1993 VFA season

1993 VFA Premiership Season
Teams12
PremiersWerribee
(1st premiership)
Minor premiersPort Melbourne
(15th minor premiership)
1992
1994

The 1993 Victorian Football Association season was the 112th season of the Australian rules football competition. The premiership was won by the Werribee Football Club, after it defeated Port Melbourne in the grand final on 19 September by 42 points; it was the first and, as of 2018, only premiership won by the club in either division.

Association membership

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Leading up to the season, the Dandenong Football Club's financial troubles threatened to destroy the club. Its financial position had been weak since the 1980s; and the heavy spending which delivered it the 1991 premiership had worsened the situation, having not resulted in enough of a revenue boost to reverse the situation. The club was more than $220,000 in debt, including a $38,000 debt to the Dandenong Council which threatened its tenancy of Shepley Oval. Less than two weeks before the start of the season, the club succeeded in securing another lease for Shepley Oval.[1] A few days later, the club announced a controversial plan to deal with its debt: it would liquidate the club, then immediately establish a new and legally distinct debt-free club which carried the same on-field team forward.[2] The new club was known as Dandenong Redlegs Ltd, and the onfield team remained known as the Dandenong Redlegs, as it had been prior to the liquidation; a new guernsey, still incorporating its traditional navy blue and red colours, was adopted.[3] Several other clubs were unimpressed with Dandenong's actions, worrying that it damaged the credibility of the Association clubs as a whole and would make it more difficult for them to obtain credit in the future.[4]

Administrative structure

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In May, the clubs voted to disband the Association's Board of Directors, handing over complete administration of the Association to the Board of Management and streamlining the process by taking the clubs entirely out of it. Since the changes made in 1988, the Association had been administered by a six-man Board of Management which was elected by but independent from the clubs; but, decisions could be vetoed by a 75% majority vote of the Board of Directors, which comprised one delegate from each club.[5][6]

Premiership season

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In the home-and-away season, each team played eighteen games; the top five then contested the finals under the McIntyre final five system. Finals were played at Moorabbin Oval, and the grand final was played at Princes Park.

Ladder

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1993 VFA ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 Port Melbourne 18 16 2 0 2318 1584 146.3 64
2 Werribee (P) 18 13 5 0 2288 1563 146.4 52
3 Prahran 18 13 5 0 2254 1620 139.1 52
4 Frankston 18 12 6 0 2185 1551 140.9 48
5 Springvale 18 10 8 0 1784 1713 104.1 40
6 Box Hill 18 10 8 0 1852 1880 98.5 40
7 Sandringham 18 9 9 0 2042 1642 124.4 36
8 Dandenong 18 8 10 0 1898 2029 93.5 32
9 Williamstown 18 7 11 0 1497 1745 85.8 28
10 Preston 18 7 11 0 1619 1895 85.4 28
11 Oakleigh 18 3 15 0 1521 2559 59.4 12
12 Coburg 18 0 18 0 1321 2798 47.2 0
Source: [7]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals

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Qualifying final
Saturday, 28 August Werribee 12.16 (88) def. Prahran 11.13 (79) Moorabbin Oval (crowd: 1,786) [8]
Elimination final
Sunday, 29 August Frankston 14.10 (94) def. by Springvale 17.17 (119) Moorabbin Oval (crowd: 4,194) [9]
First semi-final
Saturday, 4 September Prahran 12.16 (88) def. by Springvale 14.16 (100) Moorabbin Oval [10]
Second semi-final
Sunday, 5 September Port Melbourne 11.25 (91) def. Werribee 11.14 (80) Moorabbin Oval (crowd: 3,964) [10]
Preliminary Final
Sunday, 12 September Werribee 14.14 (98) def. Springvale 14.11 (95) Moorabbin Oval (crowd: 4,216) [11]


1993 VFA Grand Final
Sunday, 19 September Port Melbourne def. by Werribee Princes Park (crowd: 14,389) [12]
1.1 (7)
2.1 (13)
3.2 (20)
4.4 (28)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Final
1.4 (10)
4.6 (30)
7.9 (51)
10.10 (70)
Umpires: D. Agnew, M. Nash
Norm Goss Memorial Medal: David Allday (Werribee)
Bailey 2, Hicks, Stynes Goals Geary 3, Lamont 3, Button 2, McDonald, Raeburn
Chrimes, for striking Aziz in the first quarter
Chrimes, for striking Lesiputty in the fourth quarter
Chrimes, for striking Lesiputty in the fourth quarter
Chrimes, for striking Wilson in the fourth quarter
Reports Aziz, for elbowing Barlow in the first quarter
MacPherson, for using abusive language towards emergency umpire McKernon
Rieniets, for striking King in the third quarter

Awards

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Notable events

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  • During the offseason, John Grieve was replaced as president of the Association by former Williamstown president Tony Hannebery. Grieve had served as president since April 1988.[18]
  • Three of the five games played on Sunday 20 June were decided by one point: Box Hill 13.15 (93) d. Prahran 13.14 (92); Oakleigh 17.16 (118) d. Coburg 17.15 (117); and, Springvale 9.17 (71) d. Williamstown 10.10 (70).[19]
  • On Sunday 15 August, Bill Swan (Williamstown) played his 301st senior Association game, passing the record set by Fred Cook (300 games) to become the games record holder in Association history.[20] Swan finished his career with 302 games and held the record until passed by Ben Jolley in 2023.[21]
  • In the preliminary final, Werribee came back from a 17-point deficit midway through the final quarter to defeat Springvale. Jack Aziz, who also kicked the penultimate goal, scored the match-winning goal seconds before the final siren with a set shot from 50 metres.[11] The goal ended a strong season recovery by Springvale, which had lost its first five games before recovering to play finals.[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Nicole Brady (3 April 1993). "Dandenong completes deal with council". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 32.
  2. ^ Nicole Brady (6 April 1993). "Dandenong to clear the debts". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 36.
  3. ^ Nicole Brady (15 April 1993). "Dandenong back as the Redlegs". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 22.
  4. ^ Nicole Brady (16 April 1993). "VFA kicks off with hard times ahead". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 24.
  5. ^ Nicole Brady (20 April 1993). "VFA looks to major shake-up of board". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 36.
  6. ^ Nicole Brady (18 May 1993). "VFA vote for new structure". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 38.
  7. ^ Adrian Dunn (23 August 1993). "Vales clear final hurdle". Herald Sun. Melbourne, VIC. p. 51.
  8. ^ Ross Booth (29 August 1993). "Werribee shuts out Two Blues". The Sunday Age (Sport Liftout). Melbourne, VIC. p. 17.
  9. ^ Nicole Brady (30 August 1993). "Speedy Springvale knocks Dolphis out of the VFA finals". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 26.
  10. ^ a b "Football". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 6 September 1993. p. 30.
  11. ^ a b Nicole Brady (13 September 1993). "Aziz puts Vales out with last kick". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 28.
  12. ^ Nicole Brady (20 September 1993). "Werribee toughs its way to first VFA flag". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 30.
  13. ^ Nicole Brady (26 August 1993). "Sinni captures Liston medal". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 26.
  14. ^ "Fothergill–Round Medallists". Sportingpulse. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  15. ^ Darrin Farrant (21 September 1992). "Zebras charge to victory". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 80.
  16. ^ David Eastman. "VFA-VFL pre-season cup". Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  17. ^ Phil Cleary (11 April 1993). "Talented Zebras are still the team to beat". The Sunday Age (Sport Liftout). Melbourne, VIC. p. 18.
  18. ^ Stephen Linnell (24 March 1993). "Plan for new state league strikes snag". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 34.
  19. ^ Nicole Brady (21 June 1993). "Grit earns Box Hill a 1-point win". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. pp. 33–34.
  20. ^ Phil Cleary (13 August 1993). "Record awaits the gentle Swan". The Sunday Age (Sport Liftout). Melbourne, VIC. p. 19.
  21. ^ "Williamstown warrior: Billy Swan's admiration for the man breaking his VFA/VFL games record". CODE Sports.
  22. ^ Phil Cleary (12 September 1993). "Giant-killing Vales serious contenders". The Sunday Age (Sport Liftout). Melbourne, VIC. p. 17.