# 1927 VFL season

The 1927 VFL season was the 31st 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 30 April to 1 October, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.
Collingwood won the premiership, defeating Richmond by twelve points in the 1927 VFL grand final; it was Collingwood's sixth VFL premiership. Collingwood also won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 15–3 win–loss record. Collingwood's Syd Coventry won the Brownlow Medal as the league's best and fairest player, and his brother and teammate Gordon Coventry won his second consecutive leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

## Background

In 1927, the VFL competition consisted of twelve 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.
Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds; matches 12 to 17 were the "home-and-away reverse" of matches 1 to 6, and match 18 the "home-and-away reverse" of match 11.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1927 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 |
| Melbourne | 16.19 (115) | Richmond | 9.11 (65) | MCG | 22,382 | 30 April 1927 |
| Collingwood | 16.11 (107) | Geelong | 12.12 (84) | Victoria Park | 20,000 | 30 April 1927 |
| Carlton | 9.15 (69) | South Melbourne | 10.10 (70) | Princes Park | 28,000 | 30 April 1927 |
| St Kilda | 12.16 (88) | Hawthorn | 11.2 (68) | Junction Oval | 12,000 | 30 April 1927 |
| North Melbourne | 9.21 (75) | Fitzroy | 10.11 (71) | Arden Street Oval | 10,000 | 30 April 1927 |
| Footscray | 10.3 (63) | Essendon | 16.14 (110) | Western Oval | 18,000 | 30 April 1927 |

### Round 2

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Richmond | 8.11 (59) | St Kilda | 6.12 (48) | Punt Road Oval | 18,000 | 7 May 1927 |
| Essendon | 8.6 (54) | North Melbourne | 10.5 (65) | Windy Hill | 20,000 | 7 May 1927 |
| South Melbourne | 12.11 (83) | Melbourne | 7.11 (53) | Lake Oval | 25,000 | 7 May 1927 |
| Geelong | 14.20 (104) | Footscray | 8.12 (60) | Corio Oval | 15,300 | 7 May 1927 |
| Hawthorn | 7.9 (51) | Collingwood | 11.11 (77) | Glenferrie Oval | 9,000 | 7 May 1927 |
| Fitzroy | 11.6 (72) | Carlton | 14.15 (99) | Brunswick Street Oval | 25,000 | 7 May 1927 |

### Round 3

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| St Kilda | 8.15 (63) | South Melbourne | 7.13 (55) | Junction Oval | 22,000 | 14 May 1927 |
| Footscray | 10.18 (78) | Hawthorn | 7.10 (52) | Western Oval | 11,000 | 14 May 1927 |
| Collingwood | 6.13 (49) | Richmond | 7.13 (55) | Victoria Park | 20,000 | 14 May 1927 |
| Carlton | 7.5 (47) | Essendon | 4.12 (36) | Princes Park | 27,000 | 14 May 1927 |
| North Melbourne | 8.5 (53) | Geelong | 7.13 (55) | Arden Street Oval | 20,000 | 14 May 1927 |
| Melbourne | 13.15 (93) | Fitzroy | 8.11 (59) | MCG | 14,931 | 14 May 1927 |

### Round 4

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 8.8 (56) | North Melbourne | 20.13 (133) | Glenferrie Oval | 8,000 | 21 May 1927 |
| Fitzroy | 13.14 (92) | St Kilda | 11.9 (75) | Brunswick Street Oval | 16,000 | 21 May 1927 |
| Essendon | 8.12 (60) | Melbourne | 11.12 (78) | Windy Hill | 20,000 | 21 May 1927 |
| Richmond | 13.22 (100) | Footscray | 3.12 (30) | Punt Road Oval | 14,000 | 21 May 1927 |
| South Melbourne | 9.13 (67) | Collingwood | 16.10 (106) | Lake Oval | 29,000 | 21 May 1927 |
| Geelong | 18.15 (123) | Carlton | 11.11 (77) | Corio Oval | 16,000 | 21 May 1927 |

### Round 5

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| North Melbourne | 5.8 (38) | Richmond | 12.11 (83) | Arden Street Oval | 18,000 | 28 May 1927 |
| Footscray | 7.13 (55) | South Melbourne | 6.13 (49) | Western Oval | 10,000 | 28 May 1927 |
| Collingwood | 18.15 (123) | Fitzroy | 9.5 (59) | Victoria Park | 16,000 | 28 May 1927 |
| Carlton | 14.12 (96) | Hawthorn | 6.16 (52) | Princes Park | 10,000 | 28 May 1927 |
| Melbourne | 7.16 (58) | Geelong | 12.13 (85) | MCG | 18,320 | 28 May 1927 |
| St Kilda | 14.7 (91) | Essendon | 12.10 (82) | Junction Oval | 16,000 | 28 May 1927 |

### Round 6

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 12.8 (80) | Melbourne | 17.10 (112) | Glenferrie Oval | 10,000 | 4 June 1927 |
| Geelong | 12.17 (89) | St Kilda | 11.4 (70) | Corio Oval | 14,500 | 4 June 1927 |
| Essendon | 7.7 (49) | Collingwood | 7.14 (56) | Windy Hill | 25,000 | 4 June 1927 |
| Fitzroy | 8.13 (61) | Footscray | 13.13 (91) | Brunswick Street Oval | 15,000 | 6 June 1927 |
| South Melbourne | 14.13 (97) | North Melbourne | 9.9 (63) | Lake Oval | 25,000 | 6 June 1927 |
| Richmond | 12.18 (90) | Carlton | 17.8 (110) | Punt Road Oval | 42,000 | 6 June 1927 |

### Round 7

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Melbourne | 15.21 (111) | North Melbourne | 3.9 (27) | MCG | 12,075 | 11 June 1927 |
| Essendon | 9.10 (64) | Geelong | 11.11 (77) | Windy Hill | 16,000 | 11 June 1927 |
| Collingwood | 25.19 (169) | St Kilda | 7.15 (57) | Victoria Park | 16,000 | 11 June 1927 |
| Carlton | 10.6 (66) | Footscray | 6.12 (48) | Princes Park | 22,000 | 11 June 1927 |
| South Melbourne | 10.11 (71) | Richmond | 15.17 (107) | Lake Oval | 25,000 | 11 June 1927 |
| Hawthorn | 11.11 (77) | Fitzroy | 15.13 (103) | Glenferrie Oval | 7,000 | 11 June 1927 |

### Round 8

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 22.23 (155) | Hawthorn | 8.8 (56) | Corio Oval | 8,500 | 18 June 1927 |
| Fitzroy | 14.11 (95) | South Melbourne | 11.14 (80) | Brunswick Street Oval | 10,000 | 18 June 1927 |
| St Kilda | 8.7 (55) | Melbourne | 15.15 (105) | Junction Oval | 14,000 | 18 June 1927 |
| Richmond | 15.12 (102) | Essendon | 11.13 (79) | Punt Road Oval | 25,000 | 18 June 1927 |
| Footscray | 4.12 (36) | Collingwood | 7.16 (58) | Western Oval | 17,000 | 18 June 1927 |
| North Melbourne | 4.11 (35) | Carlton | 9.15 (69) | Arden Street Oval | 15,000 | 18 June 1927 |

### Round 9

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 9.6 (60) | Richmond | 9.20 (74) | Glenferrie Oval | 10,000 | 25 June 1927 |
| Essendon | 12.12 (84) | South Melbourne | 15.9 (99) | Windy Hill | 17,000 | 25 June 1927 |
| St Kilda | 15.7 (97) | North Melbourne | 13.10 (88) | Junction Oval | 13,000 | 25 June 1927 |
| Melbourne | 10.13 (73) | Footscray | 7.9 (51) | MCG | 15,171 | 25 June 1927 |
| Geelong | 12.15 (87) | Fitzroy | 12.8 (80) | Corio Oval | 13,500 | 25 June 1927 |
| Collingwood | 13.5 (83) | Carlton | 14.11 (95) | Victoria Park | 33,000 | 25 June 1927 |

### Round 10

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Footscray | 3.12 (30) | St Kilda | 5.13 (43) | Western Oval | 7,000 | 2 July 1927 |
| Essendon | 6.12 (48) | Fitzroy | 7.6 (48) | Windy Hill | 7,000 | 2 July 1927 |
| Collingwood | 8.11 (59) | North Melbourne | 3.11 (29) | Victoria Park | 7,000 | 2 July 1927 |
| Carlton | 8.7 (55) | Melbourne | 10.10 (70) | Princes Park | 13,000 | 2 July 1927 |
| South Melbourne | 13.19 (97) | Hawthorn | 5.11 (41) | Lake Oval | 5,000 | 2 July 1927 |
| Richmond | 9.15 (69) | Geelong | 7.11 (53) | Punt Road Oval | 15,000 | 2 July 1927 |

### Round 11

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 10.12 (72) | South Melbourne | 9.12 (66) | Corio Oval | 13,500 | 9 July 1927 |
| Fitzroy | 8.7 (55) | Richmond | 17.9 (111) | Brunswick Street Oval | 18,000 | 9 July 1927 |
| North Melbourne | 9.18 (72) | Footscray | 15.10 (100) | Arden Street Oval | 12,000 | 9 July 1927 |
| Hawthorn | 9.17 (71) | Essendon | 11.12 (78) | Glenferrie Oval | 6,000 | 9 July 1927 |
| Melbourne | 10.12 (72) | Collingwood | 11.13 (79) | MCG | 27,092 | 9 July 1927 |
| St Kilda | 6.8 (44) | Carlton | 21.9 (135) | Junction Oval | 19,000 | 9 July 1927 |

### Round 12

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Hawthorn | 7.12 (54) | St Kilda | 8.11 (59) | Glenferrie Oval | 5,000 | 16 July 1927 |
| Fitzroy | 14.5 (89) | North Melbourne | 10.14 (74) | Brunswick Street Oval | 8,000 | 16 July 1927 |
| Essendon | 12.19 (91) | Footscray | 8.9 (57) | Windy Hill | 18,000 | 16 July 1927 |
| Richmond | 10.15 (75) | Melbourne | 6.8 (44) | Punt Road Oval | 35,000 | 16 July 1927 |
| Geelong | 7.7 (49) | Collingwood | 9.11 (65) | Corio Oval | 21,500 | 16 July 1927 |
| South Melbourne | 12.8 (80) | Carlton | 8.21 (69) | Lake Oval | 28,000 | 16 July 1927 |

### Round 13

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Melbourne | 20.20 (140) | South Melbourne | 11.5 (71) | MCG | 23,668 | 23 July 1927 |
| Footscray | 9.6 (60) | Geelong | 10.19 (79) | Western Oval | 12,500 | 23 July 1927 |
| Collingwood | 18.13 (121) | Hawthorn | 6.11 (47) | Victoria Park | 7,000 | 23 July 1927 |
| Carlton | 11.10 (76) | Fitzroy | 9.16 (70) | Princes Park | 21,000 | 23 July 1927 |
| St Kilda | 9.17 (71) | Richmond | 16.14 (110) | Junction Oval | 16,000 | 23 July 1927 |
| North Melbourne | 7.8 (50) | Essendon | 7.12 (54) | Arden Street Oval | 9,000 | 23 July 1927 |

### Round 14

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 17.21 (123) | North Melbourne | 3.11 (29) | Corio Oval | 11,000 | 30 July 1927 |
| Fitzroy | 13.11 (89) | Melbourne | 11.11 (77) | Brunswick Street Oval | 15,500 | 30 July 1927 |
| South Melbourne | 13.20 (98) | St Kilda | 8.9 (57) | Lake Oval | 14,000 | 30 July 1927 |
| Hawthorn | 8.19 (67) | Footscray | 11.19 (85) | Glenferrie Oval | 5,000 | 30 July 1927 |
| Richmond | 9.7 (61) | Collingwood | 12.12 (84) | Punt Road Oval | 38,000 | 30 July 1927 |
| Essendon | 8.15 (63) | Carlton | 10.11 (71) | Windy Hill | 20,000 | 30 July 1927 |

### Round 15

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Footscray | 7.8 (50) | Richmond | 11.15 (81) | Western Oval | 15,500 | 6 August 1927 |
| Collingwood | 18.14 (122) | South Melbourne | 6.7 (43) | Victoria Park | 15,000 | 6 August 1927 |
| Carlton | 10.6 (66) | Geelong | 13.20 (98) | Princes Park | 30,000 | 6 August 1927 |
| North Melbourne | 11.10 (76) | Hawthorn | 15.9 (99) | Arden Street Oval | 4,000 | 6 August 1927 |
| St Kilda | 13.11 (89) | Fitzroy | 11.16 (82) | Junction Oval | 10,000 | 6 August 1927 |
| Melbourne | 20.20 (140) | Essendon | 8.2 (50) | MCG | 15,895 | 6 August 1927 |

### Round 16

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Geelong | 13.8 (86) | Melbourne | 9.7 (61) | Corio Oval | 17,200 | 27 August 1927 |
| Essendon | 9.18 (72) | St Kilda | 7.6 (48) | Windy Hill | 9,000 | 27 August 1927 |
| Richmond | 14.15 (99) | North Melbourne | 9.8 (62) | Punt Road Oval | 10,000 | 27 August 1927 |
| South Melbourne | 9.20 (74) | Footscray | 10.10 (70) | Lake Oval | 9,000 | 27 August 1927 |
| Fitzroy | 14.11 (95) | Collingwood | 13.10 (88) | Brunswick Street Oval | 25,000 | 27 August 1927 |
| Hawthorn | 10.10 (70) | Carlton | 14.14 (98) | Glenferrie Oval | 8,000 | 27 August 1927 |

### Round 17

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| North Melbourne | 8.12 (60) | South Melbourne | 11.12 (78) | Arden Street Oval | 5,000 | 3 September 1927 |
| Collingwood | 3.13 (31) | Essendon | 4.6 (30) | Victoria Park | 8,000 | 3 September 1927 |
| Carlton | 4.6 (30) | Richmond | 3.5 (23) | Princes Park | 30,000 | 3 September 1927 |
| Melbourne | 10.13 (73) | Hawthorn | 3.15 (33) | MCG | 5,268 | 3 September 1927 |
| St Kilda | 9.18 (72) | Geelong | 8.22 (70) | Junction Oval | 8,000 | 3 September 1927 |
| Footscray | 15.11 (101) | Fitzroy | 9.18 (72) | Western Oval | 8,000 | 3 September 1927 |

### Round 18

| Home team | Home team score | Away team | Away team score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Footscray | 10.6 (66) | Melbourne | 10.13 (73) | Western Oval | 11,000 | 10 September 1927 |
| Carlton | 15.16 (106) | St Kilda | 7.9 (51) | Princes Park | 24,000 | 10 September 1927 |
| Richmond | 16.23 (119) | Hawthorn | 6.17 (53) | Punt Road Oval | 11,000 | 10 September 1927 |
| South Melbourne | 14.11 (95) | Geelong | 15.15 (105) | Lake Oval | 15,000 | 10 September 1927 |
| Fitzroy | 5.13 (43) | Essendon | 14.10 (94) | Brunswick Street Oval | 11,000 | 10 September 1927 |
| North Melbourne | 7.14 (56) | Collingwood | 11.16 (82) | Arden Street Oval | 11,000 | 10 September 1927 |

## Ladder

| (P) | Premiers |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Collingwood (P) | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1559 | 1035 | 150.6 | 60 |
| 2 | Richmond | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1483 | 1102 | 134.6 | 56 |
| 3 | Geelong | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1594 | 1208 | 132.0 | 56 |
| 4 | Carlton | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1434 | 1178 | 121.7 | 52 |
| 5 | Melbourne | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1548 | 1169 | 132.4 | 48 |
| 6 | South Melbourne | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1373 | 1431 | 95.9 | 36 |
| 7 | St Kilda | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1178 | 1564 | 75.3 | 32 |
| 8 | Essendon | 18 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 1198 | 1237 | 96.8 | 26 |
| 9 | Fitzroy | 18 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 1335 | 1558 | 85.7 | 26 |
| 10 | Footscray | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1131 | 1325 | 85.4 | 24 |
| 11 | North Melbourne | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 1085 | 1476 | 73.5 | 12 |
| 12 | Hawthorn | 18 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 1087 | 1722 | 63.1 | 4 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 74.1 Source: AFL Tables

## Finals series

All of the 1927 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 | 12.10 (82) | Carlton | 11.10 (76) | MCG | 63,620 | 17 September |
| Collingwood | 16.18 (114) | Geelong | 7.6 (48) | MCG | 40,595 | 24 September |

### Grand final

| Home team | Score | Away team | Score | Venue | Crowd | Date |
| Collingwood | 2.13 (25) | Richmond | 1.7 (13) | MCG | 34,551 | 1 October |

## Season notes

* In round 9, remembered as "Duncan's Match", Carlton's centre-halfback Alex Duncan took at least 33 marks (some claim he took as many as 45) in a single match.
* South Melbourne Football Club introduced a popular innovation: selling reserved grandstand seats.
* After the round 10 match, the Secretary of the Richmond Football Club, Percy "Pip" Page of "Page–McIntyre system fame, had his jaw broken in a fight that erupted during a club dance.
* The Grand Final was played under atrocious weather conditions on a Melbourne Cricket Ground that resembled a swamp. The two teams scored a combined 38 points, and it was the lowest combined score of any VFL/AFL game (Grand Final or otherwise) played in the 20th century. Including the four seasons played in the 19th century (1897–1900), it was the equal 11th lowest-scoring game of all time.

## Awards

* The 1927 VFL Premiership team was Collingwood.
* The VFL's leading goalkicker was Gordon Coventry of Collingwood with 97 goals.
* The winner of the 1927 Brownlow Medal was Syd Coventry of Collingwood with 7 votes.
* Hawthorn took the "wooden spoon" in 1927.
* The seconds premiership was won by Carlton for the second straight year. Carlton 12.22 (94) defeated South Melbourne 11.9 (75) in the challenge Grand Final, played as a stand-alone game on 8 October at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before a crowd of 4,210.