1898 VFL season

The 1898 VFL season was the second season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured eight clubs and ran from 14 May to 24 September, comprising a 14-round home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring all eight clubs.

1898 VFL premiership season
Fitzroy 1898 VFL premiership team
Date	14 May – 24 September 1898
Teams	8
Premiers	Fitzroy 1st premiership
Minor premiers	Essendon 1st minor premiership
Leading goalkicker medallist	Archie Smith (Collingwood) 31 goals
Matches played	70
← 1897 1899 →

Fitzroy won the premiership, defeating Essendon by 15 points in the 1898 VFL grand final; it was Fitzroy's first VFL premiership. Essendon won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with an 11–3 win–loss record. Collingwood's Archie Smith won the leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

Background

In 1898, the VFL competition consisted of eight teams of 20 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves" (although any of the 20 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 14 rounds.

Once the 14 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1898 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the 1898 VFL finals system.

Home-and-away season

Round 1

	Round 1
Saturday, 14 May (3:00 pm)	Carlton 6.11 (47)	def.	South Melbourne 3.12 (30)	Princes Park	Report
Saturday, 14 May (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 7.6 (48)	def.	Geelong 3.9 (27)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 14 May (3:00 pm)	Essendon 10.10 (70)	def.	Fitzroy 2.5 (17)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 14 May (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 2.4 (16)	def. by	Melbourne 13.14 (92)	Junction Oval	Report

Round 2

	Round 2
Saturday, 21 May (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 12.11 (83)	def.	Carlton 4.2 (26)	MCG	Report
Saturday, 21 May (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 7.6 (48)	def.	Collingwood 5.6 (36)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 21 May (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 3.9 (27)	def. by	Essendon 5.8 (38)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 21 May (3:00 pm)	Geelong 11.19 (85)	def.	St Kilda 2.5 (17)	Corio Oval	Report

Round 3

	Round 3
Tuesday, 24 May (3:00 pm)	Carlton 2.4 (16)	def. by	Essendon 4.4 (28)	Princes Park	Report
Tuesday, 24 May (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 6.10 (46)	def.	Collingwood 5.6 (36)	MCG	Report
Tuesday, 24 May (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 2.4 (16)	def. by	Fitzroy 7.11 (53)	Junction Oval	Report
Tuesday, 24 May (3:00 pm)	Geelong 7.18 (60)	def.	South Melbourne 1.2 (8)	Corio Oval	Report

Round 4

	Round 4
Saturday, 28 May (3:00 pm)	Carlton 4.5 (29)	def. by	Geelong 3.12 (30)	Princes Park	Report
Saturday, 28 May (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 7.11 (53)	def.	Collingwood 6.6 (42)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 28 May (3:00 pm)	Essendon 16.16 (112)	def.	St Kilda 5.7 (37)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 28 May (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 4.14 (38)	def.	Melbourne 2.7 (19)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report

Round 5

	Round 5
Saturday, 4 June (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 6.12 (48)	def.	Carlton 0.6 (6)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 4 June (3:00 pm)	Essendon 6.12 (48)	def.	Melbourne 3.5 (23)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 4 June (3:00 pm)	Geelong 4.10 (34)	def. by	Fitzroy 6.3 (39)	Corio Oval	Report
Saturday, 4 June (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 3.3 (21)	def. by	South Melbourne 7.20 (62)	Junction Oval	Report

Round 6

	Round 6
Saturday, 11 June (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 5.7 (37)	def.	Carlton 4.9 (33)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 11 June (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 5.4 (34)	def. by	Collingwood 10.8 (68)	Junction Oval	Report
Saturday, 11 June (3:00 pm)	Geelong 4.7 (31)	def.	Essendon 3.6 (24)	Corio Oval	Report
Saturday, 11 June (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 1.7 (13)	def. by	South Melbourne 2.3 (15)	MCG	Report

Round 7

	Round 7
Saturday, 18 June (3:00 pm)	Carlton 5.13 (43)	def.	St Kilda 5.3 (33)	Princes Park	Report
Saturday, 18 June (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 5.10 (40)	def.	Essendon 3.2 (20)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 18 June (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 7.9 (51)	def.	Fitzroy 2.10 (22)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 18 June (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 9.5 (59)	def.	Geelong 5.9 (39)	MCG	Report

Round 8

	Round 8
Saturday, 25 June (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 6.8 (44)	def.	Carlton 1.6 (12)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 25 June (3:00 pm)	Geelong 6.5 (41)	def.	Collingwood 2.10 (22)	Corio Oval	Report
Saturday, 25 June (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 2.4 (16)	def. by	Essendon 8.11 (59)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 25 June (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 5.15 (45)	def.	St Kilda 3.3 (21)	MCG	Report

Round 9

	Round 9
Saturday, 9 July (3:00 pm)	Carlton 4.4 (28)	drew with	Melbourne 3.10 (28)	Princes Park	Report
Saturday, 9 July (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 4.11 (35)	def.	Fitzroy 3.5 (23)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 9 July (3:00 pm)	Essendon 7.12 (54)	def.	South Melbourne 4.6 (30)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 9 July (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 3.7 (25)	def. by	Geelong 13.15 (93)	Junction Oval	Report

Round 10

	Round 10
Saturday, 16 July (3:00 pm)	Essendon 10.17 (77)	def.	Carlton 1.3 (9)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 16 July (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 8.11 (59)	def.	Melbourne 1.5 (11)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 16 July (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 9.13 (67)	def.	St Kilda 3.1 (19)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 16 July (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 1.3 (9)	def. by	Geelong 3.11 (29)	Lake Oval	Report

Round 11

	Round 11
Saturday, 23 July (3:00 pm)	Geelong 8.10 (58)	def.	Carlton 5.2 (32)	Corio Oval	Report
Saturday, 23 July (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 10.13 (73)	def.	South Melbourne 1.7 (13)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 23 July (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 1.9 (15)	def. by	Essendon 10.11 (71)	Junction Oval	Report
Saturday, 23 July (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 5.3 (33)	def. by	Fitzroy 7.8 (50)	MCG	Report

Round 12

	Round 12
Saturday, 30 July (3:00 pm)	Carlton 1.4 (10)	def. by	Collingwood 3.11 (29)	Princes Park	Report
Saturday, 30 July (3:00 pm)	Melbourne 2.8 (20)	def. by	Essendon 11.9 (75)	MCG	Report
Saturday, 30 July (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 5.9 (39)	def.	Geelong 4.6 (30)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 30 July (3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 12.15 (87)	def.	St Kilda 3.6 (24)	Lake Oval	Report

Round 13

	Round 13
Saturday, 13 August (3:00 pm)	Carlton 3.4 (22)	def. by	Fitzroy 8.6 (54)	Princes Park	Report
Saturday, 13 August (3:00 pm)	Collingwood 8.17 (65)	def.	St Kilda 1.0 (6)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 13 August (3:00 pm)	Essendon 7.13 (55)	def.	Geelong 5.7 (37)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 13 August(3:00 pm)	South Melbourne 6.7 (51)	def.	Melbourne 5.8 (38)	Lake Oval	Report

Round 14

	Round 14
Saturday, 20 August (3:00 pm)	St Kilda 8.7 (55)	def. by	Carlton 10.9 (69)	Junction Oval	Report
Saturday, 20 August (3:00 pm)	Essendon 2.13 (25)	def. by	Collingwood 7.14 (56)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 20 August (3:00 pm)	Fitzroy 9.11 (65)	def.	South Melbourne 1.4 (10)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 20 August (3:00 pm)	Geelong 7.9 (51)	def.	Melbourne 2.7 (19)	Corio Oval	Report

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
	Section A
	Section B

#	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Essendon	14	11	3	0	756	374	202.1	44
2	Collingwood	14	10	4	0	657	363	181.0	40
3	Fitzroy (P)	14	10	4	0	568	467	121.6	40
4	Geelong	14	9	5	0	645	425	151.8	36
5	South Melbourne	14	7	7	0	482	538	89.6	28
6	Melbourne	14	5	8	1	529	545	97.1	22
7	Carlton	14	3	10	1	382	634	60.3	14
8	St Kilda	14	0	14	0	339	1012	33.5	0

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 38.9
Source: AFL Tables

Progression by round

Points by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Essendon	4	8	12	16	20	20	20	24	28	32	36	40	44	44
Collingwood	4	4	4	4	8	12	16	16	20	24	28	32	36	40
Fitzroy	0	4	8	12	16	20	20	20	20	24	28	32	36	40
Geelong	0	4	8	12	12	16	16	20	24	28	32	32	32	36
South Melbourne	0	0	0	4	8	12	16	20	20	20	20	24	28	28
Melbourne	4	8	12	12	12	12	16	20	22	22	22	22	22	22
Carlton	4	4	4	4	4	4	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	14
St Kilda	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Finals series

The VFL introduced a new system of finals for the 1898 season. The new system, which was used from 1898–1900, allowed all clubs to compete for the major premiership, with the minor premiers having the right to challenge for the premiership.

Sectional rounds

Sectional round 1

	Sectional Round 1
Saturday, 27 August (2:30 pm)	Essendon 9.21 (75)	def.	Carlton 1.2 (8)	EMCG	Report
Saturday, 27 August (2:30 pm)	St Kilda 4.3 (27)	def. by	Collingwood 14.19 (103)	Junction Oval	Report
Saturday, 27 August (2:30 pm)	South Melbourne 5.3 (33)	def. by	Fitzroy 6.11 (47)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 27 August (2:30 pm)	Geelong 11.12 (78)	def.	Melbourne 2.4 (16)	Corio Oval	Report

Sectional round 2

	Sectional Round 2
Saturday, 3 September (2:30 pm)	Fitzroy 12.18 (90)	def.	Carlton 1.1 (7)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 3 September (2:30 pm)	Collingwood 6.9 (45)	def.	Geelong 4.6 (30)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 3 September (2:30 pm)	South Melbourne 3.6 (24)	def. by	Essendon 5.11 (41)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 3 September (2:30 pm)	St Kilda 2.5 (17)	def. by	Melbourne 5.8 (38)	Junction Oval	Report

Sectional round 3

	Sectional Round 3
Saturday, 10 September (2:30 pm)	South Melbourne 6.11 (47)	def.	Carlton 3.4 (22)	Lake Oval	Report
Saturday, 10 September (2:30 pm)	Collingwood 7.13 (55)	def.	Melbourne 6.5 (41)	Victoria Park	Report
Saturday, 10 September (2:30 pm)	Fitzroy 5.15 (45)	def.	Essendon 2.4 (16)	Brunswick Street Oval	Report
Saturday, 10 September (2:30 pm)	Geelong 14.18 (102)	def.	St Kilda 4.3 (27)	Corio Oval	Report

Section A ladder

Qualified for finals

#	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Fitzroy	3	3	0	0	182	56	325.0	12
2	Essendon	3	2	1	0	132	77	171.4	8
3	South Melbourne	3	1	2	0	104	110	94.5	4
4	Carlton	3	0	3	0	37	212	17.5	0

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Source: AFL Tables

Section B ladder

Qualified for finals

#	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Collingwood	3	3	0	0	203	98	207.1	12
2	Geelong	3	2	1	0	210	88	238.6	8
3	Melbourne	3	1	2	0	95	150	63.3	4
4	St Kilda	3	0	3	0	71	243	29.2	0

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Source: AFL Tables

Finals

	Semi-final					Grand final
						24 September, Junction Oval
	17 September, Brunswick Street Oval					MP	Essendon	3.5 (23)
	A1	Fitzroy	2.10 (22)				Fitzroy	5.8 (38)
	B1	Collingwood	1.5 (11)

All starting times are local time. Source: AFL Tables

Semi-final

	Semi-final
Saturday, 17 September (2:30 pm)	Fitzroy 2.10 (22)	def.	Collingwood 1.5 (11)	Brunswick Street Oval (crowd: 13,120)	Report

Grand final

Main article: 1898 VFL grand final

	Grand final
Saturday, 24 September (2:50 pm)	Essendon 3.5 (23)	def. by	Fitzroy 5.8 (38)	Junction Oval (crowd: 16,538)	Report

Win–loss table

The following table can be sorted from biggest winning margin to biggest losing margin for each round. If two or more matches in a round are decided by the same margin, these margins are sorted by percentage (i.e. the lowest-scoring winning team is ranked highest and the lowest-scoring losing team is ranked lowest). Opponents are listed above the margins and home matches are in bold.

By winning the minor premiership and accruing at least eight premiership points from its three sectional matches, Essendon won the right to challenge the semi-final winner for the premiership.^[1]

+	Win		Qualified for finals
-	Loss	X	Bye
	Draw		Eliminated

Team	Home-and-away season														Home- and-away ladder	Finals series
																Sectional rounds			Sectional ladders	Finals
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14		S1	S2	S3		SF	GF
Carlton	SM +17	MEL -57	ESS -12	GEE -1	COL -42	FIT -4	STK +10	SM -32	MEL 0	ESS -68	GEE -26	COL -19	FIT -32	STK +14	7 (3–10–1)	ESS -67	FIT -83	SM -25	A4 (0–3–0)
Collingwood	GEE +21	FIT -12	MEL -10	SM -11	CAR +42	STK +34	ESS +20	GEE -19	FIT +12	MEL +48	SM +60	CAR +19	STK +59	ESS +31	2 (10–4–0)	STK +76	GEE +15	MEL +14	B1 (3–0–0)	FIT -11
Essendon	FIT +53	SM +11	CAR +12	STK +75	MEL +25	GEE -7	COL -20	FIT +43	SM +24	CAR +68	STK +56	MEL +55	GEE +18	COL -31	1 (11–3–0)	CAR +67	SM +17	FIT -29	A2 (2–1–0)	X	FIT -15
Fitzroy	ESS -53	COL +12	STK +37	MEL +19	GEE +5	CAR +4	SM -29	ESS -43	COL -12	STK +48	MEL +17	GEE +9	CAR +32	SM +55	3 (10–4–0)	SM +14	CAR +83	ESS +29	A1 (3–0–0)	COL +11	ESS +15
Geelong	COL -21	STK +68	SM +52	CAR +1	FIT -5	ESS +7	MEL -20	COL +19	STK +68	SM +20	CAR +26	FIT -9	ESS -18	MEL +32	4 (9–5–0)	MEL +62	COL -15	STK +75	B2 (2–1–0)
Melbourne	STK +76	CAR +57	COL +10	FIT -19	ESS -25	SM -2	GEE +20	STK +24	CAR 0	COL -48	FIT -17	ESS -55	SM -5	GEE -32	6 (5–8–1)	GEE -62	STK +21	COL -14	B3 (1–2–0)
South Melbourne	CAR -17	ESS -11	GEE -52	COL +11	STK +41	MEL +2	FIT +29	CAR +32	ESS -24	GEE -20	COL -60	STK +63	MEL +5	FIT -55	5 (7–7–0)	FIT -14	ESS -17	CAR +25	A3 (1–2–0)
St Kilda	MEL -76	GEE -68	FIT -37	ESS -75	SM -41	COL -34	CAR -10	MEL -24	GEE -68	FIT -48	ESS -56	SM -63	COL -59	CAR -14	8 (0–14–0)	COL -76	MEL -21	GEE -75	B4 (0–3–0)

Source: AFL Tables

Season notes

• On 21 May 1898, playing against St Kilda Football Club, Geelong's Firth McCallum eluded 12 opponents to score a goal.
• In round 3, Carlton and Essendon kicked a combined 0.4 (4) in the second half. This stands as the lowest-scoring half in VFL/AFL history.
• On 12 August 1898, the League issues a directive that all field umpires are banned from playing, after umpire Samuel Hood plays for Footscray against North Melbourne in a VFA match on the 6th of August.
• A VFL representative team played two matches against a combined Ballarat Football League team. The VFL won their home match, and lost their away match.
• Essendon player Corrie Gardner, who also played for Melbourne Football Club from 1900 to 1903 and in 1905, and who represented Australia in the hurdles and the long jump at the 1904 Summer Olympics at St. Louis, Missouri in the USA, won the Australian Amateur Athletics hurdle championship in 1898.
• At the end of the home-and away season, Essendon had a VFL record percentage of 202.2%.
• 1898 was the first VFL season that the premiership had been decided in a "challenge" match.
• A set of brothers played for Fitzroy in the 1898 "Grand Final Match": Jim Grace and Mick Grace.

Awards

• The 1898 VFL Premiership team was Fitzroy.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker was Archie Smith of Collingwood with 31 goals.
• The wooden spoon went to St Kilda.