NIGHT SERIES / PRE-SEASON CUP

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The many eras of the Night Series and Pre-Season Cup (montage by David Eastman)

The VFL-AFL's night series and pre-season competition has been held over three distinct eras:
  • a post-season consolation series played at Lake Oval, South Melbourne (1956-71)
  • an in-season night series based at VFL Park, Waverley (1977-87)
  • a pre-season competition played at various league and regional venues across Australia (1988-2013)
 
There is scant information on these matches to be found online or in print – especially for the 1977-87 era – and what little exists is often riddled with factual errors. Hard Ball Get is proud to finally restore this missing link in our great game's history, beginning with an in-depth season-by-season review of the Night Series for seasons 1956-71 and 1977-87.

Each season review includes a summary of every match (quarter-by-quarter scores, best players, goalkickers, umpires and crowds).
Also included are detailed statistics, grand final records and facts & figures for the entire series (1956 to 2013).

Click on the
below to access a full history of each series played...

NIGHT SERIES/PRE-SEASON CUP - GRAND FINALS
  • Premiership tallies
  • Grand Finals (1956-1971/1976/1977-2013)
  • Premiership captains-coaches
  • Back-to-back premierships
  • Night-Day Premiership Double
  • Michael Tuck Medal winners (Grand Final B.O.G.)
  • Wooden spooners & Night Series/Pre-Season premiers

NIGHT SERIES/PRE-SEASON CUP - FACTS & FIGURES
  • Naming rights sponsors
  • Series Overview
  • Prizemoney
  • Trophies

NIGHT SERIES/PRE-SEASON CUP - RECORDS & STATISTICS

GAMES/GOALS
  • Most games
  • Most goals (all-time)
  • Most goals (match)
  • Most goals (series)
  • Series leading goalkickers
WINS/LOSSES
  • Overall W/L records
  • Biggest wins
  • Smallest wins
  • Extra-time and drawn games
  • Biggest comebacks
SCORES
  • Highest/lowest scores
  • Lowest scores (1/2 & 3/4 time)
  • Highest scoring quarters
  • Scoreless quarters
  • Most inaccurate scores/quarters

VFL NIGHT PREMIERSHIP (1956-1971)

An end-of-season consolation series played at Lake Oval and contested by the eight teams that missed out on the VFL finals each year (except for 1957 when all teams took part).

This tournament provided a cup for the cupless, allowing traditional VFL cellar-dwellers such as South Melbourne (last senior premiership in 1933), Fitzroy (1944), Footscray (1954), St Kilda (none since 1897), Hawthorn and North Melbourne (none since 1925) the opportunity to finally claim some silverware for their threadbare trophy cabinets.

In many cases an appearance in the Night Grand Final also acted as a springboard to finals football and premiership success in the VFL competition. Ultimately, the VFL's move to a final five in 1972 left an uneven number of teams to contest the series and it was discontinued.

NFL WILLS CUP (1976)

The NFL's national night competition; played in Adelaide and won by Hawthorn (other participating VFL clubs were Carlton, Footscray, North Melbourne and Richmond). It was this series that alerted the VFL to the sponsorship and ratings possibilities of night football and led to the relaunch of the VFL night competition in 1977.

VFL NIGHT SERIES (1977-1978)

A mid-season tournament involving all 12 VFL clubs, played at Waverley midweek and run in direct competition to the NFL's Adelaide-based national night series.
The 1978 series included the Tasmanian state representative team - the first non-VFL team to take part.

AFC NIGHT SERIES (1979-1986)

A stand-alone national series run by Australian Football Championships Pty Ltd and featuring all 12 VFL clubs plus a variety of teams from interstate.

The series was based at VFL Park, Waverley with matches played across Australia and at its peak in 1980-81 featured 34 teams (all 12 VFL clubs, all 10 SANFL clubs, all 8 WAFL clubs plus representative sides from Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and the A.C.T.). 

The 1980-81 series were Australian football's first truly national competitions but the 34-team format proved unworkable and downsizing soon followed. Ultimately, the AFC series provided the VFL with a blueprint for expansion, leading to the birth of today’s AFL.

NOTE - from 1979 to 1982 the series was officially the AFC ESCORT CHAMPIONSHIPS but is often incorrectly referred to as the 'Escort Cup' (this was actually the name of the NFL/SANFL Night Series played at that time).

VFL NIGHT SERIES (1987)

VFL-AFL PRE-SEASON CUP (1988-2013)

A return to a VFL-run competition featuring only the VFL (later AFL) clubs. The 1987 series was held mostly in the pre-season and the final was played in April (previously the series ended in July or August).

In 1988 the tournament moved entirely to the pre-season and transformed from the Night Series into the Pre-Season Cup. Night matches in balmy conditions proved a winning concept and crowd numbers boomed, especially during the following decade.


NOTE - seasons 1988-2013 will be added in the coming months...

NAB CHALLENGE (2014-16)

JLT COMMUNITY SERIES (2017-)

Today a pre-season cup competition is no longer held and a trophy is no longer awarded to the best performed team of the pre-season. The competition has officially been replaced by a series of practice matches, known for sponsorship purposes as the NAB Challenge (2014-2016) and the JLT Community Series (2017-).

These series will be added in the coming months...
First published: 15/2/2017
Last updated 15/11/2018