In the war-time season of 1916, only four teams competed. Fitzroy finished last after the home-and-away season with a record of 2-9-1 (10 pts), and Richmond finished third with a record of 5-7-0 (20 pts). All four teams competed in the finals (Argus system), and Fitzroy won three consecutive finals games to claim the premiership, with Richmond shifting into overall last place as the lowest placed semi-final loser. There is hence some uncertainty regarding which team should lay claim to the wooden spoon in that season.

One side of the debate says that since Fitzroy performed most poorly during the bulk of the season, they deserved the ignominy of the spoon. Conversely, official AFL rankings will order teams according to their finals finishing order when considering the allocation of draft picks - had a draft existed in 1916, Richmond would have been officially recorded as the overall bottom team, and received the first pick as consolation.

The second consideration is the final winning records. After the finals had finished, Fitzroy's final record was 5-9-1 from fifteen games, with a winning percentage of 36.7%, and Richmond's final record was 5-8-0 from thirteen games, with a winning percentage of 38.4%. So, Fitzroy won more games, and Richmond had a better winning percentage.

There is an argument to state that both teams lay claim to the 1916 spoon.

Whom do you think should get the wooden spoon of 1916?