1982 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 18 teams in 1982: all sides from VFL, the top 3 sides from both SANFL and WAFL. There were no longer State/Territory representative teams as had applied in previous seasons.
Matches were played starting in pre-season, and on mid-week nights during the Premiership season, in various venues, but predominately in Melbourne. In 1982 there were just two qualifying matches between the SANFL and WAFL's second and third-ranked teams, then it was a straight knockout series, with losing sides eliminated from the competition. Additionally, the State representative teams were moved to their own round-robin competition worth $25,000 and named the Escort Shield.
The names of the AFC Cup contest changed with the sponsorship arrangements each season - 1982 was named the Escort Championships, for a brand of cigarettes made by W.D. & H.O.Wills.
Qualifying
Rated based on their premiership table finish in the previous season, Swan Districts (WAFL #3) played Glenelg (SANFL #2).
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | Pts | |
| Swan Districts | 3.3 | 8.7 | 11.12 | 21.14 | 140 |
| Glenelg | 2.2 | 3.6 | 10.10 | 15.12 | 102 |
Subiaco Oval, Perth. Saturday 13 March. (Day)
Best -
Swan Districts: Richardson, Holmes, Nowotny, Outridge, G. Melrose, Sartori
Glenelg: Carey, Weston, Kernahan, McGuinness, Lunniss, Cornes
Goals -
Swan Districts: Richardson 4, Sartori 4, Boucher 3, Holmes 2, Nowotny 2, Melrose 2, Blackaby, Shine, Langsford, Skwirowski
Glenelg: Lunniss 3, Carey 3, Walter 3, Marshall 2, Kernahan 2, McGuinness, Mason
- Swan Districts advanced directly to the main draw (Round 1) and Glenelg was eliminated from the competition.
Other
- As with all the AFC series, two VFL sides contested the Grand Final, with Sydney beating North Melbourne.
