1937 VFA season
# 1937 VFA season

The 1937 Victorian Football Association season was the 59th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Prahran Football Club, after it came from fourth on the ladder to defeat Brunswick by two points in the Grand Final on 4 September. It was the club's first VFA premiership since it joined the Association in 1899.

## Premiership

The home-and-home season was played over sixteen matches, a reduction from the eighteen games staged in 1936, before the top four clubs contested a finals series under the Page–McIntyre system to determine the premiers for the season.

### Ladder

1937 VFA ladder :

| | TEAM | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | Pct | PTS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Brunswick | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1486 | 1182 | 125.7 | 48 |
| 2 | Brighton | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1456 | 1334 | 109.1 | 48 |
| 3 | Yarraville | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1375 | 1071 | 128.4 | 44 |
| 4 | Prahran (P) | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1557 | 1320 | 118.0 | 44 |
| 5 | Northcote | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1353 | 1173 | 115.3 | 40 |
| 6 | Coburg | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1454 | 1419 | 102.5 | 36 |
| 7 | Sandringham | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 1338 | 1335 | 100.2 | 28 |
| 8 | Camberwell | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 1390 | 1477 | 94.1 | 28 |
| 9 | Port Melbourne | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 1161 | 1464 | 79.3 | 20 |
| 10 | Williamstown | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 1177 | 1370 | 85.9 | 16 |
| 11 | Preston | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 1227 | 1461 | 84.0 | 16 |
| 12 | Oakleigh | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 1296 | 1664 | 77.9 | 16 |
| Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points | Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points | Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points | Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points | Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points | Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points | Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points | Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pct = Percentage; (P) = Premiers, PTS = Premiership points | Source | Source |

### Finals

| | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Saturday, 7 August | Yarraville 12.12 (84) | drew with | Prahran 11.18 (84) | Toorak Park (crowd: 8,000) |
| Saturday, 14 August | Brunswick 13.17 (95) | def. | Brighton 6.9 (45) | Toorak Park (crowd: 8,000) |
| Saturday, 21 August | Yarraville 14.8 (92) | def. by | Prahran 18.12 (120) | Toorak Park (crowd: 6,000) |
| | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | Preliminary Final | |
| Saturday, 28 August | Brighton 9.9 (63) | def. by | Prahran 14.12 (96) | Toorak Park (crowd: 7,000) |
| | 1937 VFA Grand Final | 1937 VFA Grand Final | 1937 VFA Grand Final | |
| Saturday, 4 September | Brunswick | def. by | Prahran | Toorak Park (crowd: 9,000) |
| | 3.3 (21) 6.6 (42) 10.13 (73) 11.17 (83) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 1.3 (9) 3.6 (24) 9.9 (63) 12.13 (85) | |
| Crawford 3, McInnes 3, Gardner 2, Bailey, Dowling, McKay | Crawford 3, McInnes 3, Gardner 2, Bailey, Dowling, McKay | Goals | Hawkins 6, Anderson 2, Thompson 2, Fleming, White | Hawkins 6, Anderson 2, Thompson 2, Fleming, White |
| Turner, for striking Wiltshire in the second quarter Gardner, for striking Wiltshire in the third quarter Kanngieser, for striking Gravell in the third quarter | Turner, for striking Wiltshire in the second quarter Gardner, for striking Wiltshire in the third quarter Kanngieser, for striking Gravell in the third quarter | Reports | Wiltshire, for striking Turner in the second quarter Wiltshire, for striking Gardner in the third quarter Gravell, for kicking Kanngeiser in the third quarter | Wiltshire, for striking Turner in the second quarter Wiltshire, for striking Gardner in the third quarter Gravell, for kicking Kanngeiser in the third quarter |

## Awards

* Geoff McInnes (Brunswick) was the leading goalkicker for the season; he kicked 78 goals in the home-and-home season and 86 goals overall.
* In the parallel Association best and fairest awards:
   * Neville Huggins (Williamstown) won the Recorder Cup, polling six votes. Jack Lowry (Prahran), L. Wedgwood (Yarraville) and J. Holden (Prahran) finished equal second with three votes apiece.
   * The Association Medal was won jointly by Neville Huggins (Williamstown) and Jack Lowry (Prahran), who tied with 24 votes apiece. It was Huggins' second Association Medal in a row. G. Weber (Brighton) and E. Watson (Oakleigh) finished equal-third with 23 votes.
* Coburg won the seconds premiership. Coburg 9.11 (65) defeated Brunswick 4.13 (37) in the Grand Final on Saturday 28 August at Preston.
