1977 NFL Championship Series (Australia)

The 1977 NFL Championship Series was the 2nd edition of the NFL Night Series, an NFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the SANFL, the WANFL, the VFA and State Representative Teams.[1]

1977 NFL Championship Series
NFL Ardath Cup
Tournament details
Dates20 March – 26 July 1977
Teams22
Venue(s)5 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsNorwood (3rd title)
Runners-upEast Perth
Tournament statistics
Matches played21
Attendance64,818 (3,087 per match)

Following the success of the 1976 competition, the 1977 edition was originally planned to be a full-scale national competition that would feature all the VFL, SANFL and WANFL teams plus representative teams from Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT. But in late 1976, the VFL announced they were withdrawing from the national competition to form their own rival night series, the VFL Night Series.

Following this decision, the NFL decided to replaces the VFL teams with the top four VFA teams from the previous season, a surprising move considering the VFA was expelled from the ANFC in 1970.

Qualified Teams
Team Nickname League Qualification Participation (bold indicates winners)1
Enter in Round 2
Sturt Double Blues SANFL Winners of the 1976 South Australian National Football League 6th (Previous: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976)
Port Adelaide Magpies SANFL Runners-Up in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 6th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1976)
Glenelg Tigers SANFL Third Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 3rd (Previous: 1973, 1976)
Norwood Redlegs SANFL Fourth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 5th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975, 1976)
Perth Demons WANFL Winners of the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 1st
East Perth Royals WANFL Runners-Up in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1972)
South Fremantle Bulldogs WANFL Third Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1976)
Port Melbourne Boroughs VFA Winners of the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Queensland Maroons QAFL State Representative Team 1st
Tasmania Devils TANFL State Representative Team 2nd (Previous: 1974)
Enter in Round 1
West Adelaide Bloods SANFL Fifth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 4th (Previous: 1908, 1909, 1911)
Central District Bulldogs SANFL Sixth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 1st
South Adelaide Panthers SANFL Seventh Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 3rd (Previous: 1893, 1896)
North Adelaide Roosters SANFL Eighth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 3rd (Previous: 1971, 1972)
West Perth Falcons WANFL Fourth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 3rd (Previous: 1975, 1976)
East Fremantle Sharks WANFL Fifth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1974)
Claremont Tigers WANFL Sixth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 1st
Dandenong Redlegs VFA Runners-Up in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Preston Bullants VFA Third Place in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Caulfield Bears VFA Fourth Place in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Australian Capital Territory Rams ACTAFL State Representative Team 1st
New South Wales Blues NSWAFL State Representative Team 1st
1 Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia.

Venues
Adelaide Perth Melbourne
Norwood Oval Leederville Oval Lathlain Park Claremont Oval Lake Oval
Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 20,000

Knockout stage

Round 1
20 March 1977 Claremont 85-53 South Adelaide Claremont Oval, Perth  
13.7 (85) 8.5 (53) Attendance: 5,195


27 March 1977 Dandenong 92-83 Central District Lake Oval, Melbourne  
14.8 (92) 11.17 (83) Attendance: 2,500


5 April 1977 West Perth 116-65 North Adelaide Leederville Oval, Perth  
16.20 (116) 9.11 (65) Attendance: 2,000 (estimate)


5 April 1977 Preston 100-73 New South Wales Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
15.10 (100) 11.7 (73) Attendance: 500 (estimate)


12 April 1977 West Adelaide 63-93 East Fremantle Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
9.9 (63) 14.9 (93) Attendance: 1,500


19 April 1977 Caulfield 76-95 Australian Capital Territory Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
11.10 (76) 14.11 (95) Attendance: 250


Round 2
26 April 1977 South Fremantle 92-89 Tasmania Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
13.14 (92) 13.11 (89) Attendance: 1,000 (estimate)


3 May 1977 Sturt 131-45 Claremont Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
18.23 (131) 7.3 (45) Attendance: 3,073


10 May 1977 Norwood 125-59 Australian Capital Territory Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
18.17 (125) 8.11 (59) Attendance: 2,000


17 May 1977 Port Melbourne 111-80 Queensland Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
17.9 (111) 12.8 (80) Attendance: 500


24 May 1977 East Fremantle 125-56 Preston Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
18.17 (125) 7.14 (56) Attendance: 600 (estimate)


31 May 1977 Perth 140-87 Glenelg Lathlain Park, Perth  
21.14 (140) 13.9 (87) Attendance: 5,000


31 May 1977 Port Adelaide 168-27 West Perth Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
25.18 (168) 4.3 (27) Attendance: 3,000 (estimate)


7 June 1977 East Perth 54-43 Dandenong Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
7.12 (54) 6.7 (43) Attendance: 1,500 (estimate)


Quarter-finals
QF #1 14 June 1977 Sturt 125-68 South Fremantle Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
19.11(125) 9.14 (68) Attendance: 3,000


QF #2 21 June 1977 Norwood 152-82 Port Melbourne Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
23.14 (152) 12.10 (82) Attendance: 2,500


QF #3 28 June 1977 East Fremantle 98-73 Perth Leederville Oval, Perth  
14.14 (98) 11.7 (73) Attendance: 3,500


QF #4 5 July 1977 Port Adelaide 84-86 East Perth Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
13.6 (84) 13.8 (86) Attendance: 3,000 (estimate)


Semi-finals
SF #1 12 July 1977 Norwood 113-57 Sturt Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
17.11 (113) 8.9 (57) Attendance: 8,000


SF #2 19 July 1977 East Perth 85-29 East Fremantle Leederville Oval, Perth  
12.13 (85) 3.11 (29) Attendance: 4,000 (estimate)


NFL Championship Series final
Final 26 July 1977 Norwood 69-61 East Perth Norwood Oval, Adelaide  
3.0 (18)
6.2 (38)
8.3 (51)
10.9 (69)		 2.1 (13)
4.4 (28)
8.7 (55)
9.7 (61)		 Attendance: 12,000
Umpires: Peter Mead
    Goals  
Button, Michalanney 2
Gallagher, Gregg, Woodcock, Rosser, Adler, Von Bertouch 1		   Spencer 3
Arnold 2
Otway, Verstegen, Stewart, Hamilton 1

References
  1. David Eastman. "1977 NFL Ardath Cup".
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