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.
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.
Qualified teams TeamNicknameLeagueQualificationParticipation (bold indicates winners)1EssendonBombersVFLWinners of the 1985 Victorian Football League10th HawthornHawksVFLRunners-Up in the 1985 Victorian Football League10th FootscrayBulldogsVFLThird Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League9th North MelbourneKangaroosVFLFourth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League10th CarltonBluesVFLFifth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League15th GeelongCatsVFLSixth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League8th CollingwoodMagpiesVFLSeventh Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League10th RichmondTigersVFLEighth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League12th FitzroyLionsVFLNinth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League9th SydneySwansVFLTenth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League11th MelbourneDemonsVFLEleventh Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League8th St KildaSaintsVFLTwelfth Place in the 1985 Victorian Football League8th GlenelgTigersSANFLWinners of the 1985 South Australian National Football League10th North AdelaideRoostersSANFLRunners-Up in the 1985 South Australian National Football League7th 1 Includes previous appearances in the Championship of Australia and NFL Night Series.
Venues MelbourneAdelaide Waverley Park Football Park Capacity: 72,000 Capacity: 67,000
Knockout stage Round 1
Lucky loser playoff
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Australian Football Championships Night Series Final
References