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. won the premiership, defeating 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. '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 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

Ladder

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

Progression by round

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 2

Sectional round 3

Section A ladder

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

Section B ladder

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Finals

All starting times are local time. Source: AFL Tables

Semi-final

Grand final

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. Source: AFL Tables

Season notes

Awards