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Results and statistics for the VFL/AFL season of 1955.

Premiership season

In 1955, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances.

Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.

Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1955 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "Page-McIntyre 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

Finals

First Semi-Final

Second Semi-Final

Preliminary Final

Grand final

Awards

• The 1955 VFL Premiership team was Melbourne.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker was Noel Rayson of Geelong with 80 goals (including 3 goals in the final series).
• The winner of the 1955 Brownlow Medal was Fred Goldsmith of South Melbourne with 21 votes.
• St Kilda took the "wooden spoon" in 1955.

Notable events

• The VFL introduce a new, "15-yard rule" designed to prevent time-wasting.
• Towards the end of the round 4 match between Fitzroy and Geelong at the Brunswick Street Oval Fitzroy full-forward Tony Ongarello was so upset with his own inaccurate kicking that, upon taking a mark, he indicated to the field umpire that he was going to kick a place-kick. He scored a goal. He was so impressed that he kicked one more goal in that match (lost by Fitzroy) with a place kick. Although he made several attempts to kick goals with place-kicks in other matches during 1955, he was never successful again. Thus, although it has never been (and is still not) against the rules to do so, he is on record as the last player ever to score a goal with a place kick in a senior VFL match.
• After North Melbourne's humiliating round 11 (2 July 1955) loss to St Kilda — who had not won a match since 21 August 1954 and were now captain-coached by former North Melbourne star Les Foote — the North Melbourne committee suspend two of its senior players (Mick Grambeau and Laurie Icke) indefinitely from both playing and training with the club for "not having tried hard enough" in the match.
• Footscray misses out on a place in the Final Four by just 0.6%.
• In the dying minutes of the Grand Final, Melbourne's 19th man Frank "Bluey" Adams rushed from the bench to take his place on the field and collided with the (unsighted by Adams) Collingwood winger Des Healey who, up to that stage, had been one of the best on the ground. Both participants in this horrific head clash were carried off unconscious. "Bluey" Adams 15-second playing time is the shortest in VFL history (Ross, 1996, p. 202).

References

• Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897-1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN 0-670-90809-6
• Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0

External links

• 1955 Season - AFL Tables
• Geoff McClure, "The place kick 50 years dead", the Age, June 16, 2005