It’s finals time again

Footy cards 1953. From left: Herb Henderson (Footscray), Murray Weideman (Collingwood), Tony Ongarello (Fitzroy). Items from the Records of Coles Myer Ltd and its predecessors, ca. 1840-ca. 1990; YMS 13468. One of the great days in Melbourne’s sporting calendar is the AFL Grand Final at the MCG. The last Saturday in September is synonymous with Australian football’s greatest day at the nation’s greatest sporting venue. But not every grand final has been played at the ‘G’ (or even in September). Wars, building works and pandemics have intervened occasionally and taken the final game of the year to other venues. … and you thought the wildcard was strange In 1896, eight of the most powerful Victorian Football Association teams — Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, South Melbourne, Carlton and St Kilda — left the VFA to form the Victorian Football League (VFL) (renamed the AFL in 1990). In the first season of the VFL, 1897, there was no grand final. Rather, a round robin was played amongst the top four with Essendon crowned as premiers after winning their three finals. 1 1898 saw an even more bizarre finals series. All eight teams in the VFL, regardless of where they finished, qualified for a sectional play-off. The Argus newspaper explained this rather complicated process: The clubs are now divided into two sections, the teams finishing first, third, fifth and seventh… forming A section, while the clubs finishing second, fourth, sixth and eighth join the B section. The clubs in each section play each other and after three games the leaders in each section meet to decide the premiership. (15 August 1899, p 3) It was a bizarre system and critics of the AFL’s new wildcard round would be appalled to know that in 1898 St Kilda, who had finished the home and away season without a win, still had the chance to advance to the grand final through the sectional finals. (Unsurprisingly, the Saints received several thrashings in the sectionals). Adding to the complexity, if the top side during the home-and-away season did not win the final (or did not qualify for the final), they had the right to challenge the winner. So, in effect, a second grand final would be played. In 1898, the two sides qualifying for the grand final after the sectional games were Collingwood and Fitzroy. Fitzroy won what today we would call the grand final. Essendon, the top side over the home and away season, had not qualified for the final but had the right to challenge Fitzroy to what was, in effect, a second ‘grand final’. This again was won by the Roys. As it happened both finals were at grounds synonymous with Fitzroy — the Brunswick Street Oval and the Junction Oval — the latter being the venue for the grand final the following year, again with Fitzroy triumphant. The strange system of sectional qualifiers including all teams continued until 1900. In 1901, for the last three rounds, teams were again divided into two sections, but the results were included as part of the home-and-away season and two semi-finals were played with first versus third and second versus fourth. Collingwood and Fitzroy teams, combatants in the 1903 Grand Final. Collingwood were victorious; H96.160/809. The right for the higher team on the ladder to challenge if beaten in the final continued until 1930. In 1924, there was no grand final but each of the top four played each other across six semi-finals. The most successful team across the semi-finals (Essendon) were declared premiers. Not just the MCG Finals and challenge finals were played variously at the Junction Oval, the East Melbourne ground and the Lake Oval and finally at the MCG for Collingwood’s first premiership triumph in 1902. From 1902, the MCG has nearly always (but not always) been the venue for the grand final. Crowds increased to a massive 50,261 for Carlton’s triumph over Essendon in 1908 and then to 59,556 in 1913 when the Saints (who had won the final easily by 25 points) were the unlucky losers to Fitzroy, who as the higher finisher over the season were entitled to a rematch in the challenge final. The First World War greatly impacted the competition and the crowds, but post-war they gradually rose to 64,288 in 1925 when Geelong beat Collingwood. For the classic encounter between Carlton and Collingwood in 1938 an enormous crowd of 96,486 saw the Blues triumph, then another World War intervened and by 1942 US troops had taken over the MCG. The 1943 grand final returned to the Junction Oval while 1942, 1944 and 1945 were played at Princes Park. 1945 was the famous ‘bloodbath’ grand final, (Age, 3 October 1945) drawing 62,986 fans. I have been to some crowded games at Princes Park but nothing approaching that number. It is hard to imagine how they all fitted in! The long trip to Arctic Park For much of its history, the VFL had been thwarted by the governance of the MCG. During the 1960s they built their own ground (The Canberra Times, 9 June 1964, p 8) with an idea of having more bargaining power with the MCC trustees and a ground that they would own and control. It was a grandiose vision. Originally planned to accommodate 157,000 people (Tribune, 3 December 1969, p 8), VFL Park was never developed to that level and was hamstrung by poor transport infrastructure and its suburban location in Mulgrave. 2 Nevertheless, crowds did go to VFL Park in large numbers. On 8 June 1981, the Hawthorn–Collingwood match at VFL Park drew a whopping 92,935 fans. Due to building works at the MCG, the 1991 the grand final was moved to VFL Park. The Hawks easily accounted for the Eagles in front of 75,230. Possibly that grand final was most famous for the half-time entertainment with Angry Anderson aboard a bat-mobile, bellowing out Bound For Glory. 3 For some years after the ground ceased hosting games it was used by Hawthorn as a training facility. The vast carpark (where many football fans have spent many hours trying to get home after a game) is now a new suburb. 4 Grand finals during a pandemic During the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1919 there were limits on gatherings, masks were mandatory at church services, crowds at local sport were limited and horse racing meetings were prohibited. Our Library closed in late January, reopening in early March. Many of the restrictions were removed or adjusted over the next few months and remarkably, from the commencement of the season on 3 May 1919, the Victorian Football League played matches in front of large crowds, unphased by the dangers to public health. 5 But during 2020 and 2021, Covid interrupted all our lives with Melbourne most affected by lockdowns. Teams lived in quarantine hubs at various times. In 2020 the grand final was played in Brisbane at the Gabba, with the Tigers beating the Cats, and in 2021 Melbourne broke a 57-year drought to down the Bulldogs at Optus Stadium in Perth. The 2020 grand final was played in front of 29,707, the lowest attendance since the 1917 grand final. In 1917, 28,512 saw Collingwood triumph over Fitzroy. It was in the midst of the darkest days of the Great War, with only six teams competing. This year the MCG will again be packed, but the capacity is now just barely 100,000. We may never see the 1970 grand final record attendance of 121,696 where Carlton famously came from 44 points down at half-time to beat the Magpies. Images of the 1970 grand final by Rennie Ellis. Left: Brent Croswell (17) flies above Robert Walls (Carlton) and Peter Eakins (10 Collingwood). Syd Jackson (Carlton at left) Colin Tully (9 Collinwood) and Des Tuddenham (Collingwood at right) await the crumbs; H2010.108/9. Right: Vin Waite (Carlton) spoils Collingwood’s marking attempt. Collingwood captain Terry Waters is number 1; H2010.108/6. More about football - Australian rules football during the Great War - Australian football: from rectangles to ovals - Students in the big time: University, the VFL and ‘Doc Park’ - The triumphant and tragic life of George Coulthard - Player payments and the great bribery scandal - “Kick it to Hunter, the screw kick punter!” References - All statistics from games sourced from AFL Tables [website], accessed 2 September 2026. - It gained the nickname ‘Arctic Park’ because it always seemed to be wetter and colder than inner city Melbourne. - Polkinghorne, D (3 October 2015), No off-key encores for Deek, The Canberra Times, p 4. - Miles, D (4 April 2024), ‘Twenty-five years after Waverley Park’s last AFL game, political football moves to Tasmania stadium‘, ABC News, accessed 8 September 2026. - See our blog, When Spanish Flu came to Victoria.