Tag: South Melbourne

Episode 49: 1945 The Bloodbath

August 31, 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


Ted Whitten said it was the best game he ever saw, several of the players had no memory of what happened, a suspended player got reported and Ted Whitfield’s pre-match routine was to drink 6 beers with a top up at halftime. The Bloodbath was an extraordinary Grand Final played shortly  after the end of World War II where a football match occasionally broke out between the fights. 1945 was a pivotal year, supporters were back watching footy and the country waited for the end of hostilities, mourned the death of the US president and an Australian Prime Minister then saw the dawn of the Atomic Era. Listen to the episode to see how the 1945 season unfolded and how the legend of the Bloodbath began.

Tribunal Findings

The VFL tribunal heard the charges on Tuesday 2 October, and made the following findings

Ted Whitfield (South Melbourne): Suspended until 31 December 1946 for his incident with goal umpire Les Whyte in the final quarter, in which he used abusive language, then attempted to strike Whyte, then ran down the field and lifted his guernsey to try to avoid being reported. Whitfield was also suspended for two weeks for time-wasting by kicking the ball away after a free kick.
Jack Williams (South Melbourne): Suspended for twelve weeks: eight weeks for fighting with Rod McLean, and four weeks for using abusive language towards the umpires.
Don Grossman (South Melbourne): Suspended for eight weeks for striking Jim Mooring.
Jim Cleary (South Melbourne): Suspended for eight weeks for striking Ken Hands; but was cleared of a further charge of attempting to strike Bob Chitty.
Bob Chitty (Carlton: Suspended for eight weeks for elbowing Bill Williams.
Ron Savage (Carlton): Suspended for eight weeks for striking Don Grossman.
Herbie Matthews (South Melbourne): Severely reprimanded for time-wasting by throwing the ball away after a free kick.
Only Ken Hands (Carlton) and Keith Smith (South Melbourne) were found not guilty of their charges.

The Bloodbath

Book by Ian Shaw. Out of print now so may be difficult to get a new copy.

1945 Premiership Team Carlton
Bob Chitty at training
Laurie Nash
Episode 49 1945 The BloodbathDownload

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 40: 1936 Never on a Sunday

June 28, 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

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 Governor
MCG 1936 with Southern Stand under construction
VFL Grand Final Photo spread Australasian (Trove)
Collingwood 1936 VFL Premiers

1936 VFL Grand Final on YouTube

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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 22 1918: Goodbye Mr Steward

September 2, 2021 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

South Melbourne go through the 1918 home and away season with just one loss. The secret to their defeat by St Kilda did not emerge for 50 years, and what a secret it was! But how would the Southerners go in the finals? Five Grand Finals for just one premiership so far in the VFL raised some questions about South Melbourne’s ability to handle the pressure in big games. Essendon and St Kilda returned to the VFL in 1918 allowing an eight team competition and the spectators set records for war time attendance. But it was time up for the Stewards, those extra officials that could go onto the ground and report players. They would not be missed.

  • South Melbourne Collingwood Grand FInal 1918
  • Umpire Jack Elder
  • South Melbourne VFL Premiers 1918

End of World War One Soundscape from Imperial War Museum

If you want to learn more about the soundscape created by the Imperial War Museum to mark 11.00am November 11th 1918 check out these links

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-12/armistice-day-final-shots-audio-recreated-by-imperial-war-museum/10487182

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/sound-ranging-explained

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.