Collingwood is never far from the headlines.

As any decent news editor knows, if you can get the Magpies onto the front or back page, on the TV or as a lead online item, you'll get readers and viewers.

That results in a lot of Collingwood stories being overhyped. But there's also no denying that we've been involved in plenty of genuinely massive news stories down the years – from sackings, injuries and board coups to player revolts and internal squabbling.

So, to help mark Collingwood's 125^th anniversary season, we're counting down the 25 biggest, most explosive news stories in Magpie history, as judged by historian Michael Roberts and the Herald Sun's Glenn McFarlane.

We've ignored Premierships and on-field results, and have instead concentrated on the other elements that have so often seen our club making headlines. It's a fascinating way to look back at our often colourful history.

Each of these stories will be published by Collingwood Media on #125Wednesdays, as part of our mid-week celebration of Collingwood's 125th Anniversary.

No. 19
The Somerville Incident
By Glenn McFarlane of the Herald Sun

It started with the vision of Essendon half-forward John Somerville lying prostrate on the ground, knocked out cold, 40 metres behind play. Standing next to him was his Collingwood opponent, Duncan Wright, arms resting on his hips, staring impassively further up the field as more than 95,000 fans looked on in confusion and concern.

This split-second, sensational moment nine minutes into the first quarter of the 1965 Preliminary Final brought about one of the most contentious moments in Collingwood's history. It also led to one of football’s biggest news stories.

It ended in a howl of boos for Wright for the rest of the day, a big loss for the Magpies, an outcry from the football public and even the intervention of Victoria's chief commissioner of the police which saw the Collingwood half back become the subject of an interview at Russell St headquarters.

"The Somerville Incident", as the moment would become forever known, impacted on the life of the two 25-year-old VFL footballers for decades afterwards. It cost Somerville two nights in hospital and the chance to play in the following weekend's premiership side. He would play for only two more seasons across a further 28 games.

It cost Wright his career in Black and White, with that Preliminary Final being his 23rd and final game for the club.

Commentator Alan 'Butch' Gale wondered whether the heat of the day had been too much for Somerville, saying: "The boy might have fainted". But he and the rest of the crowd knew what most likely happened, though there were few eyewitnesses coming forward to offer the real reason as to why the Bomber forward had come to be knocked out.

Years later, in the Sporting Globe, Somerville would say: "Somebody suggested it could have been something I ate ... except I had a bad dose of concussion and bruises and cuts to my jaw and cheekbone."

Acting on the club's advice, Wright said nothing initially, other than to claim he "did nothing wrong". Almost four decades later, he finally revealed his version of events, suggesting Somerville had been niggling him, back-kicking him and grabbing him "by the nuts".

Wright explained: "I told him three times to stop, but he (Somerville) wouldn't listen. You can work out for yourself what happened next."

What happened next, Wright said many years later, was that he struck Somerville because he had been provoked to the point where he felt he had to act, though he would come to wish that he hadn’t.

From the moment that the incident happened, a tense atmosphere was said to have come over the MCG. Incensed Essendon supporters and even those without an emotional attachment to either side booed Wright with a fervour rarely seen at a football match. Somerville's teammates exacted their revenge in the best possible way, by outgunning Collingwood and easily going on to win the match - and ultimately the premiership the following week.

That wasn’t the end of it. Far from it, there was a massive outcry following the game.

While the field umpire, and goal and boundary umpires had not seen the incident, other football officials were shocked by the bad publicity the incident had caused on such a big stage. Victorian Police Commissioner Rupert Arnold, who had attended the game, called for an immediate inquiry: “We do not normally investigate this type of thing, but I was at the game on Saturday, and felt this was one case in which a police investigation should be made.”

Wright was interviewed by police, while in the presence of former Magpie player and criminal lawyer Frank Galbally, refusing to say anything other than "no comment" to the grilling he received from the police.

A lack of firm evidence or credible eyewitnesses who had seen the incident meant there was little the VFL, or even the police, could so to take the matter further. Wright was never charged by either, though in the court of public opinion, he knew he was doomed.

Wherever he went in the weeks and months after – and even the years after – he would always be recognised for that moment on the MCG turf on a late September’s afternoon in 1965. His mother even got a threatening poison pen letter.

But the worst part of it all came just before the start of the 1966 season, when Wright was told his services were no longer required at Victoria Park. The excuse was poor form and team balance, but he knew his actions the previous year - and the external pressures that came from it - could be the only reason for his sacking.