In 1970, 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 22 rounds; matches 12 to 22 were the "home-and-way reverse" of matches 1 to 11. Once the 22 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1970 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system.
The consolation night series were held under the floodlights at Lake Oval, South Melbourne, for the teams out of the finals at the end of the home and away rounds. Final: 13.17 defeated Melbourne 13.15.
The reserves premiership was won by for the second consecutive year. Melbourne 16.10 defeated 16.8 in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the seniors Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September.
In Round 1, Richmond and Fitzroy played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, 5 April 1970, the first ever VFL match played on a Sunday. Before the start of the third quarter, the Richmond and Fitzroy players lined up in front of the Members' Stand and were introduced to The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and Princess Anne, who then watched the last half of the match.
In Round 10, Collingwood trailed St Kilda by over ten goals late in the second quarter but came back to win by seven points. Their 52-point deficit remains, as of 2019, the greatest at half-time deficit by a winning side.
The 1970 VFL season was the first in which three full-forwards kicked at least 100 goals in a home-and-away season.
South Melbourne ended the second-longest finals drought in league history by finishing fourth, making the finals for the first time since 1945.
In Round 5, Ted Whitten played his 321st senior VFL game, breaking the record set by Dick Reynolds. Whitten retired after this match.
In the 1970 Second Semi-Final, Carlton's Syd Jackson was reported for striking Collingwood defender Lee Adamson. Carlton president George Harris, eager to have Jackson in his Grand Final team, devised the strategy of having the club's advocate to assert to the tribunal that Jackson had been provoked by an extended series of racial taunts from Adamson, including repeatedly calling him "Sambo" and, furthermore, stating that Jackson would respond in the same way to any future vilification. The tribunal took the stance that the VFL had to be seen to protect its only top-level Aboriginal footballer at the time, and they immediately exonerated him, without hearing Adamson's side of the story, stating that Jackson had no case to answer. Jackson revealed much later that it had all been a set-up by George Harris.
The 1970 Grand Final between and was considered to be the most memorable Grand Final in VFL/AFL history. Collingwood had a great lead over Carlton during most of the game, however Carlton managed to come back and win the Grand Final by 10 points.
