1981 AFC Night Series
From Snoutslouts
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Since 1977 the VFL had run their own "national" night football competition. From 1979 this was under a purpose-formed company: Australian Football Championships (AFC). The competition had 34 teams in 1981: all sides from VFL, SANFL, WAFL and also State/Territory representative teams. Matches were played starting in pre-season, and on mid-week nights during the Premiership season, in various venues, but predominately in Melbourne. It was a complicated qualification process in the Qualifying Rounds, with highest % losers advancing, but from Round 3 it was a straight knockout series, with losing sides eliminated from the competition.
The names of the AFC Cup contest changed with the sponsorship arrangements each season - 1981 was named the Escort Championships, for a brand of cigarettes made by W.D. & H.O.Wills.
Round 1 (Qualifying)
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | Pts | |
| South Adelaide | 6.0 | 8.2 | 10.9 | 13.10 | 88 |
| Glenelg | 0.3 | 2.9 | 3.12 | 6.17 | 53 |
Norwood Oval, Adelaide. Friday 13 March. (Night)
Best -
South Adelaide: Naley, Palmer, Dawkins, Butler, Emery, Linke, White
Glenelg: Carey, Cornes, Weston, Marshall
Goals -
South Adelaide: Linke 4, Naley 2, Harradine 2, Dawkins 2, Schneebichler, Collins, Slattery
Glenelg: Twelftree, Marshall, McInerney, Copping, MacFarlane, Holst
- South Adelaide advanced directly to the main draw (Round3) as the winning SANFL team with the highest % from Round 1 of qualifying. Glenelg were eliminated from the competition.
Other
- As with all the AFC series, two VFL sides contested the Grand Final, with Essendon beating Carlton.
