Tag: MCG

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

Episode 54 1950 Goodbye Mr McHale FinalDownload

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

Episode 51 1947Download

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
Supplementary-Episode-40-A-The-Fouth-decade-of-the-VFL-1927-36Download

Episode 39: 1935 Watch out for that Truck

June 3, 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

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.

Episode-39-1935-Watch-out-for-that-TruckDownload
Richmond Premiership Team 1934

Episode 38: 1934 The First Centenary Premiership

April 6, 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

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 Final
Richmond Premiership Team 1934
Cartoon After Richmond Win the Premiership
1934-Episode-38-The-First-Centenary-PremiershipDownload

Episode 37: 1933 Every Team Needs a Mascot

February 17, 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

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-flags
SCG Scoreboard at 1933 Carnival with light showing what free kick has been awarded
Brownlow presented to Wilfred “Chicken” Smallhorn
Crofts Grocery Store, workplace for many South Melbourne players
Crowd at 1933 VFL Grand Final South Melbourne v Richmond
South Melbourne Premiers 1933
Episode-37-1933-The-Foreign-LegionDownload

Episode 36: 1932 Ninth Time is a Charm

December 3, 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

Australians struggle with the Depression, unemployment and the death of Phar Lap but there is always footy to look forward to. South Melbourne bring in a new jumper, new management and new players but will it be enough? The Tigers have been runners up four times in five years, their coach Checker Hughes has led teams into eight Grand Finals and been runners up eight times, will it change in 1932?

Hadn Bunton 1932 Brownlow Medalist
MCG Crowd on Grand FInal Day 1932
Punt Road Clock Face Diagram for 3UZ commentary 1932
Richmond VFL Premiership Team 1932
Episode-36-1932-Ninth-Time-is-a-CharmDownload

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 33: Coventry’s Ton and the Father of Football Dies

May 25, 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

Coventry kicks a ton, the Father of Football dies and the Victorian team rescue a stowaway and there is talk of the VFL killing the VFA, again! The VFL and the world were changing in 1929, not always for the better but one thing that could be counted on was the Collingwood Machine and their quest for a premiership hat trick. The Saints would make a late run for the finals and the premiership game would have a familiar look to it.

Collingwood CFL Premiership Team 1929
First Semi Final 1929 Carlton St Kilda
Albert Leeter Collier Brownlow Medalist 1929
Collingwood Undefeated Table Talk 1929
Harrison House VFL Headquarters
Collingwood Richmond VFL Grand Final 1929

Episode-33-1929-Coventrys-Ton-and-Goodbye-to-the-Father-of-FootballDownload

Episode 32: 1928 A Lot Depends On You Today

April 20, 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 players threatening to go on strike over pay cuts, the VFA looking to affiliate with the VFL, a Brownlow winner off to the USA to teach American footballers to kick and meet Hollywood stars and Geelong’s grandstand burns down so the players get new boots. 1928 was a busy season as the economy started to look tougher clubs looked to save money. But how could the Magpies defend their premiership if they went on strike? And how did Fitzroy have three more scoring shots than the Cats but lose by 76 points? The Bulldog makes an appearance at Footscray but not everyone is pleased. The VFL gets its first draw in a finals series then in the Grand Final one player sets a goal kicking record that still stands today.

Collingwood 1928 Grand FInal Team
Syd Coventry and Donald Don Grand Final Captains 1928
Don (Richmond) defends against G COventry and Harris (Collingwood)
MCG Grand Final Crowd 1928
MCG from the air 1928
Collingwood Team Photo Weekly Times June 1928
Episode-32-1928-A-Lot-Depends-On-You-TodayDownload

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.