# 1933 VFL season

The 1933 VFL season was the 37th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs and ran from 29 April to 30 September, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.
South Melbourne won the premiership, defeating Richmond by 42 points in the 1933 VFL grand final; it was South Melbourne's third VFL premiership. Richmond won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 15–3 win–loss record. Fitzroy's Chicken Smallhorn won the Brownlow Medal as the league's best and fairest player, and South Melbourne's Bob Pratt won the leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

## Background

In 1933, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus one substitute player, known as the 19th 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 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1933 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system.

## Home-and-away season
### Round 1

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Melbourne | 9.10 (64) | Richmond | 14.12 (96) | MCG | 19,583 | 29 April 1933 |
| Collingwood | 14.15 (99) | Geelong | 12.17 (89) | Victoria Park | 15,500 | 29 April 1933 |
| Carlton | 12.15 (87) | South Melbourne | 11.17 (83) | Princes Park | 37,000 | 29 April 1933 |
| St Kilda | 10.17 (77) | Hawthorn | 11.13 (79) | Junction Oval | 14,000 | 29 April 1933 |
| North Melbourne | 11.13 (79) | Fitzroy | 11.13 (79) | Arden Street Oval | 12,000 | 29 April 1933 |
| Footscray | 11.11 (77) | Essendon | 10.11 (71) | Western Oval | 19,000 | 29 April 1933 |

### Round 2

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 13.12 (90) | Melbourne | 11.6 (72) | Corio Oval | 10,000 | 6 May 1933 |
| Essendon | 13.13 (91) | St Kilda | 12.6 (78) | Windy Hill | 17,000 | 6 May 1933 |
| Richmond | 24.16 (160) | North Melbourne | 9.12 (66) | Punt Road Oval | 19,000 | 6 May 1933 |
| South Melbourne | 18.17 (125) | Footscray | 14.15 (99) | Lake Oval | 29,000 | 6 May 1933 |
| Fitzroy | 16.10 (106) | Collingwood | 11.15 (81) | Brunswick Street Oval | 22,000 | 6 May 1933 |
| Hawthorn | 10.12 (72) | Carlton | 11.14 (80) | Glenferrie Oval | 16,000 | 6 May 1933 |

### Round 3

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Footscray | 6.14 (50) | Richmond | 4.10 (34) | Western Oval | 12,500 | 13 May 1933 |
| Collingwood | 10.11 (71) | South Melbourne | 9.3 (57) | Victoria Park | 10,000 | 13 May 1933 |
| Carlton | 8.9 (57) | Geelong | 13.16 (94) | Princes Park | 14,000 | 13 May 1933 |
| North Melbourne | 10.15 (75) | Hawthorn | 10.7 (67) | Arden Street Oval | 5,000 | 13 May 1933 |
| St Kilda | 9.5 (59) | Fitzroy | 21.17 (143) | Junction Oval | 9,000 | 13 May 1933 |
| Melbourne | 15.9 (99) | Essendon | 10.10 (70) | MCG | 9,479 | 13 May 1933 |

### Round 4

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 17.20 (122) | North Melbourne | 11.12 (78) | Corio Oval | 9,000 | 20 May 1933 |
| Fitzroy | 11.16 (82) | Melbourne | 11.13 (79) | Brunswick Street Oval | 22,000 | 20 May 1933 |
| South Melbourne | 11.14 (80) | St Kilda | 10.16 (76) | Lake Oval | 20,000 | 20 May 1933 |
| Hawthorn | 7.15 (57) | Footscray | 14.10 (94) | Glenferrie Oval | 12,000 | 20 May 1933 |
| Richmond | 13.15 (93) | Collingwood | 11.8 (74) | Punt Road Oval | 28,000 | 20 May 1933 |
| Essendon | 11.10 (76) | Carlton | 13.18 (96) | Windy Hill | 20,000 | 20 May 1933 |

### Round 5

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 7.14 (56) | Richmond | 9.9 (63) | Glenferrie Oval | 12,000 | 27 May 1933 |
| Essendon | 12.11 (83) | South Melbourne | 17.15 (117) | Windy Hill | 18,000 | 27 May 1933 |
| St Kilda | 13.19 (97) | North Melbourne | 11.17 (83) | Junction Oval | 13,000 | 27 May 1933 |
| Melbourne | 10.17 (77) | Footscray | 14.13 (97) | MCG | 22,029 | 27 May 1933 |
| Geelong | 18.15 (123) | Fitzroy | 2.7 (19) | Corio Oval | 15,000 | 27 May 1933 |
| Collingwood | 14.20 (104) | Carlton | 14.16 (100) | Victoria Park | 25,000 | 27 May 1933 |

### Round 6

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| South Melbourne | 10.13 (73) | Hawthorn | 9.6 (60) | Lake Oval | 13,000 | 3 June 1933 |
| Richmond | 13.10 (88) | Geelong | 10.11 (71) | Punt Road Oval | 30,000 | 3 June 1933 |
| Fitzroy | 19.11 (125) | Essendon | 14.9 (93) | Brunswick Street Oval | 14,000 | 3 June 1933 |
| Footscray | 12.11 (83) | St Kilda | 9.16 (70) | Western Oval | 20,000 | 5 June 1933 |
| Carlton | 13.13 (91) | Melbourne | 12.15 (87) | Princes Park | 32,000 | 5 June 1933 |
| North Melbourne | 17.11 (113) | Collingwood | 14.13 (97) | Arden Street Oval | 18,000 | 5 June 1933 |

### Round 7

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 17.14 (116) | South Melbourne | 13.15 (93) | Corio Oval | 14,000 | 10 June 1933 |
| Fitzroy | 8.17 (65) | Richmond | 10.13 (73) | Brunswick Street Oval | 29,500 | 10 June 1933 |
| Essendon | 15.6 (96) | Hawthorn | 16.9 (105) | Windy Hill | 9,000 | 10 June 1933 |
| North Melbourne | 11.12 (78) | Footscray | 8.14 (62) | Arden Street Oval | 20,000 | 10 June 1933 |
| Melbourne | 13.19 (97) | Collingwood | 18.18 (126) | MCG | 18,020 | 10 June 1933 |
| St Kilda | 10.5 (65) | Carlton | 20.10 (130) | Junction Oval | 21,000 | 10 June 1933 |

### Round 8

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Melbourne | 9.15 (69) | North Melbourne | 14.9 (93) | MCG | 11,647 | 17 June 1933 |
| Essendon | 8.11 (59) | Geelong | 17.15 (117) | Windy Hill | 10,000 | 17 June 1933 |
| Collingwood | 14.23 (107) | St Kilda | 8.15 (63) | Victoria Park | 11,000 | 17 June 1933 |
| Carlton | 21.13 (139) | Footscray | 17.14 (116) | Princes Park | 26,000 | 17 June 1933 |
| South Melbourne | 15.13 (103) | Richmond | 16.12 (108) | Lake Oval | 30,000 | 17 June 1933 |
| Hawthorn | 9.14 (68) | Fitzroy | 11.13 (79) | Glenferrie Oval | 13,000 | 17 June 1933 |

### Round 9

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 18.25 (133) | Hawthorn | 3.6 (24) | Corio Oval | 6,000 | 24 June 1933 |
| Fitzroy | 15.7 (97) | South Melbourne | 11.12 (78) | Brunswick Street Oval | 20,000 | 24 June 1933 |
| St Kilda | 13.12 (90) | Melbourne | 3.15 (33) | Junction Oval | 9,000 | 24 June 1933 |
| Richmond | 16.14 (110) | Essendon | 8.11 (59) | Punt Road Oval | 12,000 | 24 June 1933 |
| Footscray | 9.11 (65) | Collingwood | 7.18 (60) | Western Oval | 18,000 | 24 June 1933 |
| North Melbourne | 6.17 (53) | Carlton | 11.14 (80) | Arden Street Oval | 26,000 | 24 June 1933 |

### Round 10

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Richmond | 16.14 (110) | St Kilda | 8.8 (56) | Punt Road Oval | 13,000 | 1 July 1933 |
| Essendon | 9.21 (75) | North Melbourne | 15.18 (108) | Windy Hill | 11,000 | 1 July 1933 |
| South Melbourne | 13.10 (88) | Melbourne | 12.9 (81) | Lake Oval | 10,000 | 1 July 1933 |
| Geelong | 11.16 (82) | Footscray | 7.15 (57) | Corio Oval | 15,000 | 1 July 1933 |
| Hawthorn | 5.14 (44) | Collingwood | 15.6 (96) | Glenferrie Oval | 10,000 | 1 July 1933 |
| Fitzroy | 5.19 (49) | Carlton | 13.14 (92) | Brunswick Street Oval | 33,000 | 1 July 1933 |

### Round 11

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| North Melbourne | 13.12 (90) | South Melbourne | 15.13 (103) | Arden Street Oval | 15,000 | 8 July 1933 |
| Collingwood | 20.19 (139) | Essendon | 14.14 (98) | Victoria Park | 8,500 | 8 July 1933 |
| Carlton | 10.10 (70) | Richmond | 9.13 (67) | Princes Park | 43,000 | 8 July 1933 |
| Melbourne | 21.10 (136) | Hawthorn | 15.8 (98) | MCG | 6,877 | 8 July 1933 |
| St Kilda | 11.14 (80) | Geelong | 7.13 (55) | Junction Oval | 10,000 | 8 July 1933 |
| Footscray | 15.6 (96) | Fitzroy | 8.14 (62) | Western Oval | 18,000 | 8 July 1933 |

### Round 12

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 7.9 (51) | St Kilda | 8.15 (63) | Glenferrie Oval | 10,000 | 15 July 1933 |
| Fitzroy | 17.16 (118) | North Melbourne | 11.9 (75) | Brunswick Street Oval | 14,000 | 15 July 1933 |
| Essendon | 14.7 (91) | Footscray | 15.13 (103) | Windy Hill | 16,000 | 15 July 1933 |
| Richmond | 20.15 (135) | Melbourne | 12.13 (85) | Punt Road Oval | 11,000 | 15 July 1933 |
| Geelong | 13.18 (96) | Collingwood | 9.7 (61) | Corio Oval | 12,250 | 15 July 1933 |
| South Melbourne | 15.13 (103) | Carlton | 9.6 (60) | Lake Oval | 32,000 | 15 July 1933 |

### Round 13

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| North Melbourne | 8.8 (56) | Richmond | 20.11 (131) | Arden Street Oval | 12,000 | 22 July 1933 |
| Footscray | 8.11 (59) | South Melbourne | 19.15 (129) | Western Oval | 27,000 | 22 July 1933 |
| Collingwood | 7.21 (63) | Fitzroy | 9.10 (64) | Victoria Park | 21,000 | 22 July 1933 |
| Carlton | 13.20 (98) | Hawthorn | 10.14 (74) | Princes Park | 12,000 | 22 July 1933 |
| Melbourne | 12.16 (88) | Geelong | 18.15 (123) | MCG | 10,249 | 22 July 1933 |
| St Kilda | 12.20 (92) | Essendon | 13.9 (87) | Junction Oval | 11,000 | 22 July 1933 |

### Round 14

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 9.8 (62) | North Melbourne | 10.14 (74) | Glenferrie Oval | 4,000 | 29 July 1933 |
| Fitzroy | 19.10 (124) | St Kilda | 6.9 (45) | Brunswick Street Oval | 14,000 | 29 July 1933 |
| Essendon | 14.7 (91) | Melbourne | 15.16 (106) | Windy Hill | 6,000 | 29 July 1933 |
| Richmond | 18.16 (124) | Footscray | 9.11 (65) | Punt Road Oval | 18,000 | 29 July 1933 |
| South Melbourne | 13.11 (89) | Collingwood | 12.11 (83) | Lake Oval | 24,000 | 29 July 1933 |
| Geelong | 17.15 (117) | Carlton | 5.14 (44) | Corio Oval | 14,500 | 29 July 1933 |

### Round 15

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| St Kilda | 8.19 (67) | South Melbourne | 13.15 (93) | Junction Oval | 20,000 | 5 August 1933 |
| Footscray | 16.14 (110) | Hawthorn | 9.18 (72) | Western Oval | 8,000 | 5 August 1933 |
| Collingwood | 15.16 (106) | Richmond | 10.8 (68) | Victoria Park | 15,000 | 5 August 1933 |
| Carlton | 14.22 (106) | Essendon | 9.9 (63) | Princes Park | 15,000 | 5 August 1933 |
| North Melbourne | 9.7 (61) | Geelong | 15.10 (100) | Arden Street Oval | 8,000 | 5 August 1933 |
| Melbourne | 9.15 (69) | Fitzroy | 13.8 (86) | MCG | 14,962 | 5 August 1933 |

### Round 16

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| North Melbourne | 15.17 (107) | St Kilda | 10.12 (72) | Arden Street Oval | 9,000 | 19 August 1933 |
| Footscray | 19.10 (124) | Melbourne | 14.10 (94) | Western Oval | 8,000 | 19 August 1933 |
| Fitzroy | 15.8 (98) | Geelong | 11.20 (86) | Brunswick Street Oval | 21,000 | 19 August 1933 |
| Carlton | 14.8 (92) | Collingwood | 15.11 (101) | Princes Park | 19,000 | 19 August 1933 |
| Richmond | 11.17 (83) | Hawthorn | 9.6 (60) | Punt Road Oval | 9,000 | 19 August 1933 |
| South Melbourne | 11.16 (82) | Essendon | 6.4 (40) | Lake Oval | 13,000 | 19 August 1933 |

### Round 17

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 8.12 (60) | South Melbourne | 17.11 (113) | Glenferrie Oval | 12,500 | 26 August 1933 |
| Geelong | 10.10 (70) | Richmond | 14.10 (94) | Corio Oval | 22,250 | 26 August 1933 |
| Essendon | 12.13 (85) | Fitzroy | 10.17 (77) | Windy Hill | 13,000 | 26 August 1933 |
| Collingwood | 25.15 (165) | North Melbourne | 17.19 (121) | Victoria Park | 8,000 | 26 August 1933 |
| St Kilda | 21.11 (137) | Footscray | 14.21 (105) | Junction Oval | 9,500 | 26 August 1933 |
| Melbourne | 10.11 (71) | Carlton | 19.21 (135) | MCG | 17,327 | 26 August 1933 |

### Round 18

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Footscray | 7.16 (58) | North Melbourne | 6.17 (53) | Western Oval | 7,000 | 2 September 1933 |
| Collingwood | 19.13 (127) | Melbourne | 15.14 (104) | Victoria Park | 7,000 | 2 September 1933 |
| Carlton | 20.25 (145) | St Kilda | 14.9 (93) | Princes Park | 18,000 | 2 September 1933 |
| South Melbourne | 23.17 (155) | Geelong | 6.10 (46) | Lake Oval | 30,000 | 2 September 1933 |
| Richmond | 16.13 (109) | Fitzroy | 9.7 (61) | Punt Road Oval | 21,000 | 2 September 1933 |
| Hawthorn | 10.9 (69) | Essendon | 8.16 (64) | Glenferrie Oval | 4,000 | 2 September 1933 |

## Ladder

| (P) | Premiers |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Richmond | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1746 | 1237 | 141.1 | 60 |
| 2 | South Melbourne (P) | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1764 | 1383 | 127.5 | 52 |
| 3 | Carlton | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1702 | 1488 | 114.4 | 52 |
| 4 | Geelong | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1730 | 1327 | 130.4 | 48 |
| 5 | Fitzroy | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1534 | 1453 | 105.6 | 46 |
| 6 | Collingwood | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1760 | 1559 | 112.9 | 44 |
| 7 | Footscray | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1520 | 1555 | 97.7 | 44 |
| 8 | North Melbourne | 18 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 1463 | 1717 | 85.2 | 30 |
| 9 | St Kilda | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1380 | 1706 | 80.9 | 24 |
| 10 | Melbourne | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 1511 | 1842 | 82.0 | 12 |
| 11 | Hawthorn | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 1178 | 1607 | 73.3 | 12 |
| 12 | Essendon | 18 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 1392 | 1806 | 77.1 | 8 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 86.5 Source: AFL Tables

## Finals series
### Semi-finals

| Home team | Score | Away team | Score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Carlton | 10.11 (71) | Geelong | 12.12 (84) | MCG | 40,225 | 9 September |
| Richmond | 11.11 (77) | South Melbourne | 14.11 (95) | MCG | 49,303 | 16 September |

### Preliminary final

| Home team | Score | Away team | Score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Richmond | 13.5 (83) | Geelong | 10.14 (74) | MCG | 48,125 | 23 September |

### Grand final
## Season notes

* "Checker" Hughes took over as coach of Melbourne. He renamed the team "The Demons" from "The Fuchsias."
* In Round 5, St Kilda defeated North Melbourne 13.19 (97) to 11.17 (83), despite having only 15 players left at the end of a brutal match, which was stopped at one stage because a wild brawl, instigated by the North Melbourne players, had erupted in the centre.
** St Kilda captain Clarrie Hindson had a broken ankle, full-forward Bill Mohr had two broken ribs, forward Jack Anderson had been knocked unconscious, centreman W.C. "Billy" Roberts was felled once, recovered, and then was felled a second time, and rover Roy "Tiger" Bence was also knocked out.
** The St Kilda President, Gallipoli veteran and naval war hero Commander Fred Arlington-Burke, described St Kilda's 15-man victory as the greatest moral victory in the club's history, and a "Badge of Courage" was struck by the Football Club and was awarded to each of the players that took part in the match.
** The medallion is silver, coin shaped, with coin-like reeding around its outer perimeter (with no circumferential milling), with a St Kilda Football Club badge affixed to it, and the following inscription: "St KILDA DEFEATED Nth MELBOURNE WITH 15 MEN MAY 27th 1933". (Photograph of Medal at Ross, 1996, p. 140)
* In Round 8, Essendon experimented with a siren, rather than a bell at Windy Hill.
* In the dying minutes of the close South Melbourne–Richmond match in Round 8, umpire Jack McMurray Sr. awarded a controversial free kick against Richmond full back Maurie Sheahan, judging that he was deliberately wasting time by setting up to kick in with a place kick after a South Melbourne behind – despite the fact that time was off until the kick-in was executed. The resulting goal narrowed South Melbourne's deficit to five points, but the siren sounded almost immediately after the next centre bounce.
* In the 1933 Interstate Carnival, held in Sydney, the Victorian team won all five of its matches.
* During the 1933 Carnival, the Australian National Football Council considered a proposal from the New South Wales Rugby Football League that the two codes merge and play a single, Australian "national" game. A trial match of this proposed universal football was conducted behind closed doors during the carnival. The ANFC subsequently rejected the proposal.
* The President of the South Melbourne Football Club, grocery magnate Archie Crofts, had brought so many interstate players to South Melbourne – with the promise of a well-paid regular job in one of the Crofts Grocery chain stores in addition to their receiving maximum playing and training fees allowable under the "Coulter Law" – that the 1933 team was christened "The Foreign Legion". Those comprising the "Foreign Legion" were Bert Beard, John Bowe, Brighton Diggins, Bill Faul, and Joe O'Meara from Western Australia, Ossie Bertram, Wilbur Harris, and Jack Wade from South Australia, and Frank Davies and Laurie Nash from Tasmania. South Melbourne played in four consecutive Grand Finals from 1933 to 1936, but won only the 1933 premiership.
* North Melbourne's win over Collingwood in Round 6 was the first by one of the three 1925 entrants (Footscray, Hawthorn, North Melbourne) over the Magpies. Prior to that, Collingwood had won the first 37 meetings against the three newest clubs. Footscray's first win over Collingwood came in Round 9 of this year, but Hawthorn would not record its first win over Collingwood until Round 5 of the 1942 VFL season (in the 30th regular-season meeting between the two clubs).

## Awards

* The 1933 VFL Premiership team was South Melbourne.
* The VFL's leading goalkicker was Gordon Coventry of Collingwood with 108 goals.
* The winner of the 1933 Brownlow Medal was Wilfred Smallhorn of Fitzroy with 18 votes.
* Essendon took the "wooden spoon" in 1933. Essendon would not "win" another wooden spoon until 2016 (eighty-three years), the second longest spoon drought in league history.
* The seconds premiership was won by Melbourne for the third consecutive season. Melbourne 10.15 (75) defeated St Kilda 10.14 (74) in the Grand Final, played as a stand-alone game on Thursday 28 September (Show Day holiday) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before a crowd of 9,500.