In 1965, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances. Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 18 rounds; matches 12 to 18 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 7. Once the 18 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1965 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page-McIntyre System. North Melbourne Football Club moved its playing and training base from the Arden Street Oval to Coburg City Oval. The move was intended to be permanent, with some initial negotiations seeking long-term leases for up to 40 years, but it was ultimately cancelled after only eight months, and North Melbourne returned to the Arden Street Oval in 1966.
The VFL's leading goalkicker was John Peck of Hawthorn who kicked 56 goals; he was the third player to win the goalkicking when his team won the "wooden spoon", and the first since Roy Park of University in 1913.
*As a consequence of its 1981 decision to change its rules relating to tied Brownlow Medal contests, the AFL awarded a retrospective medal to Teasdale in 1989.
The reserves premiership was won by. Collingwood 16.9 defeated 10.20 in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the seniors Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 25 September.
Notable events
In January, Melbourne's 1964 premiership captain Ron Barassi astounded the VFL community by announcing that he will be the 1965 captain/coach of Carlton.
*Richmond moved its home ground for matches to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, sharing it with Melbourne, while continuing to train at the Punt Road Oval, because roadwork to widen Punt Road was going to significantly reduce Punt Road Oval's capacity.
* moved its training and playing base from Arden Street Oval to Coburg City Oval, after signing a seven-year lease with the Coburg Council in April 1965. The move was not successful for either party, and the club returned to Arden Street Oval in 1966.
In the Round 2 match against Essendon, Hawthorn forward Garry Young sustained a painful injury from a hard knock. Hawthorn captain Graham Arthur stood over him and said "Get up you weak bastard", and Young returned to the play and did his best to continue. Eventually he left the ground and went to hospital where it was discovered that he had a perforated bowel and peritonitis, both of which are life-threatening conditions. He never played again.
In Round 6, Essendon forward Geoff Gosper was the first VFL player to play with a mouthguard.
Victoria played two interstate matches against South Australia during the season. On Saturday 19 June, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Victoria won 19.17 to 9.18 ; on 10 July, in Adelaide, South Australia won 12.11 to 3.1.
Six-premiership Melbourne coach Norm Smith was sacked after Round 12, then reinstated before Round 14. Smith had been unhappy about his lack of support from the Melbourne Football Club in the libel case that had been brought against him by VFL umpire Don Blew in the late 1964.
St Kilda played in a Grand Final for the first time since 1913.
Essendon's half-forward flanker John Somerville was felled behind play in first 10 minutes of the 1965 Preliminary Final. His opponent for the day, Collingwood'sDuncan Wright, was never selected to play for Collingwood again. The field umpire, Ron Brophy, was never selected to umpire a VFL match again.
