A world in turmoil, a world at war, radio broadcasts blocked by solar storms and some want to play football on Sundays, undermining the nation’s spiritual and moral foundations and risking national destruction, there was a lot going on in 1941. Melbourne were aiming for their third premiership in a row while others wondered if football should be played at all. The VFA were stealing star players while others were in military camps, unsure how many games they would play and some were paying the ultimate price.
The greatest shirtfront ever delivered occurred in possibly the toughest season ever, with more players reported in 1940 than ever before. The drama and shocks on the field were matched by the turmoil and challenges off the field as the VFA looked to recruit the biggest stars of the day and many players made the biggest decisions of their lives to enlist in the armed services. St Kilda won their first premiership (The Patriotic Premiership with a Flag and a Cup) while Jack Dyer and Norm Smith clashed on the MCG. It was a year unlike any other with a season unlike any other, the 1940 VFL season.
Jack Dyer describes the 1940 Grand Final with Stephen Phillips. Thanks to Rhettorspective YouTube channel
Dan Minogue also had his photo turned to the wall when he left Collingwood, just like Ron Todd. Here is the story of the Minogue Photo
The Patriotic Premiership was St Kilda’s first premiership in the VFL. It was a fundraiser lightning premiership held on the 3rd of August 1940. The video below shows a short summary of the game with a Jack Dyer “Don’t Argue” at the 23 second mark!
War declared in Europe and the battle between the VFL and VFA continues with an 18 year old star getting the biggest financial offer ever made to an Australian footballer, would he stay or would he go? Batman, Angry Anderson and the Sydney Olympics, they are all connected and the trail goes back to 1939. There was turmoil at Collingwood, new rules to absorb and a year that saw a turnover in the final four. All this and more in this episode of Grand Final History.
The VFL was “The rebellious child of the Association” and it could not dictate how football was going to be played in 1938. There was a split in Australian Football, the Association were changing the rules, allowing throwing the ball and more as they looked to attract more spectators to their games, so “Who cares what the League thinks” was their motto. 1938 was a dramatic year on and off the field, bribery attempts by gambling cartels, new teams in the finals and doping to help win a grand final. All this and more in the latest episode of Grand Final History.
The greatest game of all they called it: The 1937 Grand Final between Collingwood and Geelong. The year saw a King’s coronation, with a North Melbourne player representing the VFL in London and Fitzroy became the Gorillas! Finals prices increased, never popular, yet a record crowd was a the Grand Final. It was the Magpies chance for a premiership hat trick and to send Gordon Coventry off in style or Geelong’s opportunity to give Reg Hickey a premiership in his second stint as captain coach. Meanwhile, trouble was brewing with the VFA.
At the 1937 Carnival triple Brownlow medallist Haydn Bunton did a radio interview that was recorded and now restored. Here it here
Geelong VFL Premiers 1937Collingwood and Geelong in DevonportGordon Coventry (Our Great Game Photographic History)Crowd spilling onto ground 1937 Grand FinalCollingwood Selection Committee 1937
New rules, night football, new finals system, new club mascots, goal kicking master classes and the dominant Magpie Machine, the Fourth Decade of the VFL provided a welcome relief for supporters struggling through the Great Depression. This special, supplementary episode provides an overview of the Fourth Decade of VFL football. The teams that did well, the teams that struggled, the players that made a name for themselves and how the League started to flex its economic and political muscle as the game continued to grow in popularity.
Abdications, invasions, Olympics and Grand Finals but some people in 1936 were more worried about football being played on a Sunday. It was the VFL’s 40th Season with Richmond’s Punt Rd home ground the centre of an extraordinary dispute that might bankrupt every club and the league. One of the most infamous tribunal hearings will result in a champion missing a Grand Final and decades of fake news. One club takes on a new nickname as part of their rise to success. Another big season in the VFL.
Collingwood players being introduced to the State GovernorMCG 1936 with Southern Stand under constructionVFL Grand Final Photo spread Australasian (Trove)Collingwood 1936 VFL Premiers
Collingwood and South Melbourne play each other seven times, but only one can win the 1935 VFL premiership. It was a year that saw the first night game between VFL clubs and beer came in cans for the first time, two pivotal moments in history. Footscray made their bid for worst jumper of all time and the Magpies almost forfeited a game. North Melbourne and Hawthorn struggled while the league promised to help Rugby Union. Meanwhile Richmond was looking for alternatives to Punt Road for a home ground. And a truck played its part in Grand Final History.
It was the centenary of white settlement in Victoria and every major event became a Centenary event. The Age said the “The Victorian Football League’s Centenary pennant, regarded by everyone as the most coveted prize ever offered in the history of the sport in Victoria”. It was the season where Bob Prat kicked 150 goals for South Melbourne, when Carlton and Collingwood had one of their most violent and controversial games ever and a maybe the most lop sided season ever. Teams at the bottom of the ladder had trouble winning a single game, teams at the top were competing desperately with each other. Off the field some players found themselves facing the courts because of the way they drove their cars while another club got into trouble with the police on a trip away. Some League traditions have a long history.
How Prat was blanketed by Richmond Backline in 1934 VFL Grand FinalRichmond Premiership Team 1934Cartoon After Richmond Win the Premiership
It was the year a cartoonist bestowed a mascot onto a VFL club, it was the year Australian Rules and Rugby League tried to invent Universal Football and it was the year St Kilda and North had a game that they both recall very differently. The VFL experimented with a new pricing model for finals, the crowds might have been lower but the league considered it a success. Has the League ever regretted a price rise?
The cartoon that gave birth to the Swans Mascot for South Melbourne/Sydney. Alex Gurney The Herald 15 Sept 1933 (Trove)The first South Melbourne Life Membership Medalion with the Swans Mascot The Hearald 22 January 1934 1933 National Football Carnival in Sydney Follow link for rare footage of Syd Coventry, Ken Farmer and Haydn Bunton, all Australian Football Hall of Fame Membershttps://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/afl-1933-wave-two-flagsSCG Scoreboard at 1933 Carnival with light showing what free kick has been awardedBrownlow presented to Wilfred “Chicken” SmallhornCrofts Grocery Store, workplace for many South Melbourne playersCrowd at 1933 VFL Grand Final South Melbourne v RichmondSouth Melbourne Premiers 1933
