The 1973 Victorian Football League season was the 77th season of the elite Australian rules football competition.
In 1973, 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 22 rounds; matches 12 to 22 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 11.
Once the 22 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1973 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "McIntyre Final Five system".
Grand final
Richmond defeated Carlton 16.20 (116) to 12.14 (86), in front of a crowd of 116956 people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football).
The 1973 VFL Premiership team was Richmond.
The VFL's leading goalkicker was Peter McKenna of Collingwood who kicked 84 goals (including 2 goals in the finals).
The winner of the 1973 Brownlow Medal was Keith Greig of North Melbourne with 27 votes.
South Melbourne took the "wooden spoon" in 1973.
The reserves premiership was won by Richmond. Richmond 17.18 (120) defeated Geelong 8.12 (60) in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the seniors Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September.
The centre diamond was used on all VFL grounds throughout 1973 and 1974. It was replaced by the centre square at the beginning of the 1975 VFL season.
The VFL introduced a new clearance system, whereby any player who had played ten years with a single club was eligible for a free transfer to the club of his choice. New North Melbourne coach Ron Barassi recruited champion half-backs Barry Davis (who had already played 218 games for Essendon) and John Rantall (who had already played 174 games for South Melbourne), and champion full-forward Doug Wade (who had already played 208 games for Geelong), and the team improved from last place in 1972 to sixth in 1973. The "ten year rule" was rescinded in May.
In Round 11 Kevin Murray played his 300th game for Fitzroy.
In Round 21, Hawthorn full-forward Peter Hudson, who had been injured in Round 1 of 1972, returned to the VFL. He beat four opponents and kicks 8 goals.
In Round 22, Hawthorn hosted its last senior VFL football match at Glenferrie Oval. The ground was notable for its temperamental playing surface and narrow flanks (wedged between the railway line on the one side and houses on the other). The venue had long been described by football fans as "the sardine can." Hawthorn subsequently played its home games at Princes Park for the next eighteen seasons.
In the first moments of the Grand Final, Carlton's captain-coach John Nicholls was running out of goal to mark a kick from Alex Jesaulenko when Richmond's's back-pocket Laurie Fowler ran straight at Nicholls and smashed him in the head. Nicholls was given the mark and a 15-yard penalty. He kicked a goal; however, due to severe double vision cause by Fowler's blow, Nicholls could hardly see anything, and effectively took no further part in the match even though he stayed on the ground. In the second quarter Richmond's Neil Balme knocked out Carlton full-back Geoff Southby with a vicious elbow strike to the head (Southby did not return after half-time, and it took some months for him to fully recover from the effects of the assault). In the ensuing brawl, Balme also attacked Carlton's Vin Waite. Balme was not reported by the umpires.
The Richmond Football Club won the premiership in all grades in 1973: its Senior Team, Reserves Team and Under-19 team all won their Grand Finals at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Grand Final Day; and the Essex Heights Football Club, which served as Richmond's Under-17 team, won the South-East Suburban League premiership.
