1976 NFL Championship Series (Australia)
The 1976 NFL Championship Series was the 1st edition of the NFL Night Series, an NFL-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the leading clubs from the VFL, the SANFL and the WANFL.
| NFL Wills Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | 17 May - 17 August 1976 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Venue(s) | 3 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Hawthorn (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | North Melbourne |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 15 |
| Attendance | 106,214 (7,081 per match) |
It replaced the Championship of Australia tournament that been contested between the champion clubs of the VFL, the SANFL, the WANFL and the Tasmanian State Premiership between 1972 and 1975.
The 1976 NFL Night Series was planned as a forerunner to a full-scale national competition in 1977 that would feature all the VFL, SANFL and WANFL teams plus representative teams from Tasmania, Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT.
Ultimately, the 1976 competition would be the only one to feature the VFL clubs - the Victorian League chose to break away in 1977 and run a rival competition, the VFL Night Series.