1977 NFL Championship Series (Australia)

October 2026 December 2017 NFL Championship Series 1977 NFL Ardath Cup 20 March – 26 July 1977 22 5 3 Norwood 3 East Perth 21 1976 1978 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.http://www.hardballget.net/npm-nfl-1977-ardath-cup.html David Eastman 1977 NFL Ardath Cup 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 replace 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 TeamNicknameLeagueQualificationParticipation (bold indicates winners)1Enter in Round 2SturtDouble BluesSANFLWinners of the 1976 South Australian National Football League6th (Previous: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976)Port AdelaideMagpiesSANFLRunners-Up in the 1976 South Australian National Football League6th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1976)GlenelgTigersSANFLThird Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League3rd (Previous: 1973, 1976)NorwoodRedlegsSANFLFourth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League5th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975, 1976)PerthDemonsWANFLWinners of the 1976 Western Australian National Football League1stEast PerthRoyalsWANFLRunners-Up in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League2nd (Previous: 1972)South FremantleBulldogsWANFLThird Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League2nd (Previous: 1976)Port MelbourneBoroughsVFAWinners of the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership1stQueenslandMaroonsQAFLState Representative Team1stTasmaniaDevilsTANFLState Representative Team2nd (Previous: 1974)Enter in Round 1West AdelaideBloodsSANFLFifth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League4th (Previous: 1908, 1909, 1911)Central DistrictBulldogsSANFLSixth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League1stSouth AdelaidePanthersSANFLSeventh Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League3rd (Previous: 1893, 1896)North AdelaideRoostersSANFLEighth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League3rd (Previous: 1971, 1972)West PerthFalconsWANFLFourth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League3rd (Previous: 1975, 1976)East FremantleSharksWANFLFifth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League2nd (Previous: 1974)ClaremontTigersWANFLSixth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League1stDandenongRedlegsVFARunners-Up in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership1stPrestonBullantsVFAThird Place in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership1stCaulfieldBearsVFAFourth Place in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership1stAustralian Capital TerritoryRamsACTAFL State Representative Team1stNew South WalesBluesNSWAFLState Representative Team1st 1 Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia. Venues AdelaidePerthMelbourne 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 150px 150px 150px Knockout stage Round 1 20 March 1977 Claremont 85-53 South Adelaide 13.7 (85) 8.5 (53) Claremont Oval, Perth 5,195 27 March 1977 Dandenong 92-83 Central District 14.8 (92) 11.17 (83) Lake Oval, Melbourne 2,500 5 April 1977 West Perth 116-65 North Adelaide 16.20 (116) 9.11 (65) Leederville Oval, Perth 2,000 (estimate) 5 April 1977 Preston 100-73 New South Wales 15.10 (100) 11.7 (73) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 500 (estimate) 12 April 1977 West Adelaide 63-93 East Fremantle 9.9 (63) 14.9 (93) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 1,500 19 April 1977 Caulfield 76-95 Australian Capital Territory 11.10 (76) 14.11 (95) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 250 Round 2 26 April 1977 South Fremantle 92-89 Tasmania 13.14 (92) 13.11 (89) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 1,000 (estimate) 3 May 1977 Sturt 131-45 Claremont 18.23 (131) 7.3 (45) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 3,073 10 May 1977 Norwood 125-59 Australian Capital Territory 18.17 (125) 8.11 (59) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 2,000 17 May 1977 Port Melbourne 111-80 Queensland 17.9 (111) 12.8 (80) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 500 24 May 1977 East Fremantle 125-56 Preston 18.17 (125) 7.14 (56) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 600 (estimate) 31 May 1977 Perth 140-87 Glenelg 21.14 (140) 13.9 (87) Lathlain Park, Perth 5,000 31 May 1977 Port Adelaide 168-27 West Perth 25.18 (168) 4.3 (27) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 3,000 (estimate) 7 June 1977 East Perth 54-43 Dandenong 7.12 (54) 6.7 (43) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 1,500 (estimate) Quarter-finals QF #1 14 June 1977 Sturt 125-68 South Fremantle 19.11(125) 9.14 (68) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 3,000 QF #2 21 June 1977 Norwood 152-82 Port Melbourne 23.14 (152) 12.10 (82) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 2,500 QF #3 28 June 1977 East Fremantle 98-73 Perth 14.14 (98) 11.7 (73) Leederville Oval, Perth 3,500 QF #4 5 July 1977 Port Adelaide 84-86 East Perth 13.6 (84) 13.8 (86) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 3,000 (estimate) Semi-finals SF #1 12 July 1977 Norwood 113-57 Sturt 17.11 (113) 8.9 (57) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 8,000 SF #2 19 July 1977 East Perth 85-29 East Fremantle 12.13 (85) 3.11 (29) Leederville Oval, Perth 4,000 (estimate) NFL Championship Series final Final 26 July 1977 Norwood 69-61 East Perth 3.0 (18)6.2 (38)8.3 (51)10.9 (69) 2.1 (13)4.4 (28)8.7 (55)9.7 (61) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 12,000 Peter Mead Button, Michalanney 2 Gallagher, Gregg, Woodcock, Rosser, Adler, Von Bertouch 1 Spencer 3 Arnold 2 Otway, Verstegen, Stewart, Hamilton 1 References Category:Australian rules interstate football Category:History of Australian rules football Category:Australian rules football competitions in Australia Category:1977 in Australian rules football