# 1921 VFL season

The 1921 VFL season was the 25th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs and ran from 7 May to 15 October, comprising a 16-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.
Richmond won the premiership, defeating Carlton by four points in the 1921 VFL grand final; it was Richmond's second (consecutive and overall) VFL premiership. Carlton won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 13–1–2 win–loss–draw record. Geelong's Cliff Rankin won the leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

## Background

In 1921, the VFL competition consisted of nine teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume their place on the field at any time during the match.
Each team played each other twice in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds (i.e., 16 matches and 2 byes).
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1921 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".

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

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| St Kilda | 10.6 (66) | South Melbourne | 9.13 (67) | Junction Oval | 15,000 | 7 May 1921 |
| Essendon | 11.12 (78) | Melbourne | 12.6 (78) | EMCG | 3,500 | 7 May 1921 |
| Collingwood | 10.13 (73) | Fitzroy | 9.3 (57) | Victoria Park | 20,000 | 7 May 1921 |
| Richmond | 7.11 (53) | Carlton | 8.14 (62) | Punt Road Oval | 32,000 | 7 May 1921 |

### Round 2

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Fitzroy | 7.11 (53) | St Kilda | 8.15 (63) | Brunswick Street Oval | 25,000 | 14 May 1921 |
| South Melbourne | 7.9 (51) | Richmond | 11.16 (82) | Lake Oval | 27,000 | 14 May 1921 |
| Geelong | 11.19 (85) | Essendon | 10.16 (76) | Corio Oval | 15,000 | 14 May 1921 |
| Melbourne | 7.11 (53) | Collingwood | 14.13 (97) | MCG | 14,994 | 14 May 1921 |

### Round 3

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Fitzroy | 5.6 (36) | Richmond | 5.14 (44) | Brunswick Street Oval | 18,000 | 21 May 1921 |
| Collingwood | 16.9 (105) | Geelong | 13.9 (87) | Victoria Park | 10,000 | 21 May 1921 |
| Carlton | 15.11 (101) | St Kilda | 11.12 (78) | Princes Park | 30,000 | 21 May 1921 |
| South Melbourne | 4.14 (38) | Essendon | 11.15 (81) | Lake Oval | 12,000 | 21 May 1921 |

### Round 4

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Melbourne | 10.10 (70) | South Melbourne | 9.15 (69) | MCG | 8,892 | 28 May 1921 |
| Geelong | 11.13 (79) | Richmond | 9.8 (62) | Corio Oval | 10,000 | 28 May 1921 |
| Carlton | 5.20 (50) | Fitzroy | 6.14 (50) | Princes Park | 28,000 | 28 May 1921 |
| Essendon | 7.12 (54) | Collingwood | 9.17 (71) | EMCG | 18,000 | 28 May 1921 |

### Round 5

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Richmond | 7.11 (53) | Collingwood | 6.16 (52) | Punt Road Oval | 30,000 | 4 June 1921 |
| South Melbourne | 10.10 (70) | Carlton | 10.10 (70) | Lake Oval | 25,000 | 4 June 1921 |
| Fitzroy | 8.14 (62) | Geelong | 12.12 (84) | Brunswick Street Oval | 35,000 | 6 June 1921 |
| St Kilda | 12.18 (90) | Melbourne | 13.12 (90) | Junction Oval | 20,000 | 6 June 1921 |

### Round 6

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 11.13 (79) | St Kilda | 5.5 (35) | Corio Oval | 12,000 | 11 June 1921 |
| Collingwood | 9.13 (67) | South Melbourne | 6.8 (44) | Victoria Park | 20,000 | 11 June 1921 |
| Richmond | 14.11 (95) | Melbourne | 13.14 (92) | Punt Road Oval | 12,000 | 11 June 1921 |
| Essendon | 7.18 (60) | Carlton | 18.9 (117) | EMCG | 18,000 | 11 June 1921 |

### Round 7

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Collingwood | 17.12 (114) | St Kilda | 9.10 (64) | Victoria Park | 10,000 | 18 June 1921 |
| Carlton | 11.15 (81) | Geelong | 8.13 (61) | Princes Park | 40,000 | 18 June 1921 |
| Melbourne | 9.15 (69) | Fitzroy | 4.17 (41) | MCG | 11,214 | 18 June 1921 |
| Richmond | 12.14 (86) | Essendon | 10.11 (71) | Punt Road Oval | 12,000 | 18 June 1921 |

### Round 8

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| St Kilda | 5.12 (42) | Richmond | 13.11 (89) | Junction Oval | 15,000 | 25 June 1921 |
| South Melbourne | 10.14 (74) | Geelong | 8.5 (53) | Lake Oval | 15,000 | 25 June 1921 |
| Fitzroy | 12.13 (85) | Essendon | 6.10 (46) | Brunswick Street Oval | 10,000 | 25 June 1921 |
| Melbourne | 7.13 (55) | Carlton | 8.14 (62) | MCG | 19,889 | 25 June 1921 |

### Round 9

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 11.10 (76) | Melbourne | 8.16 (64) | Corio Oval | 9,000 | 2 July 1921 |
| Essendon | 5.12 (42) | St Kilda | 11.17 (83) | EMCG | 6,000 | 2 July 1921 |
| Carlton | 12.16 (88) | Collingwood | 10.4 (64) | Princes Park | 35,000 | 2 July 1921 |
| South Melbourne | 8.18 (66) | Fitzroy | 6.12 (48) | Lake Oval | 12,000 | 2 July 1921 |

### Round 10

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Carlton | 14.15 (99) | Richmond | 6.12 (48) | Princes Park | 42,000 | 9 July 1921 |
| South Melbourne | 13.9 (87) | St Kilda | 11.8 (74) | Lake Oval | 20,000 | 9 July 1921 |
| Melbourne | 7.12 (54) | Essendon | 11.14 (80) | MCG | 7,783 | 9 July 1921 |
| Fitzroy | 8.18 (66) | Collingwood | 8.8 (56) | Brunswick Street Oval | 12,000 | 9 July 1921 |

### Round 11

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Richmond | 9.12 (66) | South Melbourne | 8.13 (61) | Punt Road Oval | 15,000 | 16 July 1921 |
| Essendon | 2.15 (27) | Geelong | 9.18 (72) | EMCG | 6,000 | 16 July 1921 |
| Collingwood | 3.14 (32) | Melbourne | 7.7 (49) | Victoria Park | 4,500 | 16 July 1921 |
| St Kilda | 0.18 (18) | Fitzroy | 6.8 (44) | Junction Oval | 6,000 | 16 July 1921 |

### Round 12

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Essendon | 8.13 (61) | South Melbourne | 5.13 (43) | EMCG | 15,000 | 23 July 1921 |
| Richmond | 8.12 (60) | Fitzroy | 14.13 (97) | Punt Road Oval | 27,000 | 23 July 1921 |
| Geelong | 10.12 (72) | Collingwood | 6.11 (47) | Corio Oval | 14,000 | 23 July 1921 |
| St Kilda | 5.14 (44) | Carlton | 22.10 (142) | Junction Oval | 17,000 | 23 July 1921 |

### Round 13

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Collingwood | 10.11 (71) | Essendon | 2.11 (23) | Victoria Park | 4,000 | 30 July 1921 |
| South Melbourne | 8.21 (69) | Melbourne | 7.11 (53) | Lake Oval | 5,000 | 30 July 1921 |
| Richmond | 9.15 (69) | Geelong | 5.6 (36) | Punt Road Oval | 10,000 | 30 July 1921 |
| Fitzroy | 4.15 (39) | Carlton | 3.6 (24) | Brunswick Street Oval | 15,000 | 30 July 1921 |

### Round 14

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Melbourne | 6.20 (56) | St Kilda | 5.19 (49) | MCG | 6,488 | 20 August 1921 |
| Collingwood | 6.10 (46) | Richmond | 10.12 (72) | Victoria Park | 25,000 | 20 August 1921 |
| Carlton | 11.15 (81) | South Melbourne | 7.14 (56) | Princes Park | 25,000 | 20 August 1921 |
| Geelong | 13.8 (86) | Fitzroy | 9.10 (64) | Corio Oval | 16,000 | 20 August 1921 |

### Round 15

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Melbourne | 8.11 (59) | Richmond | 12.6 (78) | MCG | 13,832 | 27 August 1921 |
| Carlton | 7.19 (61) | Essendon | 7.11 (53) | Princes Park | 10,000 | 27 August 1921 |
| St Kilda | 11.16 (82) | Geelong | 9.9 (63) | Junction Oval | 9,000 | 27 August 1921 |
| South Melbourne | 5.10 (40) | Collingwood | 8.7 (55) | Lake Oval | 25,000 | 27 August 1921 |

### Round 16

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Fitzroy | 9.8 (62) | Melbourne | 9.9 (63) | Brunswick Street Oval | 8,000 | 3 September 1921 |
| Essendon | 5.15 (45) | Richmond | 11.14 (80) | EMCG | 14,000 | 3 September 1921 |
| St Kilda | 10.7 (67) | Collingwood | 12.7 (79) | Junction Oval | 16,000 | 3 September 1921 |
| Geelong | 6.11 (47) | Carlton | 8.15 (63) | Corio Oval | 24,000 | 3 September 1921 |

### Round 17

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Richmond | 14.11 (95) | St Kilda | 7.5 (47) | Punt Road Oval | 15,000 | 10 September 1921 |
| Geelong | 10.7 (67) | South Melbourne | 3.10 (28) | Corio Oval | 14,000 | 10 September 1921 |
| Essendon | 10.14 (74) | Fitzroy | 11.8 (74) | EMCG | 6,000 | 10 September 1921 |
| Carlton | 14.16 (100) | Melbourne | 10.16 (76) | Princes Park | 16,000 | 10 September 1921 |

### Round 18

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Fitzroy | 10.19 (79) | South Melbourne | 6.9 (45) | Brunswick Street Oval | 8,000 | 17 September 1921 |
| Melbourne | 16.19 (115) | Geelong | 10.11 (71) | MCG | 9,789 | 17 September 1921 |
| St Kilda | 14.12 (96) | Essendon | 13.16 (94) | Junction Oval | 10,000 | 17 September 1921 |
| Collingwood | 5.7 (37) | Carlton | 9.10 (64) | Victoria Park | 30,000 | 17 September 1921 |

## Ladder

| (P) | Premiers |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Carlton | 16 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1265 | 891 | 142.0 | 56 |
| 2 | Richmond (P) | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1132 | 975 | 116.1 | 48 |
| 3 | Collingwood | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1066 | 953 | 111.9 | 36 |
| 4 | Geelong | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1118 | 1054 | 106.1 | 36 |
| 5 | Fitzroy | 16 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 957 | 921 | 103.9 | 28 |
| 6 | Melbourne | 16 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 1096 | 1149 | 95.4 | 28 |
| 7 | South Melbourne | 16 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 908 | 1073 | 84.6 | 22 |
| 8 | St Kilda | 16 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 998 | 1295 | 77.1 | 18 |
| 9 | Essendon | 16 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 965 | 1194 | 80.8 | 16 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 66.0 Source: AFL Tables

## Finals series

All of the 1921 finals were played at the MCG so the home team in the semi-finals and preliminary final is purely the higher ranked team from the ladder but in the grand final the home team was the team that won the preliminary final.

### Semi-finals

| Home team | Score | Away team | Score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Richmond | 16.19 (115) | Geelong | 6.18 (54) | MCG | 41,649 | 24 September |
| Carlton | 9.11 (65) | Collingwood | 7.10 (52) | MCG | 37,813 | 1 October |

### Preliminary final

| Home team | Score | Away team | Score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Richmond | 10.7 (67) | Carlton | 7.17 (59) | MCG | 42,866 | 8 October |

### Grand final
## Season notes

* Umpires demand that the VFL provides greater protection, including the wire netting of the umpire's race to the ground (in order to protect them from fists, projectiles and, particularly, ladies' hat-pins) and a stronger police guard.
* In the last quarter of the Round 7 match between Richmond and Essendon at the Punt Road Oval, Richmond had kicked a point. The ball was returned from the crowd to the Essendon full-back Bert Day who was on the boundary line, not the goal line. The ball had been stabbed by someone in the crowd. Day, noticing the deflated condition of the ball, kicked it idly from the boundary line over to the field Umpire (E. P. Willamson) to inspect. Richmond full-forward George Bayliss pounced on the ball and kicked a goal with it. Day's kick from the boundary line was mistakenly treated as if it had been a kick out from the goal line and, despite all of Essendon's protests, a goal was awarded to Bayliss.
* In Round 10 Charlie Hardy Debuted for Essendon Football Club at the age of 34 years 100 days old making him the oldest debutant in VFL/AFL History.
* In Round 11, St Kilda failed to score a goal, and lost badly to a Fitzroy team that had four fewer scoring shots: Fitzroy 6.8 (44) to St Kilda 0.18 (18).
* Prior to the Round 12 match between St Kilda and Carlton, a "ladies" football match was played between two female teams, "The Chorleys" and "The Fleetwoods", to the delight of the crowd. The Fleetwoods won 4.2 (26) to 2.4 (16). Whilst the women played in men's guernseys, shorts, socks, boots, etc. the (male) field umpire wore a dress.
* The fourth Australian Football Carnival was held in Perth. Western Australia were the Australian Champions.
* In Round 17, Essendon played its last match at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, before the ground was closed to make way for an expansion of the Flinders Street railyards. During the season, the club made arrangements to find a new home base for 1922, initially looking to move to the North Melbourne Recreation Reserve, and finally settling on the Essendon Recreation Reserve when a move to North Melbourne was blocked.
* The Preliminary Final on 8 October, played between Richmond and Carlton, was played in deep mud, and the second half was delayed until a driving hail-storm, that had turned the Melbourne Cricket Ground's playing surface white, had passed. The second half was played with the surface covered with pools of water six inches deep. (The VFA preliminary final, played at the nearby East Melbourne Cricket Ground, was abandoned in the third quarter and replayed the following week due to the same hail-storm). Despite being behind at half-time, Carlton led by 2 points at three-quarter time, but then in a unique move, Richmond brought every big man on the ball and they claimed the victory.
* The five drawn matches during the 1921 season remains a VFL/AFL record for most draws in one season.

## Awards

* The 1921 VFL Premiership team was Richmond.
* The VFL's leading goalkicker was Cliff Rankin of Geelong with 61 goals.
* Essendon took the "wooden spoon" in 1921.
* The Victorian Junior League premiership, which is today recognised as the VFL reserves premiership, was won by Essendon Juniors (main: 1921 VJFL season).