McKenna’s club record 143 goals in the 1970 season received 64 per cent of the fans’ votes, miles ahead of Gordon Coventry’s club record 17 goals in a match against Fitzroy in 1930.
Only six per cent voted for Dick Lee’s famous specky against Carlton in 1914.
The 1970 season marked the beginning of a golden run for McKenna, who reached the ton in three successive seasons (1970-1972) as the Magpies reached the finals on all three occasions.
But his record of 143 goals and 78 behinds in 22 games in the 1970 season seems set to stand for many years to come.
The nearest any Magpie has come in the post-McKenna era is the straight 100 goals kicked by Brian Taylor in 1986. Although Peter Daicos (97 in 1990) and Sav Rocca (93 in 1995) have come close to reaching the ton, it appears that McKenna’s record will remain safe for some time.
McKenna played 180 games in the black and white and bagged a total of 838 in his 11 years at Victoria Park in his No. 6 guernsey.
At the age of 23, McKenna kick nine big ones against arch rival Carlton at Victoria Park in round 19 to reach the ton for the first time and propel the Pies to a 77-point win. McKenna described the sensation of being mobbed by the 39,959 strong crowd to Michael Roberts in the April 1998 edition of In Black and White:
“It seemed like the whole ground was covered with fans. It was a wonderful feeling. It was such a big crowd, such a big match, it was all really exciting”.
McKenna’s description of his 100th goal doesn’t make it sound as glamorous as most would imagine.
“We were in the goal square and I was standing right alongside Twiggy Dunne. The ball came to us, and my most vivid memory is that Twiggy actually kicked at the ball and missed. He had a fresh air shot! He tried to kick it off the ground but missed and I just soccered it through from about two feet. It wasn’t the most spectacular way of getting 100 goals”.
