# 1933 VFA season

The 1933 VFA season was the 55th season of the Victorian Football Association (VFA), an Australian rules football competition played in the state of Victoria. The premiership was won by the Northcote Football Club, after it defeated Coburg by 16 points in the Grand Final on 7 October. It was the club's third VFA premiership, and the second in a sequence of three premierships won consecutively from 1932 until 1934.

## Central ground

Through 1933, the Association secured the Motordrome (which was renamed Olympic Park during the season after its concrete motor racing track was demolished) to use as a central venue. The venue hosted all finals, and served as a neutral venue for some home-and-home matches. Moves to expand its use as a central venue in 1934 led to a dispute between the Association and the councils which ran the suburban grounds.

## Premiership

The home-and-home season was played over twenty-two matches, before the top four clubs contested a finals series to determine the premiers for the season. The finals series was played for the first time under the Page–McIntyre system, which replaced the amended Argus system which had been in use since 1903.
Starting from this season, percentage was calculated as the number of points scored per hundred points conceded, which is consistent with the modern definition. Until this year, it had been calculated as points conceded per hundred points scored.

### Ladder

1933 VFA ladder :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts |
| 1 | Northcote (P) | 22 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 2127 | 1649 | 129.0 | 68 |
| 2 | Coburg | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 1954 | 1699 | 115.0 | 62 |
| 3 | Yarraville | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2160 | 1726 | 125.1 | 60 |
| 4 | Port Melbourne | 22 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 2094 | 1728 | 121.2 | 58 |
| 5 | Sandringham | 22 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 2120 | 1838 | 115.3 | 54 |
| 6 | Preston | 22 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2018 | 1763 | 114.5 | 48 |
| 7 | Camberwell | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2152 | 1970 | 109.2 | 48 |
| 8 | Brighton | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 2014 | 2167 | 92.9 | 38 |
| 9 | Williamstown | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1592 | 1956 | 81.4 | 28 |
| 10 | Oakleigh | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1689 | 2203 | 76.7 | 28 |
| 11 | Prahran | 22 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 1855 | 2240 | 82.8 | 22 |
| 12 | Brunswick | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 1458 | 2297 | 63.5 | 12 |
* ↑ 2 points deducted?

### Finals

| | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | |
| Saturday, 16 September | Yarraville 7.10 (52) | def. by | Port Melbourne 7.13 (55) | Olympic Park (crowd: 4,000) |
| Saturday, 23 September | Northcote 11.22 (88) | def. by | Coburg 13.14 (92) | Olympic Park (crowd: 5,000) |
| | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | |
| Saturday, 30 September | Northcote 13.9 (87) | def. | Port Melbourne 9.10 (64) | Olympic Park (crowd: 6,000) |

#### Grand Final

| | 1933 VFA Grand Final | 1933 VFA Grand Final | 1933 VFA Grand Final | | |
| Saturday, 7 October | Coburg | def. by | Northcote | Olympic Park (crowd: 12,000) | |
| | 4.1 (25) 6.8 (44) 8.11 (59) 9.16 (70) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 3.8 (26) 5.11 (41) 7.15 (57) 11.20 (86) | Umpires: McKinnon | Umpires: McKinnon |
| Duncan 3, Mears 3, Geuer, Harris, Kight | Duncan 3, Mears 3, Geuer, Harris, Kight | Goals | Ross 3, Seymour 2, Bray 2, Byrne 2, Goullet | Ross 3, Seymour 2, Bray 2, Byrne 2, Goullet |
| Rudolph, for kicking Rowe Stockdale, for striking Bray Duncan, for striking Hart in the final quarter Stockdale, for wrestling with Rowe in the final quarter Stockdale, for rubbing his knuckles on the face of Rowe in the final quarter Rudolph, for striking Goullet Rudolph, for striking Bray in the final quarter Rudolph, for striking Corrigan in the final quarter | Rudolph, for kicking Rowe Stockdale, for striking Bray Duncan, for striking Hart in the final quarter Stockdale, for wrestling with Rowe in the final quarter Stockdale, for rubbing his knuckles on the face of Rowe in the final quarter Rudolph, for striking Goullet Rudolph, for striking Bray in the final quarter Rudolph, for striking Corrigan in the final quarter | Reports | Rowe for striking Rudolph in the second quarter Bray, for striking Stockdale Bray, for striking Rudolph in the final quarter Hart, for striking Duncan in the final quarter Rowe, for wrestling with Stockdale in the final quarter Rowe, for rubbing his knuckles on the face of Stockdale in the final quarter Bray, for striking Rudolph in the final quarter Corrigan, for striking Rudolph in the final quarter Connell, for striking Lowe in the second quarter | Rowe for striking Rudolph in the second quarter Bray, for striking Stockdale Bray, for striking Rudolph in the final quarter Hart, for striking Duncan in the final quarter Rowe, for wrestling with Stockdale in the final quarter Rowe, for rubbing his knuckles on the face of Stockdale in the final quarter Bray, for striking Rudolph in the final quarter Corrigan, for striking Rudolph in the final quarter Connell, for striking Lowe in the second quarter |

## Awards

* Bill Luff (Camberwell) was the leading goalkicker for the season; he kicked 106 goals in the home-and-home season and did not participate in finals.
* In addition to the Recorder Cup, a second Association best-and-fairest award, known as the Association Medal or V.F.A. Medal, was introduced in 1933 under a different voting system.
** Charlie Stanbridge (Williamstown) won the Recorder Cup, polling seven votes. L. Smith (Northcote) finished second with six votes, and Dave Withers (Oakleigh) finished third with 4½ votes.
** The Association Medal was jointly won by Charlie Stanbridge (Williamstown) and Dave Withers (Oakleigh), who each polled 36 votes; Bob Ross (Northcote) finished third with 32 votes.
* Brunswick won the seconds premiership for the third consecutive time. Brunswick 9.19 (73) defeated Port Melbourne 3.12 (30) in the Grand Final on Thursday 28 September (Show Day holiday) at Coburg.