Sydney, which had been partially affiliated with Port Melbourne, withdrew from having any connection with the VFL, instead electing to field a stand-alone reserves team in the AFL Canberra competition.[2] Sydney broke off the affiliation with one year left on the contract, prompting a lawsuit from Port Melbourne.[3]
The Kangaroos, after spending the previous three years using the Murray Kangaroos as its VFL-affiliate, became affiliated with Port Melbourne. The Murray Kangaroos club, which had been a joint venture operation between the Kangaroos and the Ovens & Murray Football League, dropped out of the VFL and folded.
Carlton, which had been fielding its reserves team in the VFL, became affiliated with the Northern Bullants. The Carlton reserves withdrew from the VFL.
Essendon, which had been fielding its reserves team in the VFL, became affiliated with Bendigo. Under the affiliation, Bendigo adopted Essendon's black and red guernsey, and changed its nickname from Diggers to Bombers. The Essendon reserves withdrew from the VFL.
As a result of the changes, the VFL was reduced from sixteen teams to thirteen. Geelong was now the only one of the ten Victorian AFL clubs left fielding its own reserves team in the VFL, with nine clubs in VFL-AFL affiliations.
Williamstown won the reserves premiership. Williamstown 20.15 (135) defeated the Northern Bullants 12.11 (83) in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the Seniors Grand Final on 21 September.[8]
Notable events
The VFL granted a favourable fixture to the three stand-alone VFL clubs, Tasmania, North Ballarat and Frankston to try to assist them financially. The clubs were given extra home games (Tasmania had twelve home games for the year, and North Ballarat and Frankston had ten) and they were given extra Sunday matches to avoid clashes with the local competitions which were still mainly played on Saturdays.[9]