1911 VFL Season - Notable Events

Notable Events

• The VFL changes its laws so that direct payments (i.e., other than "reimbursement of expenses") can be made to players, effectively making the competition professional (except for Melbourne and University, whose rules at the time stated that any player found to be a professional would be immediately expelled from the club).
• In Round 4, Essendon became the first team to score 100 points against Collingwood. The Magpies were the last team to concede 100 points for the first time, but in the process Essendon kicked:

1. only the third score of 20 goals
2. the first score of 20 goals since 1901
3. the first score of 20 goals against any team except St. Kilda
4. 12 goals without a behind, a record unbroken until 1929

• On 20 August, the SAFL Interstate team defeated Victoria 11.11 (77) to 5.4 (34) in the 1911 Adelaide Carnival.
• In round 9, Fitzroy back-man Bill Marchbanks, a constable with the Victorian Police Force, was refused leave to play for Fitzroy against Richmond and was instead, assigned to the South Melbourne and Essendon match to patrol as a mounted policeman. Near the end of an exciting match, the home crowd roared as South Melbourne suddenly took the lead, causing his horse to rear and throw him against the iron fence. Marchbanks fractured his knee.
• Essendon player Jim Martin received a 12-match suspension for allegedly striking Fitzroy player George Holden, despite there being no witnesses who saw Martin throw a punch; it appeared that Holden had thrown himself at Martin, who was stationary and braced himself for the collision. Martin was charged with assault, and was found not guilty when the case went to court, but the suspension cost him a place in Essendon's premiership team.
• From Round 15, St. Kilda were affected by a players' strike to protest the club committee's barring of a player's father and a former player and from the club, and the Saints had to use 62 players for the season, the most by any team in the history of the VFL/AFL; due to the long running dispute with the committee, the team also had to use 55 players in 1909 and 60 players in 1910. These record numbers will most likely never be broken, as VFL/AFL teams have been limited to a 42 player roster since 1987.
• In Round 15, Vin Gardiner of Carlton became only the second player to kick ten goals in a match. His 21 scoring shots (10 goals 11) has been beaten only by Norm Smith, Kelvin Templeton and Jason Dunstall.
• In Round 16, Essendon breaks the VFL record score of 23.24 (162) set by Geelong in 1899 (N.B.: For a time it was thought their score was 23.20 (158), which would only have been the second-highest score).
• In the 1911 finals series, players wear numbers on their back for the first time in any VFL match played in Melbourne.