1940 VFL Lightning Premiership

1940 VFL Lightning Premiership
Teams 12
Winners St Kilda (1st title)
Matches played   11

The 1940 VFL Lightning Premiership (known at the time as the Patriotic Premiership)[1] was an Australian rules football knockout competition played entirely on Saturday, 3 August, 1940, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It was played during a week's break of the Victorian Football Leagues's 1940 season between Rounds 14 and 15. It was contested by the 12 teams who competed in the 1940 VFL season. A total of 30,407 witnessed the day's matches. St Kilda won the lighting premiership competition, defeating Richmond in the final by 24 points. It was the first premiership of any kind at any grade that the St Kilda Football Club had won in its history.

This was the first time a lightning premiership had been contested in the VFL. The tournament was played to raise money for the Patriotic Fund during World War II; similar tournaments were held in other leagues, including the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), around the same time.[2]

Format

The Patriotic Premiership was staged as a knock-out tournament amongst the twelve VFL teams on a single day. Because twelve teams is not enough for a balanced knock-out tournament, the draw was arranged such that the teams which occupied the bottom four places on the league ladder at the time of the tournament had an easier path to the final.

Each match lasted for twenty minutes, without time-on, played in a single continuous period.[1]

Matches

Round 1

Round 1
Saturday, 3 August North Melbourne 2.6 (18) def. South Melbourne 1.2 (8) Melbourne Cricket Ground
Saturday, 3 August Hawthorn 2.2 (14) def. by St Kilda 3.2 (20) Melbourne Cricket Ground
Saturday, 3 August Melbourne 0.1 (1) def. by Richmond 5.5 (35) Melbourne Cricket Ground
Saturday, 3 August Collingwood 2.4 (16) def. by Footscray 4.2 (26) Melbourne Cricket Ground
Saturday, 3 August Essendon 3.1 (19) def. by Fitzroy 4.2 (26) Melbourne Cricket Ground
Saturday, 3 August Carlton 2.3 (15) def. Geelong 0.4 (4) Melbourne Cricket Ground

Quarter finals

Quarter Finals
Saturday, 3 August Richmond 1.2 (8) def. Footscray 1.0 (6) Melbourne Cricket Ground
Saturday, 3 August Fitzroy 1.2 (8) def. by Carlton 3.3 (21) Melbourne Cricket Ground
Bye: North Melbourne, St Kilda

Semi finals

Semi Finals
Saturday, 3 August North Melbourne 2.2 (14) def. by Richmond 5.0 (30) Melbourne Cricket Ground
Saturday, 3 August St Kilda 1.4 (10) def. Carlton 1.2 (8) Melbourne Cricket Ground

Grand Final

Grand Final
Saturday, 3 August Richmond 0.2 (2) def. by St Kilda 4.2 (26) Melbourne Cricket Ground (crowd: 30,407)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Taylor, Percy (2 August 1940), "Unique competition", The Argus (Melbourne, VIC): 14 – via Trove
  2. ↑ Rover (15 July 1940), "Lightning Football Carnival raises more than £1000 for patriotic and charitable funds", The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA): 7 – via Trove

See also