Vote now on Facebook - the premierships
This week's Facebook poll looks at three of Collingwood's most famous premierships.
Each week, the official Collingwood Facebook page is nominating three moments for its fans to vote on to decide which one will be the next to feature in the page’s new timeline.
The options for this week are Collingwood’s first premiership in 1902, the club’s unmatched fourth flag in a row in 1930 and the shock 1958 Grand Final win over Melbourne.
Click here to VOTE for your moment on Facebook now.
Make sure you like Collingwood on Facebook to have your say and choose the moment you think should be included next in Collingwood’s official Facebook timeline.
The moments included in our timeline so far include Collingwood’s 2010 premiership, memorable wins over the Brisbane Lions and Geelong, Mick Malthouse’s first win as coach and the famous ANZAC Day draw.
1902 Grand Final
Collingwood recorded its first ever VFL premiership in only the sixth season of the new competition when it comfortably accounted for Essendon by 33 points in the first Grand Final to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 20 September, 1902. The Magpies, who had finished in top spot after the 17 home and away rounds, led by only a point at half time but ran away with the match with a six goal to one second half. The Argus described the method behind Collingwood’s win as requiring the “individuality…to give way to the combination”. Charlie Pannam was one of the key players in the victory, one of three he won with the club.
Collingwood 9.6 (60)
Essendon 3.9 (27)
Goals - Rowell 3, E.Lockwood 3, Pears, Allan, Angus
Best - Pannam, Hailwood, F.Leach, Allan, Rowell, McCormack, Tulloch
1930 Grand Final
Geelong entered the Grand Final as favourites, and Jock McHale, Collingwood’s legendary coach, was too unwell to attend the game and was forced to listen to his side win the flag on the radio. At half time, the Magpies looked all at sea and trailed by 21 points. During the break, club official Bob Rush, himself a former premiership player, urged the Collingwood players to fight on and create history. The Pies turned the tide in the third quarter by kicking 8.6 to 0.1 to open up a match winning 32-point lead at the final change. The eventual margin was 30 points, with The Sun labelling it “one of the finest performances ever seen in football”. It secured Collingwood’s fourth premiership in succession and cemented the club’s reputation as a powerhouse on the Australian sporting landscape. The record has never been matched in the 81 years since.
Collingwood 14.16 (100)
Geelong 9.16 (70)
Goals - G.Coventry 7, Makeham 2, Beveridge, H.Collier, Edmonds, Froude, L.Murphy
Best - Makeham, G.Coventry, F.Murphy, Andrew, Clayden. H.Collier, S.Coventry, Chesswas
1958 Grand Final
Collingwood caused one of the greatest upsets in VFL/AFL history by topping a dominant Melbourne outfit that appeared destined to equal the Magpies’ treasured record of four premierships in a row. The Dees finished on top of the ladder after winning the 1955, 1956 and 1957 flags and had easily accounted for the Pies in the Second Semi-Final. But they didn’t count on the passion and determination that burned deep within the 20 Collingwood players and their coach Phonse Kyne on a very wet and sodden MCG. Melbourne got off to a flying start but their 17-point quarter time lead was quickly eroded by the gutsy Magpies in the second term to the point at which Collingwood had nudged ahead at the main break. Before the game, coach Kyne urged his players to “bleed for the club”, saying that the former Magpies of the club’s golden era of the 1920s and 1930s would be “feeling every bump, every mark and every kick…(Melbourne) want our record, don’t let them get away with it”. Inspired, Collingwood piled on an unanswered five goals in the third quarter to establish a 33 point lead at the final change. Although Melbourne threw everything it had at the last quarter, Collingwood defended grimly and eventually held on to win by 18 points. The win was described by then-President and former captain Syd Coventry as “the greatest performance in the history of the Collingwood Football Club”. It was to be Collingwood’s last premiership for 32 years.
Collingwood 12.10 (82)
Melbourne 9.10 (64)
Goals - Weideman 2, Brewer 2, Beers 2, Bennett 2, Merrett 2, M.Twomey, Fellowes
Best - Merrett, Turner, Bennett, Fellowes, Serong, Gabelich, Weideman, Harrison, Sullivan
Information for this article has been sourced from The Official Collingwood Illustrated Encyclopedia (2004) written by Michael Roberts and Glenn McFarlane.