1910 VFL season
| 1910 VFL premiership season | |
|---|---|
 Collingwood FC, Premiers | |
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers | Collingwood 3rd premiership |
| Minor premiers | Carlton 4th minor premiership |
| Leading goalkicker medallist | Percy Martini (Geelong) |
| Matches played | 94 |
| Highest | 42,577 |
The 1910 Victorian Football League season was the 14th season of the elite Australian rules football competition.
Premiership season
In 1910, the VFL competition comprised ten 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.
Each team played each other twice in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds.
Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1910 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Ladder
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlton | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1167 | 729 | 160.1 | 60 | Finals |
| 2 | Collingwood (P) | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 993 | 812 | 122.3 | 52 | |
| 3 | South Melbourne | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1080 | 884 | 122.2 | 48 | |
| 4 | Essendon | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1113 | 963 | 115.6 | 48 | |
| 5 | Geelong | 18 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 1008 | 952 | 105.9 | 42 | |
| 6 | University | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 994 | 979 | 101.5 | 40 | |
| 7 | Richmond | 18 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 937 | 913 | 102.6 | 30 | |
| 8 | Fitzroy | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 952 | 1048 | 90.8 | 20 | |
| 9 | Melbourne | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 802 | 1347 | 59.5 | 16 | |
| 10 | St Kilda | 18 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 692 | 1111 | 62.3 | 4 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers
Finals
All of the 1910 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
Preliminary Final
Grand final
Collingwood defeated Carlton 9.7 (61) to 6.11 (47), in front of a crowd of 42,577 people. (For an explanation of scoring see Australian rules football).
| Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlton | 1.2 | 2.6 | 4.9 | 6.11 (47) |
| Collingwood | 4.3 | 5.3 | 8.5 | 9.7 (61) |
Awards
- The 1910 VFL Premiership team was Collingwood.
- The VFL's leading goalkicker was Percy Martini of Geelong with 51 goals.
- St Kilda, took the "wooden spoon" in 1910.
Notable events
- Former Carlton coach Jack Worrall is appointed umpires' coach, with a view to raising standards and decreasing violence.[1]
- Round 2, originally scheduled for 7 May, was postponed by one week, and remaining rounds pushed back by one week, due to the death of Edward VII on 6 May.[2]
- In the last quarter of the round 4 match between Carlton and South Melbourne, Carlton's George Topping king-hit South Melbourne's Bert Streckfuss behind the play, causing spectators to jump the fence and participate in an all-in melee with players and officials. Topping was suspended for the remainder of 1910 and all of 1911 as a result of the incident.[1]
- Field umpire A. Noseda awards 100 free kicks in a single match (round 8 match between South Melbourne and St Kilda).[1]
- VFL conducts an inquiry into allegations that particular players from Carlton, Fitzroy, Melbourne, and South Melbourne had been paid to play "dead". In particular, Carlton's Doug Gillespie, Alex "Bongo" Lang, and Doug Fraser were investigated (the inquiry dealt with Lang and Fraser behind closed doors). Gillespie was exonerated, while Lang and Fraser were each suspended for five years.[1]
- St. Kilda, after losing its first seventeen games, defeated minor premier Carlton in a major upset in the last round to avoid its expected fifth winless season. It remains the worst start by a VFL/AFL team that did not finish winless, though equalled in 2001 by Fremantle.
- Carlton player and Secretary Arthur Charles "Shooter" Ford was charged with abusing and physically threatening the field umpire (off the field) after Carlton's round 14 match against Fitzroy; Ford was suspended for 12 months and debarred from his role as Club Secretary.[1] There was speculation that the issue between the two was connected with the suspension of George Topping earlier in the season.
- T.W Sherrin manufactures special footballs for the Premiership Finals.[1]