The 1942 VFL season was the 46th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. Played during the peak of World War II, only eleven of the league's twelve clubs competed, with withdrawing due to travel restrictions. The season ran from 9 May until 19 September, and comprised a home-and-away season in which each club played either 14 or 15 games, followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs. The premiership was won by the Essendon Football Club for the seventh time, after it defeated by 53 points in the 1942 VFL Grand Final.

Background

Influence of World War II

World War II had many effects on the organisation of football in Australia:

Format

In 1942, the VFL competition consisted of eleven teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus one substitute player, known as the 19th 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 16 rounds; once the 16 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1942 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system. The determination of the 1942 season's fixtures was complicated by the fact that when the VFL decided to proceed with senior football on 1 April, it was not known which grounds would be available. All 1941 grounds except Windy Hill and the Brunswick Street Oval were candidates for long-term appropriation by the military, and the VFL announced that unless three grounds were available, it would not play the season. Consequently, each round's fixture through the first eleven weeks was set only on the previous Wednesday week, rather than being pre-determined at the start of the season. Ultimately the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Lake Oval, the Western Oval, and the Junction Oval all became unavailable; but, several Victorian Football Association grounds became available when the VFA announced on 21 April that it was going into recess, resulting in St Kilda and Footscray moving to Toorak Park and Yarraville Oval respectively, and the remaining ground losses were managed by Melbourne sharing the Punt Road Oval with Richmond and South Melbourne sharing Princes Park with Carlton. During the first eleven rounds, each team played each other once and had one bye. The remaining five rounds (Rounds 12 to 16) featured the same matches as Rounds 1 to 5. This resulted in an uneven fixture in which six teams played 15 matches, and five teams played 14 matches. Teams were awarded four premiership points for each bye, so the teams with an extra bye were favoured by this draw.

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

Ladder

Teams were awarded four premiership points for each bye, with five teams receiving two byes as the result of an uneven fixture. Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 91.8 Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

Semi-finals

Preliminary final

Grand final

Season notes

Awards

Sources