Tag: Geelong

Geelong Premiership Team 1937

Episode 41: 1937 The Greatest Game of All

August 30, 2024 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 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 1937
Collingwood and Geelong in Devonport
Gordon Coventry (Our Great Game Photographic History)
Crowd spilling onto ground 1937 Grand Final
Collingwood Selection Committee 1937
Episode-41-1937-The-Gratest-Game-of-All-Edited-version-1Download

Episode 40A: The Fourth Decade of the VFL 1927-1936

July 14, 2024 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

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.

1927 Collingwood Premiership Team
1928 Collingwood Premiership Team
1930 Collingwood Premiership Team
1931 Geelong Premiership Team
1933 South Melbourne Premiership Team
1934 Richmond Premiership Team
1935 Collingwood Premiership Team
1936 Collingwood Premiership Team
1932 Richmond Premiership Team
1929 Collingwood Premiership Team
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Episode 35: 1931 Almost an Exhibition

September 22, 2023 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

Games at the Exhibition Oval, next to the Exhibition Buildings? The VFL was negotiating with Cricket Clubs to get a fair share of revenue for football on grounds controlled by Cricket Clubs and released the 1931 fixture with games at the Exhibition Oval and the Motordrome, opposite the MCG. Football clubs were threatened with eviction. It was going to get tense before an agreement was struck. Collingwood were trying for their fifth premiership in a row but lost a champion player who moved to Tasmania to coach and get a job rather than be unemployed in Melbourne. A Tiger Immortal made their debut but did not get a touch. And the finals get a shake up with the traditional Right of Challenge dismissed for all time.

Exhibition Oval
Motordrome
The Australian Game of Football
Richmond Beer ad
Melbouren Travel Documentary Video
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Episode 34: 1930 Harry waits 59 Years to Meet Charlie

August 31, 2023 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

Collingwood are looking for their fourth premiership in a row but with three time premiership captain Syd Coventry appointed Captain Coach of Footscray how will the Magpies cope? Harry Collier finally gets to meet Charlie, it only took 59 years! Geelong supporters wonder if the You Yang mountains are cursed. 1930 was a tough time for many people but footy provided relief for many. And though the rain fell heavily at times some wanted to make Victoria a dry state.

Collingwood before the 1930 Grand FInal
1930 Grand Final Table Talk (Trove)
The Coventries of Collingwood (Trove)
Episode-34-1930-Harry-waits-59-years-to-meet-CharlieDownload

Episode 29: 1925 Now we are 12

November 8, 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

The VFL becomes a 12 team competition, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Footscray leave the VFA. Threats of legal action, suspensions and accusations of dishonourable conduct. But then proposals for two new privately run teams, playing under lights on Saturday and Sunday decades before night football was established. And Grand Final players bashed after training by a gang of supporters from the other club. It was all happening in 1925. New clubs, new rules and host of new coaches across the league, all looking for their place in Grand Final History.

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.