1981 VFL season

Essendon defeated Carlton 9.11 (65) to 6.5 (41) in the final.

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 99.9
Source: AFL Tables

• In the 1980/81 offseason, the East Perth Football Club from the West Australian Football League made a unilateral bid to join the VFL, potentially as early as 1983. East Perth's vision was for two WAFL clubs to join the league, as part of a transition to a national competition, and to limit the drain of talent from and provide an opportunity to play the highest level of football in Western Australia. The application was rejected.[3][4]
• A protest by Richmond against the eligibility of defender Doug Cox to play for St. Kilda led to the Saints temporarily losing the points for their first two wins after Round 8. They were reinstated after Round 17 due to changes in the relevant rules, but a fine of $5000 remained.
• On 27 May, South Melbourne was fined $20,000 for poaching Stephen Allender from Carlton. Although Allender lived in South Melbourne's zone and was playing for VFA club Port Melbourne when recruited, he was residentially tied to Carlton and would remain as such until November 1983, because he had lived in Carlton's zone until February 1979. Carlton ended up granting him a clearance to South Melbourne, but South Melbourne was deemed to have broken the league's poaching laws by having "negotiated with an agent acting for a Carlton player".[5]
• In Round 11, Kevin Bartlett became the first to play 350 VFL games, after having broken John Rantall's record for most games played during 1980.
• Malcolm Blight (North Melbourne) and Alex Jesaulenko (St Kilda) became the final ever playing coaches in VFL/AFL history. Jesaulenko retired as player after Round 8,[6] becoming the last captain-coach;[7] Blight was sacked as coach after Round 16, making him the last person ever to be a playing coach of a club.[8] (Blight was not captain during his time as playing coach.[9]) Playing coaches have since been prohibited under salary cap regulations instituted in 1987.
• The State Government granted the VFL once-off permission to trial two Sunday matches in Victoria during the season; it was the first time the VFL had been granted this permission since the once-off Sunday match in 1970 which coincided with a royal visit. Under the conditions of the trial, alcohol was not allowed to be sold at or brought to the games, and the games could not be televised.[10] The two matches were Essendon vs Collingwood in Round 18, and South Melbourne vs Carlton in Round 19.
• On 7 August, the VFL's entire senior umpiring panel resigned over a contract dispute, due to the VFL's refusal to commit to negotiating a collective agreement with the Umpires' Association, rather than individual agreements with each umpire. The VFL hastily arranged for Round 19's matches to be umpired by a team of junior umpires, all aged between 18 and 22, from the state's minor leagues; both the junior umpires' association and the VFL umpires' association gave their approval for the juniors to serve as strikebreakers.[11] The dispute was resolved the following week, and the senior umpires returned for Round 20.[12]
• In Round 22, South Melbourne played its last senior VFL match at the Lake Oval (also known then as Lakeside Oval). The team relocated to Sydney in 1982 and eventually became known as the Sydney Swans.

• The leading goalkicker was Michael Roach of Richmond with 86 goals
• The Brownlow Medal was shared by Bernie Quinlan and Barry Round
• The reserves premiership was won by Geelong for the second consecutive season. Geelong 21.14 (140) defeated Essendon 18.6 (114) in the grand final, held as a curtain-raiser to the seniors grand final on 26 September.[13]

• Stephen Rogers and Ashley Brown (1998). Every Game Ever Played. 6th ed. Victoria: Penguin Books.

• 1981 VFL season at AFL Tables
• 1981 VFL season at Australian Football