1986 VFL season

1986 VFL premiership season
Teams	12
Premiers	Hawthorn 6th premiership
Minor premiers	Hawthorn 5th minor premiership
Night series	Hawthorn 3rd Night series win
Brownlow Medallist	Greg Williams (Sydney) Robert DiPierdomenico (Hawthorn)
Coleman Medallist	Brian Taylor (Collingwood)
Attendance
Matches played	138
Total attendance	3,395,611 (24,606 per match)
Highest	101,861

The 1986 Victorian Football League season was the 90th season of the elite Australian rules football competition.

Night Series

Hawthorn defeated Carlton 9.12 (66) to 5.6 (36) in the Final.

Ladder

1986 VFL ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	Hawthorn (P)	22	18	4	0	2698	1906	141.6	72	Finals
2	Sydney	22	16	6	0	2470	2087	118.4	64
3	Carlton	22	15	7	0	2566	1809	141.8	60
4	Fitzroy	22	13	9	0	2068	2063	100.2	52
5	Essendon	22	12	10	0	2379	1978	120.3	48
6	Collingwood	22	12	10	0	2261	2070	109.2	48
7	North Melbourne	22	12	10	0	2324	2356	98.6	48
8	Footscray	22	11	11	0	1963	2010	97.7	44
9	Geelong	22	7	15	0	2133	2599	82.1	28
10	Richmond	22	7	15	0	2151	2745	78.4	28
11	Melbourne	22	7	15	0	2003	2673	74.9	28
12	St Kilda	22	2	20	0	1846	2566	71.9	8

Source: VFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals

Grand Final

Main article: 1986 VFL Grand Final

Awards

• The Brownlow Medal was awarded to both Greg Williams of the Sydney Swans and Robert "Dipper" DiPierdomenico of the Hawthorn Hawks
• The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Paul Roos of Fitzroy.
• The Coleman Medal was awarded to Brian Taylor of Collingwood.
• The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Gary Ayres of Hawthorn.
• The wooden spoon was "awarded" to St Kilda.
• Carlton won the reserves premiership. Carlton 22.14 (146) defeated Footscray 10.12 (72) in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the seniors Grand Final on 27 September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Notable events

• For the first time in VFL/AFL history, two senior games were held at the same venue on the same day with Melbourne hosting Sydney, followed by North Melbourne vs Geelong at the MCG in round 5. Another double header was staged in round 19 at the MCG with Melbourne and North Melbourne again the home teams against Geelong and Footscray respectively. It would be 34 years before another double header was staged in the VFL/AFL.
• In Round 21, Hawthorn led Geelong by only three points at half-time, but then kicked 25.7 (157) to 2.7 (19) before a late Geelong goal. That total is the highest score for a half in VFL/AFL history, and the loss the biggest in Geelong’s history.
• Round 22 was the last round in VFL/AFL history in which all matches were played on the same day.
• Fitzroy endured serious financial hardships during 1986 which threatened its existence. More than one million dollars in debt, and having posted a $600,000 loss in 1985, the club took a $500,000 loan from the VFL in January 1986, and needed another $500,000 by the end of the year to remain solvent. It fielded offers from two Brisbane-based companies and one Canberra-based company for the club to move north in 1987, and it discussed mergers with Melbourne, St Kilda and Richmond. Despite the off-field struggles, the club reached the preliminary final; it was the last time the club played finals before its merger with Brisbane at the end of 1996.
• The 1986 Qualifying final would be the last time Sydney and Carlton played each other at the Melbourne Cricket Ground until Round 6, 2017.

See also

• McIntyre "Final Five" system

References

• Stephen Rodgers: Every Game Ever Played VFL/AFL Results 1897-1991 3rd Edition 1992. Penguin Books Australia ISBN 0-670-90526-7.
• 1986 Season - AFL Tables