The 1909 VFL season was the 13th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured ten clubs and ran from 1 May to 2 October, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs. won the premiership, defeating by two points in the 1909 VFL grand final; it was South Melbourne's first VFL premiership. South Melbourne also won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 14–4 win–loss record. 's Dick Lee won his third consecutive leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

Background

In 1909, the VFL competition consisted of ten 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 18 rounds. Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1909 VFL premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the amended Argus 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

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Ladder

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 53.9 Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

All of the 1909 finals were played at the MCG so the home team in the semi-finals and Preliminary Final is purely the higher ranked team from the ladder but in the Grand Final the home team was the team that won the Preliminary Final.

Semi-finals

Preliminary final

Grand final

Season notes

Awards

Sources