The 1952 Victorian Football Association season was the 71st season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Oakleigh Football Club, after it defeated Port Melbourne by 21 points in the Grand Final on 4 October. It was Oakleigh's fourth VFA premiership.

1952 VFA premiership season
Teams14
PremiersOakleigh
4th premiership
Minor premiersPort Melbourne
4th minor premiership
← 1951
1953 →

Premiership

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The home-and-home season was played over twenty matches, before the top four clubs contested a finals series under the Page–McIntyre system to determine the premiers for the season.

Ladder

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1952 VFA ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Port Melbourne 20 18 2 0 1911 1245 153.5 72
2 Coburg 20 15 5 0 1709 1272 134.4 60
3 Oakleigh (P) 20 13 7 0 1494 1226 121.9 52
4 Yarraville 20 13 7 0 1537 1434 107.2 52
5 Brunswick 20 12 8 0 1366 1278 106.9 48
6 Camberwell 20 11 8 1 1411 1363 103.5 46
7 Prahran 20 11 9 0 1511 1501 100.7 44
8 Moorabbin 20 10 10 0 1301 1326 98.1 40
9 Northcote 20 10 10 0 1270 1321 96.1 40
10 Williamstown 20 8 12 0 1767 1571 112.5 32
11 Preston 20 7 12 1 1495 1576 94.9 30
12 Sandringham 20 7 13 0 1393 1743 79.9 28
13 Box Hill 20 2 18 0 1228 1856 66.2 8
14 Brighton 20 2 18 0 1036 1717 60.3 8
Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals

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Semifinals
Saturday, 13 September Oakleigh 14.19 (103) def. Yarraville 13.15 (93) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 16,000) [2]
Saturday, 20 September Port Melbourne 11.8 (74) def. Coburg 5.11 (41) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 16,000) [3]
Preliminary Final
Saturday, 27 September Coburg 8.10 (58) def. by Oakleigh 11.13 (79) St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 17,000) [4]


1952 VFA Grand Final
Saturday, 4 October Port Melbourne def. by Oakleigh St Kilda Cricket Ground (crowd: 39,500) [5][6]
1.4 (10)
2.7 (19)
5.12 (42)
8.15 (63)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Final
2.5 (17)
5.9 (39)
9.12 (66)
11.18 (84)
Umpires: Merrington
Bonnett 3, Caris 2, Bower, Houlihan, Murray Goals Scott 5, Wenn 3, Lambert, Newton, Watson
Murray (ribs), Tucker (knee) Injuries Cunningham ( knee), Savory (cramp)
Johnson, for kicking Lambert in the second quarter
Murray, for unseemly conduct (interfering with the umpire) in the second quarter
Reports

Awards

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Notable events

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  • The Association's Thirds competition, contested by players under the age of 19, was established in 1952.[8] Most clubs already operated Thirds teams, but they were fielded in local leagues rather than a dedicated Association-operated competition.
  • In its first match of the season on 19 April, Oakleigh 14.10 (94) comfortably defeated Brunswick 4.9 (33). However, two of Oakleigh's new recruits – Eric Guy and Bill Botten, both from the Carrum Football Club – were played before their clearances from the Mornington Peninsula Football League were formally lodged with the Association; as a result, on 5 May the Association awarded the match and the four premiership points to Brunswick, and Oakleigh was fined £10. Oakleigh argued that the paperwork error was made by the Permit Committee, not the club; but the Association found that the onus was on Oakleigh to ensure the paperwork was lodged correctly.[9] In August, the club took the Association to the Supreme Court of Victoria, seeking to overturn the penalties and injunct the Association from staging the finals if the penalty affected Oakleigh's finishing position,[10] but dropped the case prior to the final round of home-and-home matches after the injunction was refused and an unfavourable reserved judgement was delivered.[11] Ultimately, the club's third placing on the ladder was unaffected by the penalty, and it went on to win the premiership. The legal action cost the club an estimated £453.[12]
  • On 3 May, Box Hill won its first senior match in the Association, defeating Brighton 12.14 (86) d. 12.12 (84), to end a 22-game winless streak which included one draw.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Gavin Cook (8 September 1952). "Yarraville wins way to first V.F.A. semi-final". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 25.
  2. ^ Gavin Cook (15 September 1952). "Oakleigh stamina must improve to have final chance". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 25.
  3. ^ Gavin Cook (22 September 1952). "Port is favoured for title in V.F.A.". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 27.
  4. ^ Gavin Cook (29 September 1952). "Oakleigh is big threat to Port for title". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 25.
  5. ^ a b Gavin Cook (6 October 1952). "Pace, team-work, gives Oakleigh V.F.A. title win". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 23.
  6. ^ Ian McDonald (6 October 1952). "Fighting spirit gives Oakleigh third (sic) V.F.A. flag". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 10.
  7. ^ "Port ruckman wins J. J. Liston Trophy". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. 11 September 1952. p. 24.
  8. ^ Fiddian, Marc (2004), The VFA: a history of the Victorian Football Association, 1877–1995, p. 36
  9. ^ Ian McDonald (6 May 1952). "Oakleigh loses four points". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 8.
  10. ^ "VFA named in writ". The Argus. Melbourne. 13 August 1952. p. 11.
  11. ^ "Legal battle dropped". The West Australian. Perth, WA. 4 September 1952. p. 22.
  12. ^ "V.F.A. recovery "in lap of Gods"". The Argus. Melbourne. 2 December 1952. p. 8.
  13. ^ Jack Oates (5 May 1952). "Box Hill's first win in V.F.A.". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 20.