1976 NFL Championship Series (Australia)

December 2017 December 2017 NFL Championship Series 1976 NFL Wills Cup 17 May - 17 August 1976 12 3 2 Hawthorn 2 North Melbourne 15 1975 (Championship of Australia) 1977 The 1976 NFL Championship Series was the 1st edition of the NFL Night Series, a national club Australian rules football tournament organised by the National Football League (NFL) between the leading clubs from the VFL, the SANFL and the WANFL.http://www.hardballget.net/npm-nfl-1976-wills-cup.html David Eastman 1976 NFL Wills Cup 12 November 2016 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 and, as with those earlier tournaments, the games were (mostly) played in Adelaide. 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 TeamNicknameLeagueQualificationParticipation (bold indicates winners)1North MelbourneKangaroosVFLWinners of the 1975 Victorian Football League2nd (Previous: 1975)HawthornHawksVFLRunners-Up in the 1975 Victorian Football League2nd (Previous: 1971)RichmondTigersVFLThird Place in the 1975 Victorian Football League4th (Previous: 1969, 1973, 1974)CarltonBluesVFLFourth Place in the 1975 Victorian Football League7th (Previous: 1907, 1908, 1914, 1968, 1970, 1972)FootscrayBulldogsVFLSeventh Place in the 1975 Victorian Football League21stNorwoodRedlegsSANFLWinners of the 1975 South Australian National Football League4th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975)GlenelgTigersSANFLRunners-Up in the 1975 South Australian National Football League2nd (Previous: 1973)Port AdelaideMagpiesSANFLThird Place in the 1975 South Australian National Football League5th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914)SturtDouble BluesSANFLFourth Place in the 1975 South Australian National Football League5th (Previous: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974)West PerthFalconsWANFLWinners of the 1975 Western Australian National Football League2nd (Previous: 1975)South FremantleBulldogsWANFLRunners-Up in the 1975 Western Australian National Football League1stSwan DistrictsSwansWANFLThird Place in the 1975 Western Australian National Football League1st 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 150px 150px 190px Group stage Group A TeamPldWDLPFPA%PtsGlenelg2200161130123.88Richmond2101185126146.84Swan Districts200211820856.70 17 May 1976 Glenelg 76-62 Richmond 11.10 (76) 9.8 (62) Football Park, Adelaide 13,693 12 June 1976 Swan Districts 68-85 Glenelg 10.8 (68) 11.19 (85) Subiaco Oval, Perth 10,876 29 June 1976 Richmond 123-50 Swan Districts 18.15 (123) 7.8 (50) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 400 Group B TeamPldWDLPFPA%PtsNorth Melbourne2200191113169.08 Port Adelaide210113415089.34 Footscray200216920184.10 1 June 1976 Port Adelaide 97-63 Footscray 14.13 (97) 9.9 (63) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 5,818 15 June 1976 North Melbourne 87-37 Port Adelaide 12.15 (87) 5.7 (37) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 9,000 13 July 1976 North Melbourne 104-76 Footscray 16.8 (104) 11.10 (76) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 2,081 Group C TeamPldWDLPFPA%PtsHawthorn220020299204.08 Sturt210114615892.44West Perth200210920054.50 7 June 1976 West Perth 46-107 Hawthorn 7.4 (46) 15.17 (107) Subiaco Oval, Perth 9,860 14 June 1976 Sturt 93-63 West Perth 14.9 (93) 9.9 (63) Football Park, Adelaide 12,777 6 July 1976 Sturt 53-95 Hawthorn 8.5 (53) 13.17 (95) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 8,839 Group D TeamPldWDLPFPA%PtsNorwood2200231110210.08 Carlton2101188169111.24South Fremantle20029329431.60 8 June 1976 Carlton 148-23 South Fremantle 22.16 (148) 3.5 (23) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 1,500 22 June 1976 Norwood 146-40 Carlton 22.14 (146) 5.10 (40) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 7,500 20 July 1976 Norwood 85-70 South Fremantle 11.19 (85) 10.10 (70) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 3,250 Knockout stage Semi-finals SF #1 27 July 1976 Hawthorn 82-56 Glenelg 11.16 (82) 8.8 (56) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 8,086 SF #2 3 August 1976 North Melbourne 53-35 Norwood 8.5 (53) 5.5 (35) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 5,160 NFL Championship Series final Final 17 August 1976 Hawthorn 89-41 Report North Melbourne 3.6 (24)5.7 (37)7.13 (55)12.17 (89) 1.1 (7)1.4 (10)4.8 (32)5.11 (41) Norwood Oval, Adelaide 7,374 Peter Mead M Moncrieff 4 A Goad 3 G Ablett, D Scott 2 L Matthews 1 S Kekovich, M Blight 2 P Feltham 1 References Category:Australian rules interstate football Category:History of Australian rules football Category:Australian rules football competitions in Australia Category:1976 in Australian rules football