The 1903 VFL season was the seventh 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 2 May to 12 September, comprising a 17-round home-and-away season followed by a two-week finals series featuring the top four clubs. won the premiership, defeating by two points in the 1903 VFL grand final; it was Collingwood's second (consecutive and overall) VFL premiership. Collingwood also won its second consecutive minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 15–2 win–loss record. Collingwood's Teddy Lockwood won the leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

Background

In 1903, the VFL competition consisted of eight teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 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. Then, based on ladder positions after those 14 rounds, three further 'sectional rounds' were played, with the teams ranked 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th playing in one section and the teams ranked 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th playing in the other. Once the 17 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1903 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended "Argus system".

Home-and-away season

Round 1

Round 2

The match between Geelong and Carlton, originally to have been played at Corio Oval, was postponed due to a railway strike. It was played between Rounds 13 and 14, and was opportunistically moved to the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Pre-sectional ladder

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

Round 15 (Sectional round 1)

Round 16 (Sectional round 2)

Round 17 (Sectional round 3)

Ladder

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 47.1 Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

Semi-finals

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. Source: AFL Tables

Season notes

Awards

Sources