en 1986 AFC Night Series

1986 AFC Night Series
AFC Foster's Football Cup
Tournament details
Dates	1 March – 1 July 1986
Teams	14
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Hawthorn (2nd title)
Runners-up	Carlton
Tournament statistics
Matches played	15
Attendance	111,620 (7,441 per match)
	← 1985

The 1986 Australian Football Championships Night Series was the 8th edition of the AFC Night Series, a VFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the VFL and the SANFL.^[1]

The 1986 Series would be the last to be played under the AFC banner as the VFL began its transformation from a state league to a national competition with the introduction of two interstate expansion clubs, the Brisbane Bears and the West Coast Eagles. As a result, the AFC Board was disbanded and the following year's Night Series was reverted to a VFL-run competition featuring only the VFL teams.^[2]

Qualified teams

Team	Nickname	League	Qualification	Participation (bold indicates winners)¹
Essendon	Bombers	VFL	Winners of the 1985 Victorian Football League	10th (Previous: 1893, 1911, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Hawthorn	Hawks	VFL	Runners-Up in the 1985 Victorian Football League	10th (Previous: 1971, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Footscray	Bulldogs	VFL	Third Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League	9th (Previous: 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
North Melbourne	Kangaroos	VFL	Fourth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League	10th (Previous: 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Carlton	Blues	VFL	Fifth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League	15th (Previous: 1907, 1908, 1914, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Geelong	Cats	VFL	Sixth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League	8th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Collingwood	Magpies	VFL	Seventh Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League	10th (Previous: 1896, 1910, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Richmond	Tigers	VFL	Eighth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League	12th (Previous: 1969, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Fitzroy	Lions	VFL	Ninth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League	9th (Previous: 1913, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Sydney	Swans	VFL	Tenth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League	11th (Previous: 1888, 1890, 1909, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Melbourne	Demons	VFL	Eleventh Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League	8th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
St Kilda	Saints	VFL	Twelfth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League	8th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
Glenelg	Tigers	SANFL	Winners of the 1985 South Australian National Football League	10th (Previous: 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
North Adelaide	Roosters	SANFL	Runners-Up in the 1985 South Australian National Football League	7th (Previous: 1971, 1972, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981)

¹ Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia and NFL Night Series.

Venues

Melbourne	Adelaide
Waverley Park	Football Park
Capacity: 72,000	Capacity: 67,000

Knockout stage

Round 1

1 March 1986	Carlton	71–45	Sydney	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	9.17 (71)		6.9 (45)	Attendance: 15,129

4 March 1986	North Melbourne	100–55	St Kilda	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	15.10 (100)		8.7 (55)	Attendance: 6,207

11 March 1986	Glenelg	74–105	Footscray	Football Park, Adelaide
	10.14 (74)		16.9 (105)	Attendance: 3,923

18 March 1986	Fitzroy	86–60	Collingwood	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	12.14 (86)		9.6 (60)	Attendance: 10,508

1 April 1986	Essendon	114–50	Richmond	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	18.6 (114)		7.8 (50)	Attendance: 10,518

8 April 1986	Hawthorn	131–65	Geelong	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	19.17 (131)		10.5 (65)	Attendance: 5,035

15 April 1986	North Adelaide	88–61	Melbourne	Football Park, Adelaide
	13.10 (88)		8.13 (61)	Attendance: 2,933

Lucky loser playoff

22 April 1986	Collingwood	80–43	Sydney	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	12.8 (80)		6.7 (43)	Attendance: 6,217

Quarter-finals

QF #1 29 April 1986	Carlton	112–77	North Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	16.16 (112)		11.11 (77)	Attendance: 4,371

QF #2 6 May 1986	Collingwood	59–67	North Adelaide	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	9.5 (59)		8.19 (67)	Attendance: 3,146

QF #3 20 May 1986	Hawthorn	62–43	Essendon	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	8.14 (62)		6.7 (43)	Attendance: 11,284

QF #4 27 May 1986	Footscray	85–55	Fitzroy	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	12.13 (85)		8.7 (55)	Attendance: 3,415

Semi-finals

SF #1 3 June 1986	Hawthorn	150–60	North Adelaide	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	23.12 (150)		8.12 (60)	Attendance: 3,320

SF #2 24 June 1986	Carlton	79–60	Footscray	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	11.13 (79)		9.6 (60)	Attendance: 5,987

Australian Football Championships Night Series Final

Final 1 July 1986	Hawthorn	66–36	Carlton	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	1.2 (8) 2.3 (15) 4.5 (29) 9.12 (66)		0.0 (0) 0.3 (3) 5.6 (36) 5.6 (36)	Attendance: 19,627 Umpires: Russo, Castle
		Goals
	Platten 3 Buckenara, Dunstall 2 Eade, Brereton 1		Murphy, Evans, Bradley, Maclure, Blackwell 1

References

^ David Eastman. "1986 AFC Foster's Football Cup".
^ David Eastman. "1987 VFL National Panasonic Cup".

[1] David Eastman. "1986 AFC Foster's Football Cup".

[2] David Eastman. "1987 VFL National Panasonic Cup".

[1]

[2]