Tag: Essendon

Episode 54 1950 Goodbye Mr McHale

June 1, 2026 admin-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--2 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Jock McHale coached Collingwood for almost 1,400 days. His successor lasted just 4 days. The man the players always called Mr McHale retired in 1950 and a civil war exploded at Collingwood. Hawthorn also had their own controversial, disruptive coaching replacement scandal, an experience that became a turning point for the club. It was a year of war in Korea and Communism reached the MCG on Grand Final Day and league footballers played the game under lights. Times were changing at the half way mark of the 20th Century.

In the Brisbane Mud for 1950 Carnival Game
Jock McHale the Collingwood Coach

Grand Final movie by Ted Waterford with commentary by Doug Elliot

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Episode 53 1949 The End of the Dyer Era

April 29, 2026 admin-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--2 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Jack Dyer played the game hard until he could play no more, but none of the players were expecting a kiss from the big man after his last game. As his career came to an end John Coleman made a debut unlike any other in the history of V/AFL footy. The Russians exploded an atomic bomb but that was not the only big news on grand final day. The 1949 VFL season saw a new team top the ladder in a year four clubs appointed new coaches looking for success. Listen to the episode to find out what was happening in 1949 on and off the field and why Carlton took such a long time to get to Kardinia Park to play Geelong.

For copies of Coleman The Untold Story of an AFL Legend email author Doug Ackerly dougackerly@hotmail.com

1949 The End of the Dyer Era EditedDownload

Episode 51: 1947 The Narrowest of Margins

December 30, 2025 admin-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--2 Uncategorized 0 Comments


Carlton shocked their supporters and the football world in 1947 when they selected their new captain who had only played two games in the VFL. It was a time of change as immigrants began new lives, far away from the chaos in Europe and women played footy in front of one of the biggest crowds of the season. Collingwood threatened to forfeit rather than play their home game against Carlton at the MCG, it was all about money and bribery scandals saw a lifetime ban imposed. The Final Four saw the last four premiership winners playing for the premiership but only one team could take the 194 Flag by the narrowest of margins.

Carlton Premiership Team 1947
Ern Henfrey chaired off MCG after winning 1947 Grand Final
Richmond on MCG v Melbourne (Our Great Game Photographic History)
Women’s football at South Melbourne 1947

More details of Women’s Football 1947 style

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Episode 50: 1946 A Gigantic Industry

November 21, 2025 admin-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--2 Uncategorized 0 Comments


The VFL celebrates its 50th Jubilee season with the return of the MCG and the Brownlow and some changes including the addition of a 20th man. The game has become a “Gigantic Industry’ according to VFL Secretary Like McBrien but clubs are still having trouble getting enough jumpers and balls with rationing still in place. Jack Dyer. Bob Pratt’s comeback would end after one game, some players would return to VFL footy after the trauma of being POW’s at Changi and the Burma Railway and some future champions would make their debut’s. The finals were thrilling, the second drawn semi final had the MCG curators fretting and the Grand Final would define what a “Premiership Quarter” looked like.

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Episode 47: 1943 The Earliest Wooden Spoon Ever

July 4, 2025 admin-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--2 Uncategorized 0 Comments


Eleven teams started the 1943 season but only ten made it to the final round. To ensure only one bye per team, the club on the bottom of the ladder after round eleven was eliminated! The earliest Wooden Spoon ever! The war meant everything was different, US Marines were at the MCG, they even played a gridiron game, the American football code as a rare game on the G once it was occupied for the war. The Americans even took on the Australians in a hybrid football game described as ‘aerial bombardment”. All the while the VFL season unfolded, with challenges of player availability and news of loss at the front line. Still plans were being prepared for peace time, would the VFL be expanding?

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Episode 46: 1942 Americanising the City and the Game

April 10, 2025 admin-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--2 Uncategorized 0 Comments

The Americans were taking over the city and were amazed by the footy and yet some wanted to Americanise the local game to help it expand north and internationally. But there were bigger problems north of Australia with the Japanese advancing through the Pacific.

Not all the teams played, the MCG was a not so secret military base and Sunday football became a regular event but not for the VFL. The ordinary way of life was gone, the government was taking everyone’s binoculars but footy provided some comfort and normality in a season like no other.

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Episode 28: 1924 No Grand Final but plenty of scandal and the first Brownlow

September 18, 2022 admin-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--2 Uncategorized 0 Comments

No Grand Final but plenty of scandal. Did the premiership team take a dive? Why did Fitzroy select the coach of Melbourne to play in their Semifinal? Is the Brownlow for the Fairest and Best or the Best and Fairest and why are the umpires casting the votes? And the league looks at a new ground as an alternative to the MCG. And will the VFL finally make a decision to admit a 10th team. All this and more in season 1925.

Seaplane lands at St Kilda after circumnavigating Australia 1924

Check out The 1924 Championship Game: Did the Dons Play Dead? by Dale James Blair

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Episode 27: 1923 The Blues get the blues

August 11, 2022 admin-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--2 Uncategorized 0 Comments

1923 sees the start of radio broadcasting but letting people know who won the Grandfinal can also be done by shooting flares from an air-plane over a crowded Caulfield Cup crowd. Every team except Carlton would spend some time in the Four yet it would come down to the last round of the season to lock in the finalists. The Blues were not a happy club and players fighting with committee members after a game at Essendon was not going to help but it did see three players suspended. It would be the latest date in the year for a VFL Grandfinal, and the first time a Premiership match was postponed due to the weather. Who would win on this one day in October?

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About This Site

Grand Final History is a podcast that will develop over time. Starting with the very first season of VFL football where seven suburban clubs and a regional town broke away from the Victorian Football Association to make their own league.

Each Podcast episode takes a look at the season, provides some snippets of what was happening in the wider world and then unfolds the season. The rule changes to reduce congestion and to open the play up into a more free flowing game (it has been going on for a long time), what challenges were the league and clubs facing (Salary cap breaches have a long history), how was the game developing around the country and internationally (the game’s administrators have been optimistic about international expansion for longer than you may realise).

Then the finals will be described. In the early years this was an evolving process as the VFL tried different finals schemes which sometimes meant a round robin system replaced a Grand Final to decide the Premiers. In other years the team sitting on top of the Ladder could, if they were beaten in the finals, challenge the winner of the finals to decide the premiership. Hence the emergence of a Grand Final. We will explore each Grand Final, the venues, the players, the umpires and how the game was won and lost or sometimes even drawn. Then we might get to share some of the celebrations after the games. From both teams going off to play skittles together to supporters reportedly drinking a suburb dry on Grand Final night.

While AFL is the number one code in Australia today we should not fall into the trap of thinking this was an inevitable outcome. The fact that a competition established by seven Melbourne suburban clubs and a regional Victorian town, playing a code that was unique the southern states of Australia has thrived is a tribute to generations of league and club administrators, players and supporters. As we look back at the history of the VFL and AFL there will be many examples of foolishness, accusations of focusing on money at the expense of the game and the community, complaints about rule changes and more criticisms than can be listed here. However this indigenous code has survived and for now continues to thrive in a globally competitive sporting and entertainment world. This podcast is an attempt to celebrate the history of the competition and the teams that have emerged as the champions of each season. We will see the game move through times of depression, war and deadly viruses and that was just the first 10 seasons. Each Podcast will be released every 2-3 weeks. There is more that 120 seasons to cover so it will be a while before we get to the current season.

The Music for the intro and outro on each episode is from Purple Planet Music: https://purple-planet.com

I am Kieran Magee, a long time Richmond supporter and I hope you subscribe and enjoy the podcast. If you like it, please tell your friends and rate the show on your preferred podcast source. The more we score the more people will find the show. If you have questions or feedback get in contact via the Contact Us page.