1980 VFA season
| 1980 VFA Premiership Season | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 20 |
| Division 1 | |
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers |
Port Melbourne (13th premiership) |
| Minor premiers |
Coburg (5th minor premiership) |
| Division 2 | |
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers |
Brunswick (2nd D2 premiership) |
| Minor premiers |
Yarraville (1st D2 minor premiership) |
|
← 1979
1981 →
|
|
The 1980 Victorian Football Association season was the 99th season of the top division of the Australian rules football competition, and the 20th season of second division competition. The Division 1 premiership was won by the Port Melbourne Football Club, after it defeated Coburg in the Grand Final on 21 September by eleven points; it was Port Melbourne's 13th Division 1 premiership, the first of three premierships won in a row between 1980 and 1982, and the fourth of six premierships won in nine seasons from 1974 until 1982. The Division 2 premiership was won by Brunswick; it was the club's second Division 2 premiership, and was won in its first season since relegation from Division 1.
The Association introduced a number of on-field and off-field rule changes in the 1980 season.
For the first time, Association Seconds matches were for the first time played as curtain-raisers to Firsts matches. When the Seconds competition was established in the 1920s, scheduling was such that the Seconds played at the same time as the Firsts, with the Seconds playing at home when the Firsts played away and vice versa. In the 1960s, as the Firsts gradually migrated from a Saturday competition to a Sunday competition, the Seconds had remained a Saturday competition, still playing at home on alternate weekends to the Firsts but on different days. Now, for the first time, the Seconds were played as curtain-raisers; and, also for the first time, the Seconds became a Sunday competition.
As a result, the Seconds finals became curtain-raisers to the Firsts finals; this had happened previously when both competitions were Saturday competitions. However, one consequence was that the lightning premiership, which had occupied the curtain-raiser time-slot since 1972, was discontinued.
In the pre-season, Brunswick asked the Association for permission to sublet its home ground, Gillon Oval, to the Juventus soccer club, which was playing in the Victorian soccer competition. Brunswick was struggling financially due to a declining supporter base and sponsorship, and could barely afford to operate; but, it had arranged a deal with the Brunswick Council for a ten-winter lease of Gillon Oval which was financially viable for the club only if it could sublet the ground to Juventus on alternate weekends.
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