Weird football scores

[megadeth86]

An interesting thing I've noticed about the SANFL which you don't see to the same extent in the equivalent WAFL and VFL/VFA competitions is how frequently competing teams have very good eras and very bad eras and sometimes mediocre eras get stuck in the middle for years on end, not making the finals but not being an easy-beat either. North Adelaide are a good example from the mid 1970s-mid 1980s, despite a poor record the Roosters only finished last once and that was in 1978, and for the first time since 1912.

As just some examples of good teams for a long period, Port Adelaide have had some very dominant eras winning many flags in a short space of seasons, Sturt had a golden era in the late 1960s, Central Districts made every Grand Final from 2000-2011 inclusive winning 9 before backing this up with 12 years of mediocrity while Norwood took out a hat-trick of flags from 2012-2014.

At the other end of the scale, Sturt won 8 consecutive wooden spoons from 1989-1996, Glenelg had a bad run in the late 1990s/early 2000s finishing bottom in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Woodville were last every year from 1980-1985 inclusive with West Torrens second last every year 1981-1985; South Adelaide won 11 wooden spoons in 19 seasons 1945-1963 and the enigmatic West Adelaide have had some terrible stretches. The Bloods finished last three times in a row 1972-1974, four successive last placed finishes in 2005-2008 and their record since a drought-breaking flag in 2015 has been horrible, with three wooden spoons, two second last place finishes and nowhere near the finals in the other season.

Mediocre runs occur in the WAFL too. A good example is West Perth from 1976-86 - not one grand final appearance in that time, but no wooden spoons either and only one seventh placing in 1979.

 

[emuboy]

Conditions in Adelaide today have been wild, wet and windy, and this no doubt affected the scoring in the Woodville-West Torrens vs. South Adelaide game!:
View attachment 1417268
Fair to say the scoring dried up in the second half, and especially the last quarter!!

That is an amazingly low scoring game, even in inclement weather. It looks like it comes from 1912 rather than 2022. I think Ross Lyon would have enjoyed watching it.

However, for the Eagles at least there would have been a sense of de ja vu, as in 2018 the WWT Eagles played a 2.16-28 to 4.4-28 draw against Port Adelaide Magpies. This match oddly enough was played early in the season, and while other scores that day suggest that it was raining, Glenelg beat Norwood 15 goals to 10 the same afternoon. How different could the weather be between Glenelg and Alberton Ovals? And just how wet, windy and cold could it really be in Adelaide in early April, a city with a dry Mediterranean climate?

There's also a 2010 match between West Adelaide and Port Adelaide, which the Bloods won over the Magpies 3.4-22 to 2.4-22, making it seem like the teams had slipped back in time a century to 1910. Was Halley's Comet visible in the sky that day? Interestingly, the same year WAFL teams Subiaco Lions and South Fremantle Bulldogs played an extraordinary match in the final round in which there also seemed to be a time slip, only not so far back, this time to circa 1985. The Lions thrashed the Bulldogs by 63-points in a match that finished Subiaco 33.9-207 to South 21.18-144, an aggregate of 351-points, higher than any ever achieved in the AFL. Given that matches even with 200 point aggregates have become increasingly rare in the WAFL from 2000 onwards, this match is a real anomaly.

 

[emuboy]

Mediocre runs occur in the WAFL too. A good example is West Perth from 1976-86 - not one grand final appearance in that time, but no wooden spoons either and only one seventh placing in 1979.

A good example in the AFL/VFL would be Footscray 1968-1979. After finishing last in 1967 and before having a bad run in the early 1980s, the Bulldogs were never in any danger of finishing on the bottom of the ladder but while being mostly competitive they could manage just two finals appearances in 1974 and 1976, going out in the Elimination Final both times.

 

[Gibbke]

The footy gods had a sense of humour in 2018. North Adelaide had nineteen players on the field in the PF, and the points scored saw them successfully win through after being 8 goals down. The next week, they kicked 19 goals and won the flag by 19 points...

 

[GoldenMagpie16]

Fitzroy might have beaten South Melbourne at the Brunswick Street Oval in Round 9 1940 to claim the 4 points, but boy did the Lions make it look like hard work in the 13-point win over the Swans. The final scores were a mind-boggling 10.30-90 to Fitzroy over South Melbourne's 10.17-77. Did anybody think to remind the Lions and to a lesser degree the Swans that the objective in Australian Rules Football is to kick the football through the two large goalposts in the center, not between the goal and point posts, to hit the goal posts or allow one's opponent to touch the ball on the way through?

In Round 7 1940
Melbourne kicked 12.34 106

 

[emuboy]

A very strange game in the WAFL today between the Perth Demons and West Perth Falcons, where in fine and still weather conditions Perth managed an awful 0.9-9 to half time. They then came to life in the third term with 6.0, but faded away in the final term with just 1.0, and while all this was going on the Falcons were busy amassing 17.10-112 to thrash the Demons 7.9-51 by 61-points.

I am struggling to ever remember a game in the AFL or one of the higher leagues (SANFL, WAFL, VFL/VFA) in which a team scored only behinds in one half, and only goals in another. Possibly it happened in lower scoring games pre 1920 where if in 1911 a team had kicked 3.0 in the first half and 0.3 in the second it wouldn't have looked so strange, but with higher scoring it would be pretty unusual in modern times.

Can anyone else think of any games in which a team has scored only goals in one half and only behinds in the other like Perth did today?

 

[35Daicos]

A very strange game in the WAFL today between the Perth Demons and West Perth Falcons, where in fine and still weather conditions Perth managed an awful 0.9-9 to half time. They then came to life in the third term with 6.0, but faded away in the final term with just 1.0, and while all this was going on the Falcons were busy amassing 17.10-112 to thrash the Demons 7.9-51 by 61-points.

I am struggling to ever remember a game in the AFL or one of the higher leagues (SANFL, WAFL, VFL/VFA) in which a team scored only behinds in one half, and only goals in another. Possibly it happened in lower scoring games pre 1920 where if in 1911 a team had kicked 3.0 in the first half and 0.3 in the second it wouldn't have looked so strange, but with higher scoring it would be pretty unusual in modern times.

Can anyone else think of any games in which a team has scored only goals in one half and only behinds in the other like Perth did today?

Only goals in 1st half, only behinds in 2nd half:
1898 Rd. 3 (Carlton):

1900 Rd. 4 (South Melbourne):

1901 Rd. 3 (St Kilda):

1904 Rd. 8 (Essendon):

1904 Rd. 11 (St Kilda):

1917 Rd. 1 (Richmond):

1966 Rd. 9 (Fitzroy):


Only goals in 2nd half, only behinds in 1st half:
1897 Rd. 10 (Collingwood):

1898 Rd. 10 (St Kilda):

1899 Rd. 6 (Carlton):

1921 Rd. 13 (Carlton):


That should be the lot. So nearly all cases occurred in the competition's earlier days.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Only goals in 1st half, only behinds in 2nd half:
1898 Rd. 3 (Carlton):
View attachment 1432831
1900 Rd. 4 (South Melbourne):
View attachment 1432860
1901 Rd. 3 (St Kilda):
View attachment 1432872
1904 Rd. 8 (Essendon):
View attachment 1432874
1904 Rd. 11 (St Kilda):
View attachment 1432876
1917 Rd. 1 (Richmond):
View attachment 1432881
1966 Rd. 9 (Fitzroy):
View attachment 1432882

Only goals in 2nd half, only behinds in 1st half:
1897 Rd. 10 (Collingwood):
View attachment 1432785
1898 Rd. 10 (St Kilda):
View attachment 1432794
1899 Rd. 6 (Carlton):
View attachment 1432796
1921 Rd. 13 (Carlton):
View attachment 1432807

That should be the lot. So nearly all cases occurred in the competition's earlier days.

What about from 1970 on?

 

[emuboy]

Only goals in 1st half, only behinds in 2nd half:
1898 Rd. 3 (Carlton):
View attachment 1432831
1900 Rd. 4 (South Melbourne):
View attachment 1432860
1901 Rd. 3 (St Kilda):
View attachment 1432872
1904 Rd. 8 (Essendon):
View attachment 1432874
1904 Rd. 11 (St Kilda):
View attachment 1432876
1917 Rd. 1 (Richmond):
View attachment 1432881
1966 Rd. 9 (Fitzroy):
View attachment 1432882

Only goals in 2nd half, only behinds in 1st half:
1897 Rd. 10 (Collingwood):
View attachment 1432785
1898 Rd. 10 (St Kilda):
View attachment 1432794
1899 Rd. 6 (Carlton):
View attachment 1432796
1921 Rd. 13 (Carlton):
View attachment 1432807

That should be the lot. So nearly all cases occurred in the competition's earlier days.

Thanks 35 Daicos, that's amazing. I thought it would be pretty rare and all of these scores are very low scores. Perth's 7.9-51 yesterday isn't a high score by any stretch, but it looks like one of those scores that Geelong would kick in the Malcolm Blight era in the late 1980s and early 1990s by comparison.

 

[emuboy]

What about from 1970 on?

From this it looks like the only instance in the past 100 years is the Geelong vs. Fitzroy game in 1966, where the Lions had 5.0 at half time but kicked only 0.1 after the long break. Unless there are other similar games in the SANFL, WAFL, VFL/VFA, Victorian Under 18's or other examples from the higher state leagues in the Tasmania, ACT, NSW, Queensland or the NT, this Perth score yesterday belongs on the early 1990s Australian television program 'The Extraordinary' hosted by Warwick Moss.

 

[waflfootyfacts]

A very strange game in the WAFL today between the Perth Demons and West Perth Falcons, where in fine and still weather conditions Perth managed an awful 0.9-9 to half time. They then came to life in the third term with 6.0, but faded away in the final term with just 1.0, and while all this was going on the Falcons were busy amassing 17.10-112 to thrash the Demons 7.9-51 by 61-points.

I am struggling to ever remember a game in the AFL or one of the higher leagues (SANFL, WAFL, VFL/VFA) in which a team scored only behinds in one half, and only goals in another. Possibly it happened in lower scoring games pre 1920 where if in 1911 a team had kicked 3.0 in the first half and 0.3 in the second it wouldn't have looked so strange, but with higher scoring it would be pretty unusual in modern times.

Can anyone else think of any games in which a team has scored only goals in one half and only behinds in the other like Perth did today?

Six times a WAFL team has kicked no goals in a first half and more than one behind, and then kicked no behinds in the second half and more than one goal. This is the first time Perth have done this. The number of goals (7) and behinds (9) the Demons kicked in this game is the highest of those six instances.

Other Times

• South Fremantle (0.4 and 4.0) vs Subiaco in round 3, 1901.
• West Perth (0.2 and 2.0) vs East Fremantle in round 1, 1904.
• North Fremantle (0.9 and 4.0) vs East Fremantle in round 4, 1904.
• East Fremantle (0.4 and 4.0) vs East Perth in round 13, 1910.
• Swan Districts (0.6 and 2.0) vs East Perth in round 16, 2016.

Only three times has the opposite occurred:

• Perth (2.0 and 0.3) vs East Fremantle in round 18, 1899.
• Perth (4.0) and 0.5) vs South Fremantle in round 10, 1900.
• North Fremantle (4.0 and 0.3) vs East Fremantle in round 14, 1902.

 

[Gibbke]

A bit rough yesterday...Tyler Ford of Bothwell broke an Oatlands association record for goals in a game with 24, but was upstaged by Sheffield's Shane Campbell who kicked 25 in the NWFA...! Or Campbell, who also got his ton, was nearly upstaged by Ford, who this year had 20-something to his name before yesterday...two ways to look at it, I guess...!

 

[emuboy]

Six times a WAFL team has kicked no goals in a first half and more than one behind, and then kicked no behinds in the second half and more than one goal. This is the first time Perth have done this. The number of goals (7) and behinds (9) the Demons kicked in this game is the highest of those six instances.

Other Times

• South Fremantle (0.4 and 4.0) vs Subiaco in round 3, 1901.
• West Perth (0.2 and 2.0) vs East Fremantle in round 1, 1904.
• North Fremantle (0.9 and 4.0) vs East Fremantle in round 4, 1904.
• East Fremantle (0.4 and 4.0) vs East Perth in round 13, 1910.
• Swan Districts (0.6 and 2.0) vs East Perth in round 16, 2016.

Only three times has the opposite occurred:

• Perth (2.0 and 0.3) vs East Fremantle in round 18, 1899.
• Perth (4.0) and 0.5) vs South Fremantle in round 10, 1900.
• North Fremantle (4.0 and 0.3) vs East Fremantle in round 14, 1902.

Most of these like with the AFL were pre World War I. South Fremantle in 1901, West Perth in 1904 and East Fremantle in 1910 sure liked matching numbers. That Swans vs. East Perth game in 2016 was obviously played in very wet weather given the other scores that day, with Peel Thunder held to just 1.5-11.

 

[worbod]

A bit rough yesterday...Tyler Ford of Bothwell broke an Oatlands association record for goals in a game with 24, but was upstaged by Sheffield's Shane Campbell who kicked 25 in the NWFA...! Or Campbell, who also got his ton, was nearly upstaged by Ford, who this year had 20-something to his name before yesterday...two ways to look at it, I guess...!

How many goals did Campbell require for his 100 prior to the match?

 

[Gibbke]

20!

 

[Rourke]

Led by two points halfway through the third quarter.
Failed to score after that.
Still won.

Sorry I missed this at the time.

Conditions in Adelaide today have been wild, wet and windy, and this no doubt affected the scoring in the Woodville-West Torrens vs. South Adelaide game!:
View attachment 1417268
Fair to say the scoring dried up in the second half, and especially the last quarter!!

 

[Connor7395]

Has any team in a state or national league won a game without scoring for an entire half?

I witnessed one in 2017 in the WRFL when I went to see two unbeaten Division 3 teams clash. Parkside had a 64 to 10 lead at halftime against Tarneit and somehow completely blanked in the second half, yet Tarneit still failed to make up the deficit and lost by 13 points.

To take it further, has a team been scoreless in three consecutive quarters but still took the win?

 

[Gersman]

Has any team in a state or national league won a game without scoring for an entire half?

I witnessed one in 2017 in the WRFL when I went to see two unbeaten Division 3 teams clash. Parkside had a 64 to 10 lead at halftime against Tarneit and somehow completely blanked in the second half, yet Tarneit still failed to make up the deficit and lost by 13 points.

To take it further, has a team been scoreless in three consecutive quarters but still took the win?

Think from my recollections North Launceston never scored in the second half of TFL game at New Norfolk in the early 90s and hung on by 2 pts.
Was absolutely chucking it down with rain and the ground was an total mudbath.
It ended 4.4 to 2.14 in favour of NL, it was an ABC game on the box.

 

[Gersman]

A bit rough yesterday...Tyler Ford of Bothwell broke an Oatlands association record for goals in a game with 24, but was upstaged by Sheffield's Shane Campbell who kicked 25 in the NWFA...! Or Campbell, who also got his ton, was nearly upstaged by Ford, who this year had 20-something to his name before yesterday...two ways to look at it, I guess...!

Wasn't Campbell's 25 in the Reserves for Sheffield?
Could be wrong but I thought he did it in the twos.
Poor old Tyler Ford got upstaged anyway 'cos a bloke called David Cragg from Campania booted 29 against Oatlands at Mt Pleasant he other day to break the ODFA record.
Puts him up to 81 for the year. Kicked 29 out of Campania's 34 goals which was pretty impressive.

 

[Gersman]

Led at half time and then lost by over 100 points:

VFA Second Division
Sunshine 6.5 11.8 14.11 16.14 (110)
Oakleigh 6.4 10.12 22.15 33.21 (219)
25 July 1982 at Skinner Reserve

The day New Norfolk kicked the old TFL record before it all went statewide was against Clarence at the big Boyer ground.
Clarence lead 7.3.45 to 2.5.17 in the first quarter before going down 11.12.78 to 39.17.251!
When North Launceston established the all time TFL record at York Park against South Launceston in the mid 90s - I forget which year it was - South actually led that game briefly in the second quarter before North went on a 29.0.184 run and ended up winning 47.14 to 10.8.

 

[Gibbke]

The day New Norfolk kicked the old TFL record before it all went statewide was against Clarence at the big Boyer ground.
Clarence lead 7.3.45 to 2.5.17 in the first quarter before going down 11.12.78 to 39.17.251!
When North Launceston established the all time TFL record at York Park against South Launceston in the mid 90s - I forget which year it was - South actually led that game briefly in the second quarter before North went on a 29.0.184 run and ended up winning 47.14 to 10.8.

South were in front one awful day in 1995. And yes, it was reserves...all moot when Cragg kicked 29 last week...!

R16-95-YP Sun 1218
NLTON 3.6 18.6 30.9 47.14 (296) Sunday, July 30
SLTON 4.2 7.3 10.7 10.8 (68) NLTON by 228

 

[Gersman]

South were in front one awful day in 1995. And yes, it was reserves...all moot when Cragg kicked 29 last week...!

R16-95-YP Sun 1218
NLTON 3.6 18.6 30.9 47.14 (296) Sunday, July 30
SLTON 4.2 7.3 10.7 10.8 (68) NLTON by 228

South must've had a heap of injuries that day, and the week after where they got belted by middle of the road Glenorchy by 20 goals at Youngtown because their form around that match generally wasn't that bad, went down to grand finalist Clarence down South by under 5 goals couple of weeks earlier.
The week after the Glenorchy defeat, which IIRC was the one where Simon Byrne stuffed up breaking Hudson's TFL record, they rolled Hobart pretty convincingly.
And obviously North was at their full peak as well.

 

[emuboy]

In very wet conditions in Perth yesterday afternoon the West Coast Eagles Reserves kicked the first goal of the match against Swan Districts in the opening minutes - then failed to score another goal for the rest of the day. Swans gave the Eagles an 85-point drubbing, winning 13.18-96 to 1.5-11.

 

[emuboy]

While the 1991 AFL season produced arguably the weirdest game ever in North Melbourne's 27.26-188 to 21.8-134 win over the Sydney Swans in Round 6, there were some odd and coincidental scoring patterns that occurred all that year as follows:

1. Prior to Round 2 1991 and the Fitzroy vs. Melbourne game at Princes Park, there had never been a 131-point margin but this happened for the first time when the Demons slaughtered the Lions 27.18-180 to 6.13-49. Then having taken 94 years to come up, there was another 131-point margin came up just five weeks later, when St Kilda crushed new team the Adelaide Crows 24.18-162 to 4.7-31 at Moorabbin.

2. Geelong kicked a mind-boggling 27.28-190 in demolishing the Brisbane Bears by 102-points at the GABBA in Round 4, then later that year Hawthorn kicked the inverse of this, 28.27-195 in a 126-point thrashing of Fitzroy at Princes Park in Round 21. While other sides have kicked scores of 190 and 195 points, no other teams have ever kicked 27.28-190 or 28.27-195 unlike the Cats and Hawks in 1991.

3. Two games in Round 10 finished with final scores of 15.16-106 to 10.12-72 - Adelaide over Melbourne at Football Park and West Coast over Sydney at Subiaco. This had only happened once before in 1903, and once since in 2004.

4. The Brisbane Bears celebrated avoiding the 1991 wooden spoon with an upset win over Carlton at Carrara in Round 18, this putting them two games and percentage worth at least another game clear of the one win Fitzroy at the bottom of the table, with the Bears having thrashed the Lions in a recent meeting. Unfortunately for the Bears, they might have celebrated too hard and as it turned out prematurely. Rounds 19 and 20 saw the Brisbane Bears cop successive 101-point thrashings, from Geelong at Kardinia Park (24.15-159 to 8.10-58) and Collingwood at Carrara (26.16-172 to 10.11-71). While other teams have lost by the same margin and other teams have taken consecutive century thrashings, the 1991 Bears remain the only team to be beaten by the same margin by more than 100 points two matches in a row. And to the annoyance of Brisbane, when Fitzroy found some late season form and the Bears didn't win again for the year, they ended up last anyway.

 

[Catsace]

For some reason i was looking at AFL tables and thought to check out the Pies/Dogs EF in 1974, and i did know the Pies won big that day and the Dogs scored a horribly inaccurate 6.19.55.

What i didn't realise is that in the 1st and 3rd quarters, the Dogs scored 5.1.31, and at the other end, 1.18.24!!

Anyone know if some flukey gale was blowing around at that end? And actually the Pies scored 19.10.124, but in the 2nd and 4th quarters, scored 11.1.67, so that end produced 16.2.98 for the game. The other end..well it was 9.27.81!!

That is rather amazing that one end of VFL park furnishes 2 behinds in a half, the other 27!