1897 VFL finals series

December 2017 December 2017 VFL Finals 1897 21 August – 4 September 1897 4 6 8,000 (second round final, vs. ) 1898 The Victorian Football League's 1897 finals series determined the top four final positions of the 1897 VFL season. It began on the weekend of 21 August and ended on the weekend of 3 September. was crowned the 1897 VFL premiers, finishing the finals series on top of the mini-ladder. right|thumb|250px|The 1897 premiers, .Players (from left): Stuckey (c), Sykes, Waugh, Kearney, Officer, Anderson, Collins, Gavin, Campbell, Cochrane, Cleghorn, Vautin, Wright, Kinnear, Forbes, Croft, O'Loughlin, Barry, Martin, Groves. Final ladder right|100px|thumb|Charles Coles played 13 games and kicked 17 goals in the 1897 season,http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/C/Charlie_Coles.html Charlie Coles AFL Tables 2009-07-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20100717214111/http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/players/C/Charlie_Coles.html 2010-07-17 live and was instrumental in helping finish on top of the ladder after the home and away season. Ladder http://afltables.com/afl/seas/1897.html AFL Tables - 1897 Season Scores AFL Tables 2008-12-23 https://web.archive.org/web/20090114221113/http://afltables.com/afl/seas/1897.html 14 January 2009 live Finals system Abandoned systems When the VFL was initially established at the end of 1896, it immediately announced that a finals series would be played. However, there were two other announcements of different finals formats, before the system used was ultimately decided upon late in the season. The format that was originally announced in October 1896 was that after fourteen weeks of home-and-away matches, a finals series would be played as a simple four-team knock-out tournament amongst the top four clubs, and the gate takings from the semi-finals would be donated to charity.New Football Association – Limited to eight clubs 3 October 1896 10 The Argus By February 1897, the knock-out tournament had been abandoned in favour of a system that bore some similarities to the Page–McIntyre system which would ultimately come into use in 1931.The New Football League – Its Plan of Campaign 4 February 1897 6 The Argus In it, matches were to be played as follows: Week One: Two matches played: one between 1st vs 2nd, and one between 3rd vs 4th. As originally intended, the takings from these matches would go to charity. Week Two: Two matches played: one between the winners from Week One and another between the losers from Week One. Week Three: The two winners from Week Two would play against each other in a Final for the premiership. Drawn matches would be decided by twenty minutes of extra time, or if still drawn after extra time, by a replay the following week. It was realized during the season that this finals system was not entirely fair, particularly since the results of the first week of finals were somewhat meaningless; nevertheless, the league was prepared to proceed with the system right up to its scheduled commencement on 14 August. However, when inclement weather on that weekend forced the postponement of the charity round, the league used this opportunity to abandon this finals system and develop a new one.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9167558 THE FOOTBALL SEASON. POSTPONEMENT OF CHARITY MATCHES. The Argus Melbourne 16 August 1897 14 October 2014 7 National Library of Australia 1897 finals system On 17 August 1897, a new system was decided upon. The new system comprised a round-robin amongst the top four, with the provision for a play-off match for the premiership depending on the results of that round-robin.18 August 1897 Football – Victorian Football League – the Premiership Question The Argus 3 The finals system was as follows: The top four teams were to play off against each other in a round-robin series played over the following three weekends. The match-ups in the first week would be drawn by lot, the match-ups in the second week would be determined by pairing the winners and the losers from the first week against each other, and the remaining pairings would then contest the third week. If one club finished as the outright winner of the round-robin series on win–loss record (i.e. without using percentage as a tie-breaker), that club would automatically win the premiership. If two clubs had finished with the same win–loss record, those two teams would contest a Final on the following Saturday to decide the premiership. If three (or all four) clubs had finished with the same win–loss record, the top two clubs as determined by using percentage as a tie-breaker would contest a Final on the following Saturday to decide the premiership. As originally planned, the takings for the first week of the finals were donated to charity; the remaining takings were divided amongst the league. Venue controversy A point of contention was the venue for the finals matches. The venues were originally to be drawn by lot; however, in early August, the league decided to fix the venues in advance, and in doing so did not schedule a final at Geelong's home ground of Corio Oval, which offered much lower gate takings than the four venues in Melbourne where the matches were originally scheduled (the MCG, the Brunswick Street Oval, the Lake Oval and the East Melbourne Cricket Ground).7 August 1897 The Football Premiership – Arrangements for the finals The Argus 11 This decision was later reversed after Geelong, who had won the minor premiership, lodged an official complaint with the league stating that this arrangement would be unfair to the club and its supporters. The league agreed with this assessment, and when the finals system was determined on August 17, Geelong was scheduled to host its match in the first week. Matches Week one right|thumb|100px|Tod Collins kicked 2 goals and was named in 's best players in this 1st round match against . First round final ( vs. ) staged a tremendous last-quarter fightback to beat by a goal. Geelong were unable to stop an Essendon comeback in which Tod Collins and Arthur Cleghorn reduced the deficit to a goal, before an error by Geelong player Henry Young let Colin Campbell in for the equalising goal. Essendon player Harry Wright scored a goal soon after, and the game was sealed.Atkinson Graeme The Complete Book of AFL Finals The Five Mile Press 2002 978-1-86503-892-6Essendon win at Geelong http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9170424 6 July 2010 The Argus 23 August 1897 Melbourne Observer 6 First round final Saturday, 21 August (2:30 pm) 1.5 (11) 1.6 (12) 2.10 (22) 3.11 (29) James, Quinn, White Maguire, Burns, McCallum, Conway, Pontin, Brockwell A 0.2 (2) 1.4 (10) 1.4 (10) 5.5 (35) T. Collins 2, Campbell, Cleghorn, Wright Forbes, Kearney, Vautin, Barry, Croft, T. Collins Corio Oval 5,000 Report Crapp * This was the only finals match to be played in Geelong until 2013.https://www.geelongcats.com.au/news/35838/five-great-games-cats-v-dockers 5 great games: Cats v Freo Geelong Football Club McNicol Adam April 8, 2015 April 17, 2019 First-round final ( vs. ) Collingwood narrowly defeated Melbourne in probably the finest game of the season. Collingwood's form had vastly improved, although the Melbourne side was sadly depleted through injuries. right|100px|thumb|Melbourne's Jack Leith kicked four goals in the first-round match against , the equal-highest individual effort for the series. First round final Saturday, 21 August (2:30 pm) 1.1 (7) 2.2 (14) 4.5 (29) 7.5 (47) Leith 4, Young, Geddes, McGinis McGinis, Wardill, Robinson, Moysey, Herring, Lewis, Leith A 1.4 (10) 5.5 (35) 6.8 (44) 7.9 (51) H. Dowdall 2, Condon, Kay, Leach, Lee, McDonald Sime, Pannam, Smith, Strickland, Leach, Gregory, Hailwood MCG 7,000 Report McCoy Week two Second-round final ( vs ) played brilliantly to account for , kicking five goals five to three points in the final term. Essendon became the only unbeaten team after round two. right|100px|thumb|Charlie Pannam, the first player to reach 100 VFL games, kicked a goal in Collingwood's second-round match against . Second round final 9.16 (70) Forbes, Cleghorn, Barry, Kearney, O'Loughlin Calleson 2, Pannam, Tulloch Waugh 4, Gavin 2, Croft, Cochrane, Cleghorn McCoy 4.6 (30) 4.3 (27) 2.2 (14) 1.2 (8) 4.11 (35) Saturday, 28 August (2:30 pm) 2.8 (20) 1.1 (7) Report 8,000 MCG H Calleson, Smith, Dowdall, Strickland, Sime Second-round final (Geelong vs Melbourne) Geelong finished the stronger team to defeat Melbourne, with a goal by Eddy James near the end winning the game for them. The loss eliminated Melbourne from premiership contention. right|thumb|100px|Peter Burns, pictured here in a South Melbourne guernsey, was widely regarded as one of the finest players in the late 1800s.Our Game: 150 Years of Footy – Part 1: It's in our blood Grant Trevor 2008 The Herald and Weekly Times Southbank, Victoria 5 "Peter Burns was regarded by many as footy's first superstar. He was so idolised by youngsters, folklore has it that many of their night-time prayers finished: "God bless Peter Burns." Burns was named in Geelong's best players in all three of their finals series matches. Second round final Saturday, 28 August (2:30 pm) 0.3 (3) 2.8 (20) 4.9 (33) 5.16 (46) James 2, Parkin, White, Young Rankin, Joe McShane, Young, Flynn, Burns, Pontin H 3.2 (20) 4.4 (28) 5.6 (36) 5.7 (37) Moysey 2, McGinis, Steele, Young Moysey, Herring, McLeod, Healing, Sutton, F Sheahan Brunswick Street Oval 4,000 Report Crapp Week three Third-round final (Essendon vs Melbourne) Entering this game, Essendon could clinch the premiership with a victory, while Melbourne was already eliminated from premiership contention. In the low-scoring encounter, Melbourne hit the post three times, and a goal by Essendon player Norman Waugh was disallowed after the bell. Edgar Croft scored the only goal of the match after marking a skewed kick in the forward pocket. Main, J. & Connolly, R. (2005). More than a century of AFL Grand Finals, 4th ed.. (Pennon Publishing) 1-877029-95-5 The match set, and still holds, the record as the lowest-scoring in the history of the VFL/AFL, with only 22 points scored between the two teams; additionally, Essendon's 1.8 (14) also remains the lowest winning score in league history.http://afltables.com/afl/teams/allteams/gamer.html AFL Tables – Game records 19 May 2012 AFL Tables right|100px|thumb|Fred McGinis was one of 's star midfielders in the late 1890s. He was best on ground for Melbourne in this match against . Third-round final Saturday, 4 September (2:30 pm) 0.1 (1) 0.4 (4) 1.6 (12) 1.8 (14) Croft Forbes, Sykes, Cleghorn, Officer, Anderson, Barry, Wright H 0.3 (3) 0.4 (4) 0.6 (6) 0.8 (8) nil McGinis, Lewis, Strahan, Wood, Herring, Wardill, Moodie, Hughes Lake Oval 3,800 Report Hood Third-round final (Geelong vs Collingwood) Entering this game, it was known that if lost to in the other match (played at the same time), then the winner of this match would face in a playoff the following week to decide the premiership. Geelong's brilliant first-quarter burst meant Collingwood's chances of making it back into the match were near impossible. However, in a thrilling match, Geelong ran out winners by less than a goal. right|100px|thumb|Controversial rover Dick Condon kicked two goals and was best on ground for in this match against . Third round final Saturday, 4 September (2:30 pm) 5.2 (32) 7.2 (44) 8.4 (52) 8.4 (52) James 2, Quinn 2, White 2, Jim McShane, Thompson Rankin, Parkin, Joe McShane, Young, McCallum, Conway, Flynn, Burns H 0.0 (0) 2.6 (18) 3.7 (25) 6.12 (48) Condon 2, Kay, Leach, Smith, Stranger Condon, Hailwood, Gregory, O'Brien, Calleson, Sime, Strickland EMCG 3,000 Report McCoy Finals series ladder main WDL 1897 Finals ladder true points y 4 2 Ess Gee Col Mel 3 0 0 119 67 2 1 0 127 120 1 2 0 129 169 0 3 0 92 111 Essendon Geelong Collingwood Melbourne #CCFFCC Q 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for. complete Premiership finals teams These are the finals teams for the top two teams in the round-robin series; and, rather than being "Grand Finalists" (because there was no Grand Final match in 1897), the players that are listed are players used in any one of the three round-robin finals played. Essendon thumb|right|75px|The first premiership-winning captain, Essendon's George Stuckey. The players listed below are in no particular order; however, the captain and vice-captain appear first. EssendonGeorge Stuckey (c)Jim Anderson (vc)Gus KearneyNed OfficerTod CollinsHugh GavinColin CampbellGeorge CochraneHarry WrightArthur CleghornGeorge VautinTed KinnearCharlie ForbesNorman WaughEdgar CroftPat O'LoughlinSon BarryGeorge MartinArchie SykesJoe GrovesGeorge HastingsDave Ferguson - - Holmesby, R. & Main, J. (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers, 7th ed.. (Bas Publishing) 978-1-920910-78-5 Geelong thumb|100px|right|Geelong's first VFL 100-gamer,http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/r.htm#Edward%20Rankin%20(Geelong) Edward Rankin (Geelong) Full Points Footy 2009-07-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20090402112819/http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/r.htm#Edward%20Rankin%20(Geelong) 2 April 2009 usurped dmy-all Teddy Rankin, featured in the best players in two of the three round robin matches. The players listed below are in no particular order; however, the captain appears first. GeelongJack Conway (c)Peter BurnsCharles ColesJim FlynnTeddy HolliganEddy JamesJim McShaneJoe McShaneJack ParkinAlf PontinJack QuinnTeddy RankinArchie ThompsonFred WhiteHenry YoungSam BrockwellTed GreevesFirth McCallumHenry McShaneTom MaguireArthur Pincott Series records right|150px|thumb|The Melbourne Cricket Ground, pictured here in 1878, hosted 8,000 fans to watch the second-round match between and . Highest team score: Essendon (2nd rd vs Coll.) – 9.16 (70) Lowest team score: Melbourne (3rd rd vs Ess.) – 0.8 (8) Highest score in one quarter: Essendon (4th qtr, 2nd rd vs Coll.) – 5.5 (35) Lowest score in one quarter: Essendon (3rd qtr, 1st rd vs Geel.) – 0.0 (0) Highest winning margin: Essendon (2nd rd vs Coll.) – 40 pts Highest aggregate score: Essendon vs Collingwood (2nd rd), Geelong vs Collingwood (3rd rd) – 100 pts Most goals kicked by a player in a game: Jack Leith (Melb.) (1st rd vs Coll.), Norman Waugh (Ess.) (2nd rd vs Coll.) – 4 goals Most goals kicked by a player for the series: Eddy James (Geel.) (1, 2, 2) – 5 goals Highest attendance for one match: Essendon vs Collingwood (MCG, 2nd rd) – 8,000 Highest gate taking for one match: Collingwood vs Melbourne (MCG, 1st rd) – £174 See also 1897 VFL season References Finals series