1976 NFL Championship Series (Australia)

The 1976 NFL Championship Series, known as the NFL Wills Cup, was an Australian rules football tournament held between the 17 May and 17 August 1976. It was the inaugural NFL Night Series competition.

The championship was contested by the leading clubs from the VFL, the SANFL and the WAFL. The matches were played in Adelaide, South Australia and in Perth, Western Australia.

The final, played in front of 7,374, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 48 points.[1][2][3]

Participating teams

Team League Qualification method
North Melbourne VFL 1975 VFL Premiers
Hawthorn VFL 1975 VFL Runners-Up
Richmond VFL 1975 VFL Third Place
Carlton VFL 1975 VFL Fourth Place
Footscray VFL 1975 VFL Seventh Place
Norwood SANFL 1975 SANFL Premiers
Glenelg SANFL 1975 SANFL Runners-Up
Port Adelaide SANFL 1975 SANFL Third Place
Sturt SANFL 1975 SANFL Fourth Place
West Perth WAFL 1975 WAFL Premiers
South Fremantle WAFL 1975 WAFL Runners-Up
Swan Districts WAFL 1975 WAFL Third Place

Venues

Adelaide Adelaide Perth
Norwood Oval Football Park Subiaco Oval
Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 67,000 Capacity: 53,000

Group Stage

Group A

Team Pld W D L PF PA % Pts
Glenelg 2200161130123.88
Richmond 2101185126146.84
Swan Districts 200211820856.70
Group A
17 May 1976 Glenelg 11.10 (76) def. Richmond 9.8 (62) Football Park (crowd: 13,693)
12 June 1976 Glenelg 11.19 (85) def. Swan Districts 10.8 (68) Subiaco Oval (crowd: 10,876)
26 June 1976 Richmond 18.15 (123) def. Swan Districts 7.8 (50) Norwood Oval (crowd: 500)

Group B

Team Pld W D L PF PA % Pts
North Melbourne 2200191113169.08
Port Adelaide 210113415089.34
Footscray 200216920184.10
Group B
1 June 1976 Port Adelaide 14.13 (97) def. Footscray 9.9 (63) Norwood Oval (crowd: 5,818)
15 June 1976 North Melbourne 12.15 (87) def. Port Adelaide 5.7 (37) Norwood Oval (crowd: 9,000)
13 July 1976 North Melbourne 16.8 (104) def. Footscray 11.10 (76) Norwood Oval (crowd: 2,081)

Group C

Team Pld W D L PF PA % Pts
Hawthorn 220020299204.08
Sturt 210114615892.44
West Perth 200210920054.50
Group C
7 June 1976 Hawthorn 15.17 (107) def. West Perth 7.4 (46) Subiaco Oval (crowd: 9,860)
14 June 1976 Sturt 14.9 (93) def. West Perth 9.9 (63) Football Park (crowd: 12,777)
6 July 1976 Hawthorn 13.17 (95) def. Sturt 8.5 (53) Norwood Oval (crowd: 8,839)

Group D

Team Pld W D L PF PA % Pts
Norwood 2200231110210.08
Carlton 2101188169111.24
South Fremantle 20029329431.60
Group D
8 June 1976 Carlton 22.16 (148) def. South Fremantle 3.5 (23) Norwood Oval (crowd: 3,500)
22 June 1976 Norwood 22.14 (146) def. Carlton 5.10 (40) Norwood Oval (crowd: 7,500)
20 July 1976 Norwood 11.19 (85) def. South Fremantle 10.10 (70) Norwood Oval (crowd: 3,250)

Knockout Stage

Semi Finals
27 July 1976 Hawthorn 11.16 (82) def. Glenelg 8.8 (56) Norwood Oval (crowd: 8,086)
3 August 1976 North Melbourne 8.5 (53) def. Norwood 5.5 (35) Norwood Oval (crowd: 5,160)
NFL Wills Cup Final
17 August 1976 Hawthorn def. North Melbourne Norwood Oval (Crowd: 7,374)
3.6 (24)
5.7 (37)
7.13 (55)
12.17 (89)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Final
1.1 (7)
1.4 (10)
4.8 (32)
5.11 (41)
Umpires: Peter Mead
M Moncrieff 4
A Goad 3
G Ablett, D Scott 2
L Matthews 1
Goals S Kekovich, M Blight 2
P Feltham 1

References

  1. "Hawthorn Easily In Night Final". The Age. 18 August 1976.
  2. "NFL Wills Cup". Full Points Footy. Archived from the original on June 18, 2007.
  3. David Eastman. "1976 NFL Wills Cup". Retrieved 12 November 2016.
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