1978 VFL Night Series

The 1978 Victorian Football League Night Series was the 18th edition of the VFL Night Series, a VFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the clubs from the VFL and Tasmania.

1978 VFL Night Series

VFL Amco-Herald Cup
Tournament details
Dates	3 March – 20 June 1978
Teams	13
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Fitzroy (2nd title)
Runners-up	North Melbourne
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Attendance	156,714 (12,055 per match)
← 1977 1979 (AFC) →

Qualified Teams

Team	Nickname	League	Qualification	Participation (bold indicates winners)
North Melbourne	Kangaroos	VFL	Winner of the 1977 Victorian Football League	17th (Previous: 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1977)
Collingwood	Magpies	VFL	Runners-Up in the 1977 Victorian Football League	7th (Previous: 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1977)
Hawthorn	Hawks	VFL	Third Place in the 1977 Victorian Football League	15th (Previous: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1977)
Richmond	Tigers	VFL	Fourth Place in the 1977 Victorian Football League	15th (Previous: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1977)
South Melbourne	Swans	VFL	Fifth Place in the 1977 Victorian Football League	17th (Previous: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1977)
Carlton	Blues	VFL	Sixth Place in the 1977 Victorian Football League	12th (Previous: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1977)
Footscray	Bulldogs	VFL	Seventh Place in the 1977 Victorian Football League	16th (Previous: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1977)
Geelong	Cats	VFL	Eighth Place in the 1977 Victorian Football League	9th (Previous: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1970, 1971, 1977)
Essendon	Bombers	VFL	Ninth Place in the 1977 Victorian Football League	11th (Previous: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1977)
Fitzroy	Lions	VFL	Tenth Place in the 1977 Victorian Football League	16th (Previous: 1956, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1977)
Melbourne	Demons	VFL	Eleventh Place in the 1977 Victorian Football League	10th (Previous: 1957, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1977)
St Kilda	Saints	VFL	Twelfth Place in the 1977 Victorian Football League	11th (Previous: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1977)
Tasmania	Devils	TANFL	State Representative Team	1st

Venues

Melbourne
Waverley Park
Capacity: 72,000

Knockout stage

Round 1

3 March 1978	South Melbourne	126–68	Collingwood	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	19.12 (126)		10.8 (68)	Attendance: 18,585

10 March 1978	North Melbourne	80–63	Footscray	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	11.14 (80)		9.9 (63)	Attendance: 10,136

17 March 1978	Carlton	63–62	Geelong	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	8.15 (63)		8.14 (62)	Attendance: 10,321

23 March 1978	Fitzroy	88–70	Tasmania	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	13.10 (88)		10.10 (70)	Attendance: 5,136

4 April 1978	Richmond	88–37	Essendon	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	13.10 (88)		5.7 (37)	Attendance: 15,764

11 April 1978	St Kilda	96–57	Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	14.12 (96)		8.9 (57)	Attendance: 8,867

Quarter-finals

QF #1 18 April 1978	Fitzroy	92–68	South Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	14.8 (92)		9.14 (68)	Attendance: 5,822

QF #2 2 May 1978	Richmond	100–83	Carlton	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	15.10 (100)		11.17 (83)	Attendance: 12,061

QF #3 9 May 1978	Geelong	67–36	Hawthorn	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	10.7 (67)		5.6 (36)	Attendance: 8,146

QF #4 16 May 1978	North Melbourne	60–56	St Kilda	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	8.12 (60)		8.8 (56)	Attendance: 20,694

Semi-finals

SF #1 23 May 1978	Fitzroy	74–58	Richmond	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	10.14 (74)		8.10 (58)	Attendance: 8,172

SF #2 30 May 1978	North Melbourne	98–59	Geelong	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	15.8 (98)		9.5 (59)	Attendance: 6,590

Victorian Football League Night Series final

Final 20 June 1978	Fitzroy	96–20	North Melbourne	Waverley Park, Melbourne
	2.3 (15) 3.5 (23) 10.13 (73) 13.18 (96)		2.1 (13) 2.5 (17) 2.6 (18) 2.8 (20)	Attendance: 26,420 Umpires: Deller, K.Smith
		Goals
	Beecroft 3 McCarthy, McMahon 2 Quinlan, Irwin, Walls, Conlan, Padley, Thompson 1		Blight, Schimmelbusch 1