1976 NFL Championship Series (Australia)

The 1976 NFL Championship Series was the 1st edition of the NFL Night Series, an NFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the VFL, the SANFL and the WANFL.[1]

1976 NFL Championship Series
NFL Wills Cup
Tournament details
Dates17 May - 17 August 1976
Teams12
Venue(s)3 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsHawthorn (2nd title)
Runners-upNorth Melbourne
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
Attendance106,214 (7,081 per match)

It replaced the Championship of Australia tournament that been contested between the champion clubs of the VFL, the SANFL, the WANFL and the Tasmanian State Premiership between 1972 and 1975.

The 1976 NFL Night Series was planned as a forerunner to a full-scale national competition in 1977 that would feature all the VFL, SANFL and WANFL teams plus representative teams from Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT.

Ultimately, the 1976 competition would be the only one to feature the VFL clubs - the Victorian League chose to break away in 1977 and run a rival competition, the VFL Night Series.

Qualified Teams
Team Nickname League Qualification Participation (bold indicates winners)1
North Melbourne Kangaroos VFL Winners of the 1975 Victorian Football League 2nd (Previous: 1975)
Hawthorn Hawks VFL Runners-Up in the 1975 Victorian Football League 2nd (Previous: 1971)
Richmond Tigers VFL Third Place in the 1975 Victorian Football League 4th (Previous: 1969, 1973, 1974)
Carlton Blues VFL Fourth Place in the 1975 Victorian Football League 7th (Previous: 1907, 1908, 1914, 1968, 1970, 1972)
Footscray Bulldogs VFL Seventh Place in the 1975 Victorian Football League2 1st
Norwood Redlegs SANFL Winners of the 1975 South Australian National Football League 4th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975)
Glenelg Tigers SANFL Runners-Up in the 1975 South Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1973)
Port Adelaide Magpies SANFL Third Place in the 1975 South Australian National Football League 5th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914)
Sturt Double Blues SANFL Fourth Place in the 1975 South Australian National Football League 5th (Previous: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974)
West Perth Falcons WANFL Winners of the 1975 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1975)
South Fremantle Bulldogs WANFL Runners-Up in the 1975 Western Australian National Football League 1st
Swan Districts Swans WANFL Third Place in the 1975 Western Australian National Football League 1st
1 Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia.
2 Replaced Collingwood and St Kilda who both declined to participate.

Venues
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
17 May 1976 Glenelg 76-62 Richmond Football Park, Adelaide  
11.10 (76) 9.8 (62) Attendance: 13,693


12 June 1976 Swan Districts 68-85 Glenelg Subiaco Oval, Perth  
10.8 (68) 11.19 (85) Attendance: 10,876


29 June 1976 Richmond 123-50 Swan Districts Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
18.15 (123) 7.8 (50) Attendance: 400


Group B
Team Pld W D L PF PA % Pts
North Melbourne 2200191113169.08
Port Adelaide 210113415089.34
Footscray 200216920184.10
1 June 1976 Port Adelaide 97-63 Footscray Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
14.13 (97) 9.9 (63) Attendance: 5,818


15 June 1976 North Melbourne 87-37 Port Adelaide Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
12.15 (87) 5.7 (37) Attendance: 9,000


13 July 1976 North Melbourne 104-76 Footscray Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
16.8 (104) 11.10 (76) Attendance: 2,081


Group C
Team Pld W D L PF PA % Pts
Hawthorn 220020299204.08
Sturt 210114615892.44
West Perth 200210920054.50
7 June 1976 West Perth 46-107 Hawthorn Subiaco Oval, Perth  
7.4 (46) 15.17 (107) Attendance: 9,860


14 June 1976 Sturt 93-63 West Perth Football Park, Adelaide  
14.9 (93) 9.9 (63) Attendance: 12,777


6 July 1976 Sturt 53-95 Hawthorn Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
8.5 (53) 13.17 (95) Attendance: 8,839


Group D
Team Pld W D L PF PA % Pts
Norwood 2200231110210.08
Carlton 2101188169111.24
South Fremantle 20029329431.60
8 June 1976 Carlton 148-23 South Fremantle Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
22.16 (148) 3.5 (23) Attendance: 1,500


22 June 1976 Norwood 146-40 Carlton Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
22.14 (146) 5.10 (40) Attendance: 7,500


20 July 1976 Norwood 85-70 South Fremantle Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
11.19 (85) 10.10 (70) Attendance: 3,250


Knockout stage

Semi-finals
SF #1 27 July 1976 Hawthorn 82-56 Glenelg Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
11.16 (82) 8.8 (56) Attendance: 8,086


SF #2 3 August 1976 North Melbourne 53-35 Norwood Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
8.5 (53) 5.5 (35) Attendance: 5,160


NFL Championship Series final
Final 17 August 1976 Hawthorn 89-41 North Melbourne Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
3.6 (24)
5.7 (37)
7.13 (55)
12.17 (89)		 Report 1.1 (7)
1.4 (10)
4.8 (32)
5.11 (41)		 Attendance: 7,374
Umpires: Peter Mead
    Goals  
M Moncrieff 4
A Goad 3
G Ablett, D Scott 2
L Matthews 1		   S Kekovich, M Blight 2
P Feltham 1

References
  1. David Eastman. "1976 NFL Wills Cup". Retrieved 12 November 2016.
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