1971 VFL season

Finals series

Semi-finals

Grand final

Consolation Night Series Competition

Season notes

• Fitzroy winger Treva McGregor won the 1971, 130-yard Stawell Gift in 11.7 seconds, off a handicap of 7¼ yards.
• Bill Barrot of Richmond and Ian Stewart of St Kilda swap clubs before the start of the 1971 season. Stewart went on to win his third Brownlow Medal at Richmond, while Barrott was so dissatisfied at St Kilda's demands that he play in defence that he requested, and was given, a clearance to Carlton during the season.
• The VFL sold its Harrison House headquarters and moved to 84 Jolimont Street.
• The second half of the round 21 match between and at Junction Oval was played in an exceptionally thick fog which suddenly blew in from Port Phillip Bay. Visibility was so poor that players and umpires struggled to see more than a few yards in front of themselves. In one humorous moment in the Carlton backline, Carlton's Percy Jones instinctively shouted "there it is" upon seeing the ball come into his vision, alerting a nearby unsighted opponent who gathered the ball for an easy goal. Throughout the second half, the goal umpires could not see each other's flags, forcing the boundary umpires to convey messages between the goal umpires for scorekeeping purposes; and the timekeepers admitted that they were guessing how much time off to apply. The fog dissipated about five minutes after the game ended; and a new rule was introduced to allow the umpire and captains to agree to abandon play in bad visibility.
• In the grand final, Peter Hudson could have broken Bob Pratt's season record of 150 goals except for three incidents:
• *He kicked what would have otherwise been an easy goal into the man on the mark.
• *He kicked a goal on the run that was disallowed because the end of the quarter siren had gone before the ball hit his boot.
• *He ran into an open goal and kicked the ball out of bounds.
• The Committees of the Carlton Football Club and Collingwood decide not to renew the contracts of their respective coaches, Ron Barassi and Bob Rose.

Awards

Major awards

• The 1971 VFL Premiership team was Hawthorn.
• The VFL's leading goalkicker was Peter Hudson of Hawthorn who kicked 150 goals.
• The winner of the 1971 Brownlow Medal was Ian Stewart of Richmond with 21 votes.
• South Melbourne took the "wooden spoon" in 1971.
• The reserves premiership was won by. Richmond 14.14 defeated 8.18 in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the seniors Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 25 September.

Leading goalkickers

• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the goalkicking at the end of that round.
• DNP = did not play in that round.