From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1937 VFL grand final

Grand final of the 1937 Victorian Football League season

Field	Value
year	1937
competition	VFL
home	[[File:Geelong Football Club Colours.svg	50px]]

home_score	18.14 (122)
away	[[File:Collingwood icon.svg	50px]]

away_score	12.18 (90)
home_abbr	GEE
away_abbr	COLL
home_qtr1	3.3 (21)
home_qtr2	8.5 (53)
home_qtr3	12.8 (80)
home_qtr4	18.14 (122)
away_qtr1	6.3 (39)
away_qtr2	8.10 (58)
away_qtr3	11.14 (80)
away_qtr4	12.18 (90)
date	25 September 1937
attendance	88,540
stadium	Melbourne Cricket Ground
last	1936
next	1938

The 1937 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 1937. It was the 39th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1937 VFL season. The match, attended by a then-record crowd of 88,540 spectators, was won by Geelong by a margin of 32 points, marking that club's third premiership victory and first since winning the 1931 VFL Grand Final.

Due to the excellent display of skills, as well as the vigorous but fair play, and the closeness of the contest that was not decided until late in the last quarter, this Grand Final was regarded by many contemporaries as the greatest ever played to that point.

Background

Geelong took out the minor premiership by finishing with 15 wins from 18 games. A 12-point win over Melbourne saw Geelong advance to the grand final against reigning premiers Collingwood. Collingwood were backed as "hot favourites".

Teams

{{Australian rules football kit	pattern_b = _thinwhitehoops	pattern_sh =	pattern_so = _3whitehoops	body = 1C3C63	shorts = 000000	socks = 1C3C63	title = Geelong	{{Australian rules football kit	pattern_b = _blackstripes	pattern_sh =	pattern_so =	body = ffffff	shorts = ffffff	socks = 000000	title = Collingwood

	backpocket1 = Bernie Hore	fullback = Reg Hickey (c)	Allan Everett]]	Jack Grant]]	centrehalfback = Joe Sellwood	halfbackflank2 = Tom Arklay	wing1 = Laurie Slack	centre = Fred Hawking	wing2 = Angie Muller	halfforwardflank1 = Jim Wills	centrehalfforward = Gordon Abbott	halfforwardflank2 = Clive Coles	forwardpocket1 = Jack Metherell	fullforward = Les Hardiman	Jack Evans]]	ruck = Peter Hardiman	ruckrover = George Dougherty	rover = Tommy Quinn (vc)	reserve1 = Geoff Mahon	reserve2 =	coach = Reg Hickey}}		backpocket1 = Harold Rumney	fullback = Jack Regan	backpocket2 = Bervyn Woods	Jack Ross]]	centrehalfback = Marcus Boyall	halfbackflank2 = Fred Froude	wing1 = Jack Carmody	centre = Marcus Whelan	wing2 = Ron Dowling	halfforwardflank1 = Des Fothergill	Ron Todd]]	halfforwardflank2 = Vin Doherty	forwardpocket1 = Phonse Kyne	fullforward = Gordon Coventry	forwardpocket2 = Alby Pannam	ruck = Albert Collier	ruckrover = Percy Bowyer	rover = Harry Collier (c)	reserve1 = Len Murphy	reserve2 =	coach = Jock McHale

Match Summary

Game Summary

Collingwood captain Harry Collier won the toss and the Magpies kicked with a slight breeze. The Magpies raced to an early three-goal lead before Geelong cut the deficit to five points at the main break. Scores were level at three-quarter time before a six-goal to one final term saw the Cats take the flag.

Critical Reviews

The game was universally praised by the football media. In his match report for The Argus, former Melbourne star and Brownlow medallist Ivor Warne-Smith was particularly effusive about the fair nature of the spectacle:

It was all clean, open football that was a delight to watch and by giving such an exhibition of manly, fair play Geelong and Collingwood have set an example of the way to play the game which should be followed by other teams for all time.

Scorecard

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Geelong	3.3	8.5	12.8	18.14	18.14 (122)
Collingwood	6.3	8.10	11.14	12.18	12.18 (90)

Goal kickers

Aftermath

According to the Geelong Advertiser, the Geelong players were accorded a rousing public reception when they returned via a special evening train. However, two players were unable to board and had to wait at Spencer Street for the ordinary train back to Geelong.

References

Bibliography

The Official statistical history of the AFL 2004
Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996.

References

Atkinson & Atkinson (2009), p. 143
Rob M. (2012-04-26). "1937 Grand Final.VOB".
Warne-Smith, Ivor. (27 September 1937). "HOW GEELONG WON SPLENDID GAME". [[The Argus (Melbourne)]].
(27 August 2014). "1937 Geelong Cats premiership: Decisive victory over Collingwood". geelongadvertiser.com.au.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1937-vfl-season vfl/afl-grand-finals geelong-football-club collingwood-football-club september-1937-in-sports

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1937 VFL grand final — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report