1971 Heinz Cup

The 1971 VFL H.J. Heinz Night Premiership was the Victorian Football League end of season cup competition played in September of the 1971 VFL Premiership Season. Run as a knock-out tournament, it was contested by the eight VFL teams that failed to make the 1971 VFL finals series. Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games. It was the 16th and last VFL Night Series competition, with the series disbanded the following year due to waning interest and the introduction of the final five in the premiership competition. Melbourne won its first night series cup defeating Fitzroy in the final by 16 points.^[1]

1971 Heinz Cup
VFL Night Series Cup
Season	1971
Teams	8
Winners	Melbourne (1st title)
Runner up	Fitzroy
Matches played	7
Attendance	77,956 (average 11,137 per match)

Games

Round 1

Winning team	Winning team score	Losing team	Losing team score	Ground	Crowd	Date
Footscray	11.25 (91)	South Melbourne	10.10 (70)	Lake Oval	10,028	Thursday, 2 September
Fitzroy	14.16 (100)	North Melbourne	8.10 (58)	Lake Oval	7,280	Tuesday, 7 September[2]
Carlton	9.15 (69)	Essendon	9.6 (60)	Lake Oval	7,328	Thursday, 9 September[3]
Melbourne	19.20 (134)	Geelong	11.8 (74)	Lake Oval	8,108	Tuesday, 14 September[4]

Semi-finals

Winning team	Winning team score	Losing team	Losing team score	Ground	Crowd	Date
Fitzroy	16.17 (113)	Footscray	11.12 (78)	Lake Oval	12,124	Thursday, 16 September[5]
Melbourne	14.16 (100)	Carlton	11.8 (74)	Lake Oval	11,919	Tuesday, 21 September[6]

Final

Winning team	Winning team score	Losing team	Losing team score	Ground	Crowd	Date
Melbourne	12.7 (79)	Fitzroy	9.9 (63)	Lake Oval	21,169	Monday, 27 September[7]

See also

• List of Australian Football League night premiers
• 1971 VFL season