Highest attendance 86,198 Start date 1948 Teams 12 | Brownlow Medallist Bill Morris (Richmond) Premier Melbourne Football Club Matches played 119 | |
Premiers Melbourne
(6th premiership) Minor premiers Essendon
(9th minor premiership) Leading Goalkicker Medallist Lindsay White (Geelong) Similar 1936 VFL season, 1943 VFL season, 1942 VFL season, 1947 VFL season, 1950 VFL season | ||
The 1948 Victorian Football League season was the 52nd season of the elite Australian rules football competition.
Contents
Premiership season
In 1948, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances.
Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 19 rounds; matches 12 to 19 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 8.
Once the 19 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1948 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page-McIntyre System.
Grand final
The 1948 Grand Final between Melbourne and Essendon, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 2 October 1948, was a drawn match: Melbourne 10.9 (69) to Essendon 7.27 (69). The crowd was 85,815. The two teams played again a week later. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football).
Grand Final Replay
Melbourne defeated Essendon 13.11 (89) to Essendon 7.8 (50), in the Grand Final Replay that was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 9 October 1948, in front of 52,226 people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football).