# 1958 VFL season

The 1958 VFL season was the 62nd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season, contested by twelve clubs, ran from 12 April until 20 September, and comprised an 18-game home-and-away season, followed by a finals series involving the top four clubs.
The premiership was won for the 13th time by the Collingwood Football Club, after it defeated Melbourne by 18 points in the 1958 VFL Grand Final.

## Background

In 1958, 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 but, once substituted, that 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, with matches 12 to 18 being the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1958 VFL Premiership team was determined by the format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre finals system.

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

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 11.14 (80) | St Kilda | 11.13 (79) | Glenferrie Oval | 21,000 | 12 April 1958 |
| Essendon | 13.17 (95) | Geelong | 8.10 (58) | Windy Hill | 21,500 | 12 April 1958 |
| South Melbourne | 12.23 (95) | Richmond | 17.18 (120) | Lake Oval | 22,815 | 12 April 1958 |
| North Melbourne | 5.9 (39) | Fitzroy | 23.21 (159) | Arden Street Oval | 14,500 | 12 April 1958 |
| Footscray | 4.5 (29) | Collingwood | 12.11 (83) | Western Oval | 33,824 | 12 April 1958 |
| Melbourne | 11.13 (79) | Carlton | 9.11 (65) | MCG | 38,006 | 12 April 1958 |

### Round 2

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 6.6 (42) | Melbourne | 17.8 (110) | Kardinia Park | 15,371 | 19 April 1958 |
| Fitzroy | 11.18 (84) | South Melbourne | 10.15 (75) | Brunswick Street Oval | 16,000 | 19 April 1958 |
| Collingwood | 11.9 (75) | Hawthorn | 10.8 (68) | Victoria Park | 28,769 | 19 April 1958 |
| Carlton | 9.13 (67) | North Melbourne | 11.7 (73) | Princes Park | 18,263 | 19 April 1958 |
| Richmond | 21.12 (138) | Footscray | 14.12 (96) | Punt Road Oval | 26,000 | 19 April 1958 |
| St Kilda | 17.18 (120) | Essendon | 11.16 (82) | Junction Oval | 30,500 | 19 April 1958 |

### Round 3

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Richmond | 11.17 (83) | St Kilda | 9.14 (68) | Punt Road Oval | 33,000 | 26 April 1958 |
| Collingwood | 7.15 (57) | Fitzroy | 7.10 (52) | Victoria Park | 34,656 | 26 April 1958 |
| Carlton | 18.7 (115) | Geelong | 9.11 (65) | Princes Park | 17,681 | 26 April 1958 |
| North Melbourne | 7.9 (51) | Melbourne | 12.18 (90) | Arden Street Oval | 13,500 | 26 April 1958 |
| South Melbourne | 13.18 (96) | Footscray | 24.13 (157) | Lake Oval | 21,809 | 26 April 1958 |
| Hawthorn | 10.14 (74) | Essendon | 7.6 (48) | Glenferrie Oval | 21,000 | 26 April 1958 |

### Round 4

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 8.11 (59) | South Melbourne | 8.12 (60) | Kardinia Park | 14,045 | 3 May 1958 |
| Footscray | 7.12 (54) | North Melbourne | 6.4 (40) | Western Oval | 24,164 | 3 May 1958 |
| Fitzroy | 16.17 (113) | Richmond | 8.8 (56) | Brunswick Street Oval | 21,200 | 3 May 1958 |
| Melbourne | 11.10 (76) | Hawthorn | 9.14 (68) | MCG | 38,966 | 3 May 1958 |
| Essendon | 13.9 (87) | Collingwood | 9.15 (69) | Windy Hill | 28,000 | 3 May 1958 |
| St Kilda | 12.21 (93) | Carlton | 8.7 (55) | Junction Oval | 27,700 | 3 May 1958 |

### Round 5

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 17.18 (120) | North Melbourne | 9.4 (58) | Glenferrie Oval | 13,500 | 10 May 1958 |
| Geelong | 11.15 (81) | Richmond | 14.13 (97) | Kardinia Park | 16,391 | 10 May 1958 |
| Fitzroy | 16.14 (110) | Footscray | 7.12 (54) | Brunswick Street Oval | 21,500 | 10 May 1958 |
| South Melbourne | 14.8 (92) | St Kilda | 13.15 (93) | Lake Oval | 21,000 | 10 May 1958 |
| Melbourne | 15.12 (102) | Essendon | 12.15 (87) | MCG | 41,787 | 10 May 1958 |
| Collingwood | 16.10 (106) | Carlton | 3.15 (33) | Victoria Park | 27,658 | 10 May 1958 |

### Round 6

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 11.15 (81) | South Melbourne | 8.16 (64) | Glenferrie Oval | 18,500 | 17 May 1958 |
| Footscray | 6.22 (58) | Geelong | 10.15 (75) | Western Oval | 21,479 | 17 May 1958 |
| Carlton | 4.16 (40) | Fitzroy | 8.11 (59) | Princes Park | 18,900 | 17 May 1958 |
| St Kilda | 12.7 (79) | Melbourne | 11.12 (78) | Junction Oval | 32,000 | 17 May 1958 |
| North Melbourne | 9.10 (64) | Essendon | 7.13 (55) | Arden Street Oval | 15,000 | 17 May 1958 |
| Richmond | 8.8 (56) | Collingwood | 13.17 (95) | Punt Road Oval | 37,000 | 17 May 1958 |

### Round 7

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 9.16 (70) | St Kilda | 6.8 (44) | Kardinia Park | 16,440 | 24 May 1958 |
| Fitzroy | 12.15 (87) | Hawthorn | 8.15 (63) | Brunswick Street Oval | 21,000 | 24 May 1958 |
| Essendon | 11.16 (82) | Richmond | 9.14 (68) | Windy Hill | 19,500 | 24 May 1958 |
| Melbourne | 11.19 (85) | Footscray | 9.8 (62) | MCG | 28,550 | 24 May 1958 |
| North Melbourne | 9.8 (62) | Collingwood | 7.17 (59) | Arden Street Oval | 16,000 | 24 May 1958 |
| South Melbourne | 10.19 (79) | Carlton | 7.15 (57) | Lake Oval | 17,100 | 24 May 1958 |

### Round 8

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Melbourne | 12.18 (90) | Richmond | 12.11 (83) | MCG | 35,352 | 31 May 1958 |
| Geelong | 4.11 (35) | North Melbourne | 14.18 (102) | Kardinia Park | 19,710 | 31 May 1958 |
| Collingwood | 20.20 (140) | South Melbourne | 9.12 (66) | Victoria Park | 26,250 | 31 May 1958 |
| Carlton | 9.14 (68) | Hawthorn | 9.6 (60) | Princes Park | 16,500 | 31 May 1958 |
| St Kilda | 12.17 (89) | Fitzroy | 6.14 (50) | Junction Oval | 29,000 | 31 May 1958 |
| Footscray | 16.11 (107) | Essendon | 13.14 (92) | Western Oval | 29,118 | 31 May 1958 |

### Round 9

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Fitzroy | 8.18 (66) | Geelong | 6.15 (51) | Brunswick Street Oval | 15,000 | 7 June 1958 |
| Collingwood | 12.23 (95) | St Kilda | 5.9 (39) | Victoria Park | 36,500 | 7 June 1958 |
| Richmond | 12.11 (83) | North Melbourne | 14.10 (94) | Punt Road Oval | 18,500 | 7 June 1958 |
| South Melbourne | 11.10 (76) | Melbourne | 16.12 (108) | Lake Oval | 18,860 | 7 June 1958 |
| Hawthorn | 11.14 (80) | Footscray | 8.10 (58) | Glenferrie Oval | 19,000 | 7 June 1958 |
| Essendon | 5.19 (49) | Carlton | 7.8 (50) | Windy Hill | 26,500 | 7 June 1958 |

### Round 10

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Essendon | 16.11 (107) | Fitzroy | 8.8 (56) | Windy Hill | 15,500 | 14 June 1958 |
| Carlton | 6.15 (51) | Richmond | 2.9 (21) | Princes Park | 16,000 | 14 June 1958 |
| St Kilda | 8.15 (63) | Footscray | 11.16 (82) | Junction Oval | 20,000 | 14 June 1958 |
| North Melbourne | 12.15 (87) | South Melbourne | 8.9 (57) | Arden Street Oval | 15,000 | 16 June 1958 |
| Hawthorn | 14.19 (103) | Geelong | 8.6 (54) | Glenferrie Oval | 16,000 | 16 June 1958 |
| Melbourne | 12.12 (84) | Collingwood | 10.13 (73) | MCG | 99,256 | 16 June 1958 |

### Round 11

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| North Melbourne | 8.12 (60) | St Kilda | 5.5 (35) | Arden Street Oval | 14,000 | 21 June 1958 |
| Fitzroy | 12.16 (88) | Melbourne | 6.11 (47) | Brunswick Street Oval | 22,000 | 21 June 1958 |
| Richmond | 15.11 (101) | Hawthorn | 13.9 (87) | Punt Road Oval | 16,000 | 21 June 1958 |
| South Melbourne | 8.13 (61) | Essendon | 15.13 (103) | Lake Oval | 18,500 | 21 June 1958 |
| Geelong | 9.12 (66) | Collingwood | 14.15 (99) | Kardinia Park | 18,313 | 21 June 1958 |
| Footscray | 11.8 (74) | Carlton | 10.24 (84) | Western Oval | 26,080 | 21 June 1958 |

### Round 12

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Richmond | 12.13 (85) | South Melbourne | 11.8 (74) | Punt Road Oval | 16,000 | 28 June 1958 |
| Fitzroy | 12.17 (89) | North Melbourne | 7.16 (58) | Brunswick Street Oval | 24,000 | 28 June 1958 |
| Collingwood | 12.13 (85) | Footscray | 10.14 (74) | Victoria Park | 21,514 | 28 June 1958 |
| Carlton | 9.14 (68) | Melbourne | 12.12 (84) | Princes Park | 23,883 | 28 June 1958 |
| St Kilda | 11.14 (80) | Hawthorn | 14.14 (98) | Junction Oval | 20,400 | 28 June 1958 |
| Geelong | 15.9 (99) | Essendon | 12.12 (84) | Kardinia Park | 15,988 | 28 June 1958 |

### Round 13

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Footscray | 14.12 (96) | Richmond | 2.11 (23) | Western Oval | 17,305 | 19 July 1958 |
| Essendon | 17.30 (132) | St Kilda | 8.9 (57) | Windy Hill | 14,300 | 19 July 1958 |
| Melbourne | 16.22 (118) | Geelong | 12.12 (84) | MCG | 21,395 | 19 July 1958 |
| South Melbourne | 19.6 (120) | Fitzroy | 11.22 (88) | Lake Oval | 12,000 | 19 July 1958 |
| Hawthorn | 12.14 (86) | Collingwood | 14.9 (93) | Glenferrie Oval | 22,500 | 19 July 1958 |
| North Melbourne | 8.9 (57) | Carlton | 6.9 (45) | Arden Street Oval | 18,000 | 19 July 1958 |

### Round 14

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Melbourne | 10.12 (72) | North Melbourne | 8.15 (63) | MCG | 30,489 | 26 July 1958 |
| Footscray | 8.15 (63) | South Melbourne | 14.12 (96) | Western Oval | 19,508 | 26 July 1958 |
| Essendon | 11.15 (81) | Hawthorn | 7.7 (49) | Windy Hill | 17,500 | 26 July 1958 |
| St Kilda | 10.12 (72) | Richmond | 9.10 (64) | Junction Oval | 14,160 | 26 July 1958 |
| Fitzroy | 15.15 (105) | Collingwood | 8.9 (57) | Brunswick Street Oval | 31,000 | 26 July 1958 |
| Geelong | 7.11 (53) | Carlton | 8.21 (69) | Kardinia Park | 14,482 | 26 July 1958 |

### Round 15

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 12.15 (87) | Melbourne | 14.11 (95) | Glenferrie Oval | 17,500 | 2 August 1958 |
| Collingwood | 11.9 (75) | Essendon | 12.14 (86) | Victoria Park | 34,490 | 2 August 1958 |
| Carlton | 8.11 (59) | St Kilda | 7.12 (54) | Princes Park | 12,984 | 2 August 1958 |
| South Melbourne | 16.13 (109) | Geelong | 14.17 (101) | Lake Oval | 13,000 | 2 August 1958 |
| North Melbourne | 11.13 (79) | Footscray | 9.8 (62) | Arden Street Oval | 17,000 | 2 August 1958 |
| Richmond | 10.8 (68) | Fitzroy | 19.18 (132) | Punt Road Oval | 17,000 | 2 August 1958 |

### Round 16

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| St Kilda | 9.23 (77) | South Melbourne | 15.9 (99) | Junction Oval | 16,500 | 9 August 1958 |
| Essendon | 11.12 (78) | Melbourne | 10.15 (75) | Windy Hill | 25,000 | 9 August 1958 |
| Carlton | 7.11 (53) | Collingwood | 10.12 (72) | Princes Park | 24,000 | 9 August 1958 |
| North Melbourne | 7.18 (60) | Hawthorn | 13.14 (92) | Arden Street Oval | 11,500 | 9 August 1958 |
| Richmond | 12.18 (90) | Geelong | 9.15 (69) | Punt Road Oval | 8,500 | 9 August 1958 |
| Footscray | 20.11 (131) | Fitzroy | 5.11 (41) | Western Oval | 18,982 | 9 August 1958 |

### Round 17

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Melbourne | 21.11 (137) | St Kilda | 13.9 (87) | MCG | 27,500 | 16 August 1958 |
| Essendon | 8.14 (62) | North Melbourne | 11.14 (80) | Windy Hill | 27,500 | 16 August 1958 |
| Collingwood | 16.11 (107) | Richmond | 13.10 (88) | Victoria Park | 21,027 | 16 August 1958 |
| South Melbourne | 6.14 (50) | Hawthorn | 6.12 (48) | Lake Oval | 17,500 | 16 August 1958 |
| Geelong | 13.14 (92) | Footscray | 12.13 (85) | Kardinia Park | 12,147 | 16 August 1958 |
| Fitzroy | 15.11 (101) | Carlton | 13.18 (96) | Brunswick Street Oval | 20,000 | 16 August 1958 |

### Round 18

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Footscray | 8.11 (59) | Melbourne | 10.18 (78) | Western Oval | 21,132 | 23 August 1958 |
| Collingwood | 12.16 (88) | North Melbourne | 14.17 (101) | Victoria Park | 36,098 | 23 August 1958 |
| Carlton | 12.11 (83) | South Melbourne | 10.21 (81) | Princes Park | 17,897 | 23 August 1958 |
| St Kilda | 16.15 (111) | Geelong | 5.8 (38) | Junction Oval | 13,200 | 23 August 1958 |
| Hawthorn | 11.9 (75) | Fitzroy | 10.11 (71) | Glenferrie Oval | 15,650 | 23 August 1958 |
| Richmond | 15.11 (101) | Essendon | 16.13 (109) | Punt Road Oval | 20,000 | 23 August 1958 |

## Ladder

| (P) | Premiers |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1608 | 1300 | 123.7 | 60 |
| 2 | Collingwood (P) | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1528 | 1235 | 123.7 | 48 |
| 3 | Fitzroy | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1551 | 1283 | 120.9 | 48 |
| 4 | North Melbourne | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1228 | 1324 | 92.7 | 44 |
| 5 | Essendon | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1519 | 1365 | 111.3 | 40 |
| 6 | Hawthorn | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1419 | 1298 | 109.3 | 36 |
| 7 | Carlton | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1158 | 1260 | 91.9 | 32 |
| 8 | St Kilda | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 1340 | 1454 | 92.2 | 28 |
| 9 | South Melbourne | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 1450 | 1634 | 88.7 | 28 |
| 10 | Richmond | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 1425 | 1611 | 88.5 | 28 |
| 11 | Footscray | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1401 | 1440 | 97.3 | 24 |
| 12 | Geelong | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 1192 | 1615 | 73.8 | 16 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 77.9 Source: AFL Tables

## Finals series
### Semi-finals

| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
| Fitzroy | 3.3 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 9.12 (66) |
| North Melbourne | 2.2 | 4.6 | 8.8 | 10.10 (70) |
| Attendance: 68,213 |
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
| Melbourne | 5.0 | 6.4 | 8.5 | 11.12 (78) |
| Collingwood | 1.0 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 4.9 (33) |
| Attendance: 77,350 |

### Preliminary final

| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
| Collingwood | 5.5 | 6.5 | 11.8 | 14.12 (96) |
| North Melbourne | 1.1 | 2.10 | 4.11 | 10.16 (76) |
| Attendance: 77,656 |

### Grand final

| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
| Melbourne | 5.1 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 9.10 (64) |
| Collingwood | 2.2 | 7.6 | 12.9 | 12.10 (82) |
| Attendance: 97,956 |

## Consolation Night Series Competition

The night series were held under the floodlights at Lake Oval, South Melbourne, for the teams (5th to 12th on ladder) out of the finals at the end of the season.
Final: St Kilda 16.13 (109) defeated Carlton 15.11 (101)

## Season notes

* On Monday 2 June 1958, following his superb performance in Footscray's unexpected round 8 fifteen-point victory over Essendon, Sun News Pictorial journalist Rex Pullen christens Ted Whitten "Mr. Football".
* The game between Melbourne and Collingwood on the Queen's Birthday public holiday drew a crowd of 99,256, which remains as the highest attendance for a home-and-away game in VFL/AFL history as of 2025.
* The sixteen match 1958 Australian National Football (ANFC) Carnival is held in Melbourne during a two-week break in the VFL competition, between rounds 12 and 13. ANFC President, Pat Rodriguez, remarked that the total attendance of 90,261 spectators at the sixteen matches was an insult to the rest of Australia by the Victorian football community.
* In the last moments of the third quarter of the round 16 match between South Melbourne and St Kilda, South Melbourne winger Ian Tampion received a free kick. The siren went and Tampion, thinking that he was too far away from the goal to score, gave the ball the field umpire, Bill Barbour, and went to join the three-quarter-time South Melbourne team huddle. South Melbourne captain-coach, Ron Clegg, insisted that he "have a go" and not waste the chance. Tampion retrieved the ball from the umpire and kicked an 80-yard (73 m) drop-kick that scored a goal, travelling over the heads of the St Kilda defenders, who had moved up the field towards him, not expecting him to be able to kick such a distance.
* Immediately after the round 18 matches were finished on Saturday 23 August, the evening newspaper The Sporting Globe announced that Neil Roberts, of St Kilda, was the winner of its Haydn Bunton Memorial Medal. The medal came with a cash prize of £100 and, by accepting the prize, Roberts, who up to that time had played as an amateur, turned professional.
** Therefore, although playing the entire 1958 season as an "amateur", as did Don Cordner in 1946 and John Schultz in 1960, unlike both Cordner and Schultz, he was a professional when the winner of the Brownlow Medal was announced on Tuesday, 26 August.
* Collingwood caused a Grand Final upset by unexpectedly thwarting Melbourne's attempt to equal Collingwood's record of four premierships in a row, from 1927 to 1930.
* In order to increase the sales of the VFL's Football Record which, in addition to the selected player lists, also listed the number that each player would carry on the back of their club guernsey, the Grand Final teams (Collingwood and Melbourne) were ordered to change the "regular" (i.e. registered with the VFL) playing numbers for each player for that specific match, and only for that match. Unless one is aware that the numbers on the back of players' guernseys on that day did not correspond to the numbers they wore in every other match, one can be confused when viewing photographs or films of the game, or when looking at other references relating to that match, such as the Football Record.
** By VFL convention, and unlike most other football codes that display playing-position-indicating-numbers on a team's kit/strip/uniform – e.g. Rugby union, Rugby league, Gridiron football, etc. – the number on the back of an Australian rules footballer's guernsey:
*** (a) had no connection with the position on the field that the individual occupied in any particular match,
*** (b) was issued by the player's football club prior to their first match with that club, and was then registered against that player's name, by the VFL,
*** (c) usually remained unchanged throughout a player's career with that club, and
*** (d) was often, as was the case of Ron Barassi's number 31, retained by a player when he transferred from one team to another.
*** (a) to (d) remain the convention with the AFL.
* The reason for the last-minute move by the VFL to alter players normal numbers for the Grand Final was to nullify an attempt by university students to reduce VFL's income stream by issuing free team sheets – containing the Grand Final players' names, their (regular) guernsey numbers, and their official selected team positions (as announced on the Thursday evening prior to the match) – outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the day of the match.

## Awards

* The 1958 VFL Premiership team was Collingwood.
* The VFL's leading goalkicker was Ian Brewer of Collingwood who kicked 97 goals (including 6 goals in the finals).
* The winner of the 1958 Brownlow Medal was to Neil Roberts of St Kilda with 20 votes.
* Geelong won the "wooden spoon" in 1958. As of 2024, it is Geelong's most recent wooden spoon, meaning that the club has the longest "spoon drought" in the VFL/AFL.