2017 VAFA season
The 2017 VAFA season was the 117th season of the Victorian Amateur Football Association, the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season began on 13 April and concluded on 24 September, with 69 teams participating across seven divisions under a promotion and relegation system.
In addition to the men's competition, the newly-formed VAFA Women's competition held its inaugural season in 2017.
Background
Accounting firm William Buck signed a three-year sponsorship deal extension with the VAFA, which included continuing the naming rights for the "William Buck Premier Division".125-year anniversary
2017 marked 125 years since the VAFA was founded in 1892 as the Metropolitan Junior Football Association. The competition released a commemorative logo for the anniversary. It was also the 125th year for the Collegians Football Club, the only club from the first MJFA season to still exist and compete in the competition.In round 11, the VAFA held "Clubs Round", which recognised volunteers who had contributed to the success of their clubs over the past 25 years with specialised medallions.
Association membership
In late 2016, the Monash Gryphons merged with Glen Eira to form the Glen Eira Gryphons. The clubs had initially planned to amalgamate for the 2016 season, but ultimately remained separate entities.The Chadstone Football Club left [|Division 4] and returned to the Club XVIII competition for 2017 after failing to win any senior matches during the 2016 season. Shortly before the start of the 2017 season, Box Hill North also withdrew from Division 4 as it was unable to field a seniors or reserves team.
Yarra Valley Old Boys was renamed to Yarra Old Grammarians to reflect its ties with Yarra Valley Grammar.
Premier
St Kevin's won the Premier Division premiership for the first time, defeating Collegians by three points in the grand final.Ladder
In round 1, the match between Beaumaris and Old Melburnians was abandoned due to lightning with 16 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. In round 9, Old Xaverians defender Jarryd Skene suffered a severe leg break in the match against Collegians, with the match abandoned 59 minutes into the fourth quarter after a lengthy delay. In both cases, the VAFA split the premiership points and the final scores stood for percentage purposes.| Team | Qualification | |||||||||
| 1 | St Kevin's | 18 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1896 | 1152 | 164.6 | 64 | Finals series |
| 2 | University Blues | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1562 | 1212 | 128.9 | 54 | Finals series |
| 3 | Collegians | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1511 | 1249 | 121.0 | 52 | Finals series |
| 4 | De La Salle | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1367 | 1311 | 104.3 | 44 | Finals series |
| 5 | Old Xaverians | 18 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1428 | 1379 | 103.6 | 38 | - |
| 6 | Old Melburnians | 18 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 1389 | 1359 | 102.2 | 34 | - |
| 7 | Old Trinity | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1257 | 1443 | 87.1 | 24 | - |
| 8 | St Bedes/Mentone Tigers | 18 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 1174 | 1702 | 69.0 | 18 | - |
| 9 | University Blacks | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 1402 | 1624 | 86.3 | 16 | Relegation |
| 10 | Beaumaris | 18 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 1214 | 1769 | 68.6 | 16 | Relegation |