1932 VFL season

1932 VFL premiership season
Richmond 1932 VFL premiership team
Overview
Date	30 April – 1 October 1932
Teams	12
Premiers	Richmond 3rd premiership
Runners-up	Carlton 6th runners-up result
Minor premiers	Carlton 8th minor premiership
Brownlow Medallist	Haydn Bunton Sr. (Fitzroy) 23 votes
Leading goalkicker medallist	George Moloney (Geelong) 109 goals
Attendance
Matches played	112
Total attendance	1,876,973 (16,759 per match)
Highest (H&A)	41,000 (round 13, South Melbourne v Carlton)
Highest (finals)	69,724 (grand final, Richmond v Carlton)

The 1932 VFL season was the 36th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs and ran from 30 April to 1 October, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top four clubs.

Richmond won the premiership, defeating Carlton by nine points in the 1932 VFL grand final; it was Richmond's third VFL premiership. Carlton won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 15–3 win–loss record. Fitzroy's Haydn Bunton Sr. won his second consecutive Brownlow Medal as the league's best and fairest player, and Geelong's George Moloney won the leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkicker.

Background

In 1932, the VFL competition consisted of twelve 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 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7.

Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1932 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system.

Home-and-away season

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
	Qualified for finals

#	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Carlton	18	15	3	0	1803	1308	137.8	60
2	Richmond (P)	18	14	3	1	1526	1096	139.2	58
3	Collingwood	18	14	4	0	1644	1473	111.6	56
4	South Melbourne	18	13	5	0	1531	1297	118.0	52
5	Geelong	18	11	6	1	1825	1306	139.7	46
6	Essendon	18	10	8	0	1488	1444	103.0	40
7	Footscray	18	9	9	0	1229	1188	103.5	36
8	North Melbourne	18	8	10	0	1535	1581	97.1	32
9	Melbourne	18	4	14	0	1281	1675	76.5	16
10	Fitzroy	18	3	15	0	1361	1786	76.2	12
11	St Kilda	18	3	15	0	1263	1753	72.0	12
12	Hawthorn	18	3	15	0	1034	1613	64.1	12

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 81.1
Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

Grand final

Main article: 1932 VFL Grand Final

Season notes

• Rain had delayed the resurfacing of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, so Melbourne arranged to play its first three matches for the year at the Motordrome. These were the only three VFL matches ever staged at the venue.
• In round 11, due to the effects of an extremely strong cross-wind that blew all day at the Lake Oval, the up-to-that-time-unbeaten South Melbourne lost to Collingwood, kicking 5.17 (47) to their opponent's more accurate 7.8 (50).
• After the match was over, it was revealed that Richmond wingman Allan Geddes had played the entire second half of the Grand-Final with a broken jaw.

Awards

• The 1932 VFL Premiership team was Richmond.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker was George Moloney of Geelong with 109 goals (all scored during the home-and-away season).
• The winner of the 1932 Brownlow Medal was Haydn Bunton, Sr of Fitzroy with 23 votes.
• Hawthorn took the "wooden spoon" in 1932.
• The seconds premiership was won by Melbourne. Melbourne 8.12 (60) defeated Essendon 4.10 (34) in the Grand Final, played as a curtain-raiser to the firsts Grand Final on 1 October at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

References

• Hogan, P., The Tigers of Old, The Richmond Football Club, (Richmond), 1996. ISBN 0-646-18748-1
• Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN 0-670-90809-6
• Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0

Sources

• 1932 VFL season at AFL Tables
• 1932 VFL season at Australian Football