| 1981 VFL premiership season | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers | Carlton 13th premiership |
| Minor premiers | Carlton 15th minor premiership |
| Night series | Essendon 1st Night series win |
| Brownlow Medallist | Bernie Quinlan (Fitzroy) Barry Round (South Melbourne) |
| Coleman Medallist | Michael Roach (Richmond) |
| Attendance | |
| Matches played | 138 |
| Total attendance | 3,830,231 (27,755 per match) |
| Highest | 112,964 |
The 1981 VFL season was the 85th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 28 March until 26 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.
The premiership was won by the Carlton Football Club for the 13th time, after it defeated Collingwood by 20 points in the 1981 VFL Grand Final.