1981 AFC Night Series

1981 AFC Night Series
AFC Escort Championships
Tournament details
Dates	7 March – 14 July 1981
Teams	34
Venue(s)	8 (in 6 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Essendon (1st title)
Runners-up	Carlton
Tournament statistics
Matches played	35
Attendance	223,959 (6,399 per match)
	← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 Australian Football Championships Night Series was the 3rd edition of the AFC Night Series, a VFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the VFL, the SANFL, the WAFL and State Representative Teams.^[1]

A total of 34 teams from across Australia played 35 matches over five months, with the qualifying rounds held during the pre-season and the main draw held midweek throughout the premiership season.

Qualified Teams

Team	Nickname	League	Qualification	Participation (bold indicates winners)¹
Enter in Round 3
Richmond	Tigers	VFL	Winners of the 1980 Victorian Football League	7th (Previous: 1969, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1980)
Collingwood	Magpies	VFL	Runners-Up in the 1980 Victorian Football League	5th (Previous: 1896, 1910, 1979, 1980)
Geelong	Cats	VFL	Third Place in the 1980 Victorian Football League	3rd (Previous: 1979, 1980)
Carlton	Blues	VFL	Fourth Place in the 1980 Victorian Football League	10th (Previous: 1907, 1908, 1914, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1976, 1979, 1980)
North Melbourne	Kangaroos	VFL	Fifth Place in the 1980 Victorian Football League	5th (Previous: 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980)
South Melbourne	Swans	VFL	Sixth Place in the 1980 Victorian Football League	6th (Previous: 1888, 1890, 1909, 1979, 1980)
Enter in Round 1
Essendon	Bombers	VFL	Seventh Place in the 1980 Victorian Football League	5th (Previous: 1893, 1911, 1979, 1980)
Hawthorn	Hawks	VFL	Eighth Place in the 1980 Victorian Football League	5th (Previous: 1971, 1976, 1979, 1980)
Melbourne	Demons	VFL	Ninth Place in the 1980 Victorian Football League	3rd (Previous: 1979, 1980)
Footscray	Bulldogs	VFL	Tenth Place in the 1980 Victorian Football League	4th (Previous: 1976, 1979, 1980)
St Kilda	Saints	VFL	Eleventh Place in the 1980 Victorian Football League	3rd (Previous: 1979, 1980)
Fitzroy	Lions	VFL	Twelfth Place in the 1980 Victorian Football League	4th (Previous: 1913, 1979, 1980)
Port Adelaide	Magpies	SANFL	Winners of the 1980 South Australian National Football League	10th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Norwood	Redlegs	SANFL	Runners-Up in the 1980 South Australian National Football League	9th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Sturt	Double Blues	SANFL	Third Place in the 1980 South Australian National Football League	9th (Previous: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980)
Glenelg	Tigers	SANFL	Fourth Place in the 1980 South Australian National Football League	7th (Previous: 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
West Torrens	Eagles	SANFL	Fifth Place in the 1980 South Australian National Football League	3rd (Previous: 1979, 1980)
Central District	Bulldogs	SANFL	Sixth Place in the 1980 South Australian National Football League	4th (Previous: 1977, 1979, 1980)
South Adelaide	Panthers	SANFL	Seventh Place in the 1980 South Australian National Football League	7th (Previous: 1893, 1896, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
North Adelaide	Roosters	SANFL	Eighth Place in the 1980 South Australian National Football League	6th (Previous: 1971, 1972, 1977, 1979, 1980)
West Adelaide	Bloods	SANFL	Ninth Place in the 1980 South Australian National Football League	8th (Previous: 1908, 1909, 1911, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Woodville	Woodpeckers	SANFL	Tenth Place in the 1980 South Australian National Football League	3rd (Previous: 1979, 1980)
South Fremantle	Bulldogs	WAFL	Winners of the 1980 West Australian Football League	5th (Previous: 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980)
Swan Districts	Swans	WAFL	Runners-Up in the 1980 West Australian Football League	4th (Previous: 1976, 1979, 1980)
East Perth	Royals	WAFL	Third Place in the 1980 West Australian Football League	6th (Previous: 1972, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Claremont	Tigers	WAFL	Fourth Place in the 1980 West Australian Football League	4th (Previous: 1977, 1979, 1980)
West Perth	Falcons	WAFL	Fifth Place in the 1980 West Australian Football League	7th (Previous: 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Perth	Demons	WAFL	Sixth Place in the 1980 West Australian Football League	5th (Previous: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
East Fremantle	Sharks	WAFL	Seventh Place in the 1980 West Australian Football League	6th (Previous: 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Subiaco	Lions	WAFL	Eighth Place in the 1980 West Australian Football League	4th (Previous: 1973, 1979, 1980)
Australian Capital Territory	Rams	ACTAFL	State Representative Team	5th (Previous: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
New South Wales	Blues	NSWAFL	State Representative Team	5th (Previous: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Queensland	Maroons	QAFL	State Representative Team	4th (Previous: 1977, 1978, 1980)
Tasmania	Devils	TANFL	State Representative Team	6th (Previous: 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)

¹ Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia and NFL Night Series.

Venues

Melbourne	Adelaide	Perth			Brisbane	Canberra	Hobart
Waverley Park	Norwood Oval	Subiaco Oval	Claremont Oval	Leederville Oval	Chelmer Oval	Phillip Oval	North Hobart Oval
Capacity: 72,000	Capacity: 22,000	Capacity: 53,000	Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 22,000	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 26,000

Knockout stage

Round 1

7 March 1981	Subiaco	107–86	South Fremantle	Claremont Oval, Perth
	16.11 (107)		12.14 (86)	Attendance: 3,500 (estimate)

7 March 1981	West Perth	88–87	Claremont	Subiaco Oval, Perth
	13.10 (88)		12.15 (87)	Attendance: 5,000 (estimate)

7 March 1981	Essendon	94–52	Fitzroy	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	13.16 (94)		7.10 (52)	Attendance: 24,255

8 March 1981	East Fremantle	141–70	Swan Districts	Subiaco Oval, Perth
	21.15 (141)		9.16 (70)	Attendance: 6,000 (estimate)

8 March 1981	East Perth	127–102	Perth	Leederville Oval, Perth
	19.13 (127)		16.6 (102)	Attendance: 4,500 (estimate)

9 March 1981	Central District	102–68	West Torrens	Norwood Oval, Adelaide
	14.18 (102)		9.14 (68)	Attendance: 4,000 (estimate)

9 March 1981	Port Adelaide	101–72	Woodville	Norwood Oval, Adelaide
	14.17 (101)		10.12 (72)	Attendance: 4,000 (estimate)

10 March 1981	Norwood	80–102	West Adelaide	Norwood Oval, Adelaide
	12.8 (80)		15.12 (102)	Attendance: 5,000 (estimate)

10 March 1981	North Adelaide	106–75	Sturt	Norwood Oval, Adelaide
	15.16 (106)		10.15 (75)	Attendance: 5,000 (estimate)

13 March 1981	South Adelaide	88–57	Glenelg	Norwood Oval, Adelaide
	13.10 (88)		6.17 (53)	Attendance: 3,500 (estimate)

13 March 1981	Melbourne	41–31	Footscray	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	6.5 (41)		4.7 (31)	Attendance: 3,627

14 March 1981	Hawthorn	101–48	St Kilda	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	15.11 (101)		7.6 (48)	Attendance: 8,100

11 April 1981	Queensland	80–96	Tasmania	Chelmer Oval, Brisbane
	12.8 (80)		13.18 (96)	Attendance: 2,500 (estimate)

12 April 1981	Australian Capital Territory	108–51	New South Wales	Phillip Oval, Canberra
	14.24 (108)		7.9 (51)	Attendance: 2,000 (estimate)

Round 2

14 March 1981	West Perth	130–86	East Fremantle	Subiaco Oval, Perth
	18.22 (130)		12.14 (86)	Attendance: 5,500 (estimate)

14 March 1981	East Perth	125–93	Subiaco	Subiaco Oval, Perth
	18.17 (125)		13.15 (93)	Attendance: 5,500 (estimate)

17 March 1981	West Adelaide	129–92	Central District	Norwood Oval, Adelaide
	19.15 (129)		14.8 (92)	Attendance: 4,000 (estimate)

17 March 1981	Port Adelaide	90–66	North Adelaide	Norwood Oval, Adelaide
	13.12 (90)		8.18 (66)	Attendance: 4,000 (estimate)

26 April 1981	Tasmania	86–106	Australian Capital Territory	North Hobart Oval, Hobart
	11.20 (86)		17.4 (106)	Attendance: 8,497

Round 2 Playoff

5 May 1981	Footscray	99–73	Australian Capital Territory	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	14.15 (99)		11.7 (73)	Attendance: 3,889

Round 3

20 March 1981	Geelong	75–31	South Adelaide	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	10.15 (75)		4.7 (31)	Attendance: 3,029

21 March 1981	Richmond	86–52	Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	13.8 (86)		7.10 (52)	Attendance: 12,951

24 March 1981	North Melbourne	133–55	West Perth	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	20.13 (133)		8.7 (55)	Attendance: 2,327

31 March 1981	South Melbourne	115–54	West Adelaide	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	16.19 (115)		8.6 (54)	Attendance: 1,521

7 April 1981	Essendon	107–58	Port Adelaide	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	15.17 (107)		8.10 (58)	Attendance: 5,360

14 April 1981	Collingwood	138–40	East Perth	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	20.13 (138)		4.16 (40)	Attendance: 7,136

5 May 1981	Hawthorn	112–34	East Fremantle	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	15.22 (112)		5.4 (34)	Attendance: 3,889

19 May 1981	Carlton	67–60	Footscray	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	10.7 (67)		8.12 (60)	Attendance: 6,934

Quarter-finals

QF #1 12 May 1981	South Melbourne	55–42	Geelong	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	8.7 (55)		5.12 (42)	Attendance: 7,066

QF #2 2 June 1981	Essendon	93–75	Hawthorn	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	14.9 (93)		10.15 (75)	Attendance: 7,775

QF #3 9 June 1981	Carlton	70–61	Richmond	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	10.10 (70)		8.13 (61)	Attendance: 6,394

QF #4 16 June 1981	North Melbourne	81–59	Collingwood	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	11.15 (81)		9.5 (59)	Attendance: 11,992

Semi-finals

SF #1 23 June 1981	Essendon	88–33	South Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	13.10 (88)		4.9 (33)	Attendance: 5,676

SF #2 30 June 1981	Carlton	72–30	North Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	9.18 (72)		4.6 (30)	Attendance: 9,661

Australian Football Championships Night Series final

Final 14 July 1981	Essendon	65–41	Carlton	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	0.1 (1) 1.2 (8) 4.10 (34) 9.11 (65)		2.0 (12) 4.0 (24) 5.3 (33) 6.5 (41)	Attendance: 42,269 Umpires: Cameron,Robinson
		Goals
	N.Daniher, Fowler, Watson 2 Foreman, Merrett, S. Madden 1		McConville 2 Wells, Bosustow, Johnston, Marcou 1

References

^ David Eastman. "1981 AFC Escort Championships".

[1] David Eastman. "1981 AFC Escort Championships".

[1]

v t e VFL/AFL pre-season and night competitions
VFL Night Series	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1977 1978 1987
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