1985 AFC Night Series

The 1985 Australian Football Championships Night Series was the 7th edition of the AFC Night Series, a VFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the VFL, the SANFL, the WAFL and State Representative Teams.

1985 AFC Night Series

AFC Foster's Football Cup
Tournament details
Dates	9 March – 23 July 1985
Teams	17
Venue(s)	3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Hawthorn (1st title)
Runners-up	Essendon
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Attendance	97,922 (6,120 per match)

A total of 17 teams from across Australia played 16 matches over five months, with matches held during the pre-season and midweek throughout the premiership season.

Qualified Teams

Team	Nickname	League	Qualification	Participation (bold indicates winners)1
Enter in Round 1
Essendon	Bombers	VFL	Winners of the 1984 Victorian Football League	9th (Previous: 1893, 1911, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Hawthorn	Hawks	VFL	Runners-Up in the 1984 Victorian Football League	9th (Previous: 1971, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Collingwood	Magpies	VFL	Third Place in the 1984 Victorian Football League	9th (Previous: 1896, 1910, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Carlton	Blues	VFL	Fourth Place in the 1984 Victorian Football League	14th (Previous: 1907, 1908, 1914, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Fitzroy	Lions	VFL	Fifth Place in the 1984 Victorian Football League	8th (Previous: 1913, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Geelong	Cats	VFL	Sixth Place in the 1984 Victorian Football League	7th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Footscray	Bulldogs	VFL	Seventh Place in the 1984 Victorian Football League	8th (Previous: 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Richmond	Tigers	VFL	Eighth Place in the 1984 Victorian Football League	11th (Previous: 1969, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Melbourne	Demons	VFL	Ninth Place in the 1984 Victorian Football League	7th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Sydney	Swans	VFL	Tenth Place in the 1984 Victorian Football League	10th (Previous: 1888, 1890, 1909, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
North Melbourne	Kangaroos	VFL	Eleventh Place in the 1984 Victorian Football League	9th (Previous: 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Norwood	Redlegs	SANFL	Winners of the 1984 South Australian National Football League	12th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Port Adelaide	Magpies	SANFL	Runners-Up in the 1984 South Australian National Football League	12th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)
Swan Districts	Swans	WAFL	Winners of the 1984 West Australian Football League	6th (Previous: 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)
East Fremantle	Sharks	WAFL	Runners-Up in the 1984 West Australian Football League	7th (Previous: 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981)
Enter in Qualifying Playoff
St Kilda	Saints	VFL	Twelfth Place in the 1984 Victorian Football League	7th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Queensland	Maroons	QAFL	Winners of the 1984 Escort Shield	6th (Previous: 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984)

¹ Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia and NFL Night Series.

Venues

Melbourne	Adelaide	Brisbane
Waverley Park	Football Park	John Wren Oval
Capacity: 72,000	Capacity: 67,000	Capacity: 10,000

Knockout stage

Qualifying Playoff

9 March 1985	Queensland	69–165	St Kilda	John Wren Oval, Brisbane
	10.9 (69)		26.9 (165)	Attendance: 3,000

Round 1

13 March 1985	Carlton	108–76	Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	17.6 (108)		12.4 (76)	Attendance: 7,773

19 March 1985	Richmond	89–68	East Fremantle	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	13.11 (89)		9.14 (68)	Attendance: 3,673

2 April 1985	Collingwood	105–23	Sydney	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	15.15 (105)		3.5 (23)	Attendance: 5,097

16 April 1985	Port Adelaide	92–111	Hawthorn	Football Park, Adelaide
	14.8 (92)		16.15 (111)	Attendance: 3,165

23 April 1985	Footscray	87–62	North Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	11.21 (87)		9.8 (62)	Attendance: 3,441

30 April 1985	Fitzroy	184–93	Swan Districts	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	27.22 (184)		14.9 (93)	Attendance: 1,988

7 May 1985	Essendon	64–27	St Kilda	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	9.10 (64)		3.9 (27)	Attendance: 5,906

21 May 1985	Norwood	83–44	Geelong	Football Park, Adelaide
	12.11 (84)		5.14 (44)	Attendance: 7,448

Quarter-finals

QF #1 28 May 1985	Carlton	76–35	Richmond	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	11.10 (76)		5.5 (35)	Attendance: 5,616

QF #2 5 June 1985	Hawthorn	140–53	Collingwood	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	21.14 (140)		8.5 (53)	Attendance: 5,453

QF #3 18 June 1985	Fitzroy	117–56	Footscray	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	17.15 (117)		8.8 (56)	Attendance: 2,598

QF #4 25 June 1985	Norwood	85–138	Essendon	Football Park, Adelaide
	13.7 (85)		21.12 (138)	Attendance: 6,030

Semi-finals

SF #1 2 July 1985	Hawthorn	115–70	Carlton	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	17.13 (115)		10.10 (70)	Attendance: 6,077

SF #2 9 July 1985	Essendon	125–42	Fitzroy	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	20.5 (125)		6.6 (42)	Attendance: 5,845

Australian Football Championships Night Series final

Final 23 July 1985	Hawthorn	77–68	Essendon	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	3.2 (20) 4.4 (28) 9.8 (62) 11.11 (77)		1.2 (8) 3.5 (23) 9.6 (60) 10.8 (68)	Attendance: 24,812 Umpires: Cameron, James
		Goals
	Dipierdomenico 3 Brereton, Kennedy, Handley 2 Loveridge, Schwab 1		Harvey 4 Ezard 3 Williams, Elshaug, Watson 1