The 1964 VFL Grand Final was an
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
game contested between the
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...
and
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
, held at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...
in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on 19 September 1964. It was the 67th annual
Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
of the
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
, staged to determine the
premiers
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
for the
1964 VFL season
The 1964 VFL season was the 68th season of the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 18 Ap ...
. The match, attended by 102,471 spectators, was won by Melbourne by a margin of 4 points, marking the club's 12th premiership victory.
This would be the last premiership won by Melbourne until
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
.
Background
Melbourne were competing in the finals for the 11th consecutive season. They were also playing in their eighth Grand Final in 11 seasons and fighting for their sixth Premiership in that time.
Match summary
With Melbourne leading by 11 points at the final break, the match is remembered for its thrilling last quarter. In the early stages, Melbourne had plenty of opportunities to kick goals but could only manage behinds, and it was Collingwood's
Des Tuddenham
Desmond Vincent Tuddenham (born 29 January 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s.
Early years and football career
Tuddenham was born and raised in Ro ...
who kicked the first goal of the term.
Seventeen minutes into the quarter, Collingwood trailed by 9 points but were within a kick when
Ray Gabelich
Raymond Thomas Gabelich (3 July 1933 – 18 July 2000) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
The son of John (1902–1988) and Elizabeth Nina "Bessie" Gabelich, nà ...
kicked a goal from a boundary throw-in. Gabelich kicked another to put them in front soon afterwards, a goal that is now regarded as one of the most famous in grand final history. He had received the ball near centre half-forward, and, due to Melbourne having spent the previous minutes in their own forward line and Collingwood moving the ball upfield quickly, there were no defenders ahead of Gabelich. A 109 kg ruckman, Gabelich ran towards the goal, bounced the ball four times, nearly losing it on each occasion, and, with Melbourne players gaining on him, put it through the big sticks to take the lead in one of the VFL/AFL's most memorable Grand Final moments.
Collingwood were now 3 points up and time-on was nearing. After the restart, Melbourne's
Barry Bourke kicked the ball into their 50-metre arc, and it was marked by rover
Hassa Mann
Harold Peter "Hassa" Mann (born 09 October 1940) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and captained Melbourne in the VFL during the 1960s. He earned the name Hassa when he was a toddler, from his cousin and future Melbourne f ...
. He was directly in front and only 20 metres out, but his shot for goal came off the side of his boot and could only manage a behind. Melbourne had another chance to win the game, however, when they kicked the ball towards the goal square. A big pack of players went for the ball, but it spilled to the ground, and Melbourne defender
Neil Crompton
Neil Crompton (born 30 July 1960) is a well-known Supercars presenter and commentator.
Racing career Highlights
According to the official V8 Supercars website, Crompton has competed in 357 various motor racing events, finishing in the first ...
gathered the ball and kicked a goal. It was his only goal of the season, and he had only been forward because he'd followed his opponent upfield.
In the final minutes, Collingwood had the ball in their forward line. Collingwood's Ian Graham had a chance to goal with a difficult snap from the boundary but missed. Melbourne held on against intense pressure from Collingwood until the siren sounded, leaving Melbourne winners by 4 points.
Teams
Umpire:
Ron Brophy Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald.
Ron or RON may also refer to:
Arts and media
* Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character
* Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character
*Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...
Statistics
Score
Goalkickers
Melbourne:
* Townsend 3
* Lord 2
* Bourke 1
* Crompton 1
* Mann 1
Collingwood:
* Gabelich 2
* Bone 1
* Dalton 1
* Graham 1
* Steer 1
* Tuddenham 1
* Waters 1
For a long time, Terry Waters was credited with two goals in the grand final. In January 2020, historians reviewed the game and determined that one of Waters goals had been scored by Ian Graham instead, and the scorecard was amended. Waters admitted that he did not remember kicking one of his goals. Prior to the change, Waters was recognised as the outright leading Collingwood goalkicker for the year, with 43 goals, but the change brought a tie between Waters and Graham, on 42 apiece.
External links
Fullpointsfooty article on the Grand Final* https://www.afl.com.au/news/367994/history-rewritten-the-remarkable-story-of-the-grand-final-goal-that-wasn-t
See also
*
1964 VFL season
The 1964 VFL season was the 68th season of the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 18 Ap ...
References
{{Australian Football League
VFL/AFL Grand Finals
Grand
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...
Melbourne Football Club
Collingwood Football Club