The home-and-home season was played over twenty matches, before the top four clubs contested a finals series under the Page–McIntyre system to determine the premiers for the season.
Ladder
Finals
Awards
The leading goalkicker for the home-and-home season was Johnny Walker, who kicked 98 goals.
The J. J. Liston Trophy was won by Ted Henrys, who polled 37 votes. Vic Hill was second with 33 votes, and Harry Simpson and Colin Boyd were equal-third with 31 votes.
Yarraville won the seconds premiership. Yarraville 10.13 defeated Moorabbin 8.11 in the Grand Final, played as a curtain raiser to the firsts Grand Final on 3 October.
Notable events
Adelaide Carnival
The Association competed in the 1953 Adelaide Carnival, and finished in fourth place with a record of 1–3. Two Association players were named in the inaugural All-Australian team, which was named based on performances at the carnival: Frank Johnson and Ted Henrys.
Other notable events
Early in the V.F.A. Sub-Districts season, the Port Melbourne Thirds team lost its first match since 1946, ending a 127-game winning streak. The team lost its first match in its inaugural season of 1946, before embarking on the record-breaking winning streak, which incorporated seven consecutive premierships.
On Tuesday 2 June, a representative match was played at the St Kilda Cricket Ground between teams representing the six North-of-the-Yarra clubs and the eight South-of-the-Yarra clubs. North 11.20 defeated South 10.9, after overcoming an eighteen-point three-quarter time deficit. The North vs South game did not become a regular fixture in the VFA Senior competition, but later became the chief representative fixture in the VFL Thirds competition.
In July, the Association was granted full voting rights within the Australian National Football Council for the first time. When the Association first affiliated with the ANFC in 1950, it had all rights of a full delegate except that it could not vote on motions.
Several Association clubs encountered financial difficulties during the 1953 season. By July, Brighton, Camberwell and Northcote were all operating on an amateur basis, having lost the financial capacity to pay their players.
In September, Ray Gibb died in a motorcycle accident. A benefit game to raise money for his family was played on Show Day at Box Hill City Oval between a combined team of his two former VFL clubs, and, and a Box Hill team augmented with other VFL and VFA star players, including John Coleman and Bill Hutchison. Including the gate and donations, £400 was raised from a crowd of 6,000 people; Box Hill 17.11 defeated Hawthorn–Richmond 12.8.
