1977 NFL Championship Series (Australia)

The 1977 NFL Championship Series was the 2nd edition of the NFL Night Series, a NFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the SANFL, the WANFL, the VFA and State Representative Teams.[1]

1977 NFL Championship Series
NFL Ardath Cup
Tournament details
Dates20 March - 26 July 1977
Teams22
Venue(s)5 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsNorwood (3rd title)
Runners-upEast Perth
Tournament statistics
Matches played21
Attendance64,818 (3,087 per match)

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 replaces 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
Team Nickname League Qualification Participation (bold indicates winners)1
Enter in Round 2
Sturt Double Blues SANFL Winners of the 1976 South Australian National Football League 6th (Previous: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976)
Port Adelaide Magpies SANFL Runners-Up in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 6th (Previous: 1890, 1910, 1913, 1914, 1976)
Glenelg Tigers SANFL Third Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 3rd (Previous: 1973, 1976)
Norwood Redlegs SANFL Fourth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 5th (Previous: 1888, 1907, 1975, 1976)
Perth Demons WANFL Winners of the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 1st
East Perth Royals WANFL Runners-Up in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1972)
South Fremantle Bulldogs WANFL Third Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1976)
Port Melbourne Boroughs VFA Winners of the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Queensland Maroons QAFL State Representative Team 1st
Tasmania Devils TANFL State Representative Team 2nd (Previous: 1974)
Enter in Round 1
West Adelaide Bloods SANFL Fifth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 4th (Previous: 1908, 1909, 1911)
Central District Bulldogs SANFL Sixth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 1st
South Adelaide Panthers SANFL Seventh Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 3rd (Previous: 1893, 1896)
North Adelaide Roosters SANFL Eighth Place in the 1976 South Australian National Football League 3rd (Previous: 1971, 1972)
West Perth Falcons WANFL Fourth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 3rd (Previous: 1975, 1976)
East Fremantle Sharks WANFL Fifth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 2nd (Previous: 1974)
Claremont Tigers WANFL Sixth Place in the 1976 Western Australian National Football League 1st
Dandenong Redlegs VFA Runners-Up in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Preston Bullants VFA Third Place in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Caulfield Bears VFA Fourth Place in the 1976 Victorian Football Association Premiership 1st
Australian Capital Territory Rams ACTAFL State Representative Team 1st
New South Wales Blues NSWAFL State Representative Team 1st
1 Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia.

Venues
Adelaide Perth Melbourne
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

Knockout stage

Round 1

Round 2

Quarter Finals

Semi Finals

NFL Championship Series Final
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References
  1. David Eastman. "1977 NFL Ardath Cup".
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