, Jesaulenko, Robertson

Essendon

Fields 2, Payne 2, Noonan 2, Moloney, Cassin, Graco

REPLACEMENTS:

Carlton

unknown

Essendon

unknown

UMPIRE:

Matheson

CROWD:

7,328

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 4 - Tuesday, September 14

MELBOURNE

2.2 (14)

10.6 (66)

15.10 (100)

19.20 (134)

GEELONG

4.3 (27)

7.4 (46)

11.7 (73)

11.8 (74)

BEST PLAYERS:

Melbourne

Osborne, Wells, Davis, Callery, McKenzie, Clark

Geelong

Strahan, Scarlett, Hampshire, Closter, Ryan

GOALKICKERS:

Melbourne

Osborne 6, Wells 3, Callery 3, Dillon 2, McKenzie, Alves, Townsend, Tilbrook, Molloy

Geelong

Ryan 2, Strahan 2, Linke 2, Newland, Blake, Hampshire, Gilmore, Yeates

REPLACEMENTS:

Melbourne

unknown

Geelong

unknown

UMPIRE:

K. Smith

CROWD:

8,108*

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

CROWD DISCREPANCY:

The Football Record has a crowd of 8,108, The Age (15-9-1971) has 8,105

 

SEMI FINALS

Match 5 - Thursday, September 16

FOOTSCRAY

3.3 (21)

4.5 (29)

5.9 (39)

11.12 (78)

FITZROY

4.4 (28)

7.10 (52)

11.13 (79)

16.17 (113)

BEST PLAYERS:

Footscray

Dempsey, Magee, Merrington, Bisset, Austin

Fitzroy

Wilson, Murphy, Zunneberg, Padley, Molloy, Murray

GOALKICKERS:

Footscray

Bishop 3, Sandilands 2, Salmon 2, Austin 2, Quinlan 2

Fitzroy

Shanahan 4, Wilson 3, Irwin 3, Murphy, Ruscuklic, Padley, Lloyd, Crow, Wall

REPLACEMENTS:

Footscray

unknown

Fitzroy

unknown

UMPIRE:

Sleeth

CROWD:

12,124

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

The match was delayed during the third quarter by a brawl involving 28 players.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 6 - Tuesday, September 21

CARLTON

3.2 (20)

6.5 (41)

8.7 (55)

11.8 (74)

MELBOURNE

2.3 (15)

6.8 (44)

9.11 (65)

14.16 (100)

BEST PLAYERS:

Carlton

Keogh, Southby, Robertson, Barrot, Jones

Melbourne

Wells, Davis, Keenan, Townsend, Clark, Molloy, Sinclair, Callery, Tilbrook

GOALKICKERS:

Carlton

Doull 2, Armstrong 2, Robertson 2, Jackson, Keogh, Gallagher, Jones, McKay

Melbourne

Sinclair 3, Dillon 2, Townsend 2, Wells 2, Osborne 2, McKenzie, Keenan, Callery

REPLACEMENTS:

Carlton

Walsh replaced Jesaulenko (half-time)

Quirk replaced Hirst (third quarter)

Melbourne

Sinclair replaced Alves (selected side)

UMPIRE:

Jolley

CROWD:

11,919

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

-

 

G.F. TEAMS

FITZROY LIONS

COACH

Graham Donaldson

 

BACKS

Molloy

Merrigan

Lloyd

HALF-BACKS

Zunneberg

Searl

Sykes

CENTRES

Sault

Padley

Rhodes

HALF-FORWARDS

Wall

Ruscuklic

Irwin

FORWARDS

Crow

Shanahan

Wilson

FOLLOWERS

Brown

Murray (C)

ROVER

Murphy

 

RESERVES

L. Robertson

Thompson

EMERGENCIES

Richards

Ellis

Herrod

MELBOURNE

COACH

Bernie Massey*

 

BACKS

Bourke

Biffin

Walker

HALF-BACKS

Sullivan

Hardeman

Davis (C)

CENTRES

Alves

Tilbrook

Rollinson

HALF-FORWARDS

McKenzie

Molloy

Clark

FORWARDS

Osborne

Dillon

Townsend

FOLLOWERS

Keenan

Wells

ROVER

Callery

 

RESERVES

P. Sinclair

McSpeerin

EMERGENCIES

Hodges

Leary

*Melbourne’s coach Ian Ridley was in Fiji on a work-related holiday;

assistant coach Bernie Massey led the team in Ridley’s absence.

 

GRAND FINAL

1971 VFL NIGHT PREMIERSHIP - GRAND FINAL

Match 7 - Monday, September 27

FITZROY

0.2 (2)

2.3 (15)

6.7 (43)

9.9 (63)

MELBOURNE

3.2 (20)

5.5 (35)

11.6 (72)

12.7 (79)

BEST PLAYERS:

Fitzroy

Rhodes, Searl, Wilson, Sault, Zunneberg

Melbourne

Townsend, Callery, Wells, Keenan, Bourke, Molloy

GOALKICKERS:

Fitzroy

Wilson 2, Murphy, Irwin, Sault, Ruscuklic, Thompson, Brown, Wall

Melbourne

Dillon 3, Townsend 3, Callery 2, McKenzie, Wells, Alves, Molloy

REPLACEMENTS:

Fitzroy

unknown

Melbourne

unknown

UMPIRE:

Deller

CROWD:

21,169

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

This was Melbourne's third-straight night series Grand Final and first night title.

 

Written and researched by David Eastman
First published 15/2/2017
Last updated 2/5/2022