1897 VFL season

1897 VFL premiership season
Essendon 1897 VFL premiership team
Date	8 May—4 September 1897
Teams	8
Premiers	Essendon 1st premiership
Runners-up	Geelong 1st runners-up result
Minor premiers	Geelong 1st minor premiership
Leading goalkicker medallist	Eddy James (Geelong) Jack Leith (Melbourne) 22 goals
Matches played	62
1898 →

The 1897 VFL season was the inaugural season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season ran from 8 May to 4 September, comprising a 14-round home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top four clubs. Eight Victorian Football Association (VFA) clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, South Melbourne and St Kilda – featured in the inaugural season after seceding from the VFA in 1896.

Essendon won the inaugural premiership after winning all three of its finals matches, with Geelong finishing as runners-up with two wins. Geelong won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with an 11–3 win–loss record. Geelong's Eddy James and Melbourne's Jack Leith tied for the leading goalkicker medal as the league's leading goalkickers.