The 1966 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

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

, 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 ...

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 24 September 1966. It was the 69th 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 ...

(VFL), 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 1966 VFL season. The match, attended by 101,655 spectators, was won by St Kilda by a margin of one point, marking that club's first and only premiership victory to date.

Background

Both and were coming off consecutive VFL Grand final defeats: the Magpies in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

against and the Saints after losing the previous year to . In a thrilling finish to the home-and-away season, Collingwood finished minor premiers after easily beating at Victoria Park, while St Kilda, Geelong, Essendon and Richmond fought for the remaining three qualifying spots. St Kilda managed to hold on to second place in a thrilling contest against at Moorabbin, while Geelong and Essendon also won their games, which meant that Richmond would miss the finals despite its big win over Fitzroy.

Teams

Umpire – Jeff Crouch

Match summary

Twenty-five minutes into the final quarter and with scores level, Collingwood's

Wayne Richardson Wayne Richardson (born 8 December 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer in the (then) Victorian Football League. Collingwood Football Club snared Wayne Richardson from South Fremantle Football Club in 1965 before he had made his se ...

had a shot at goal on the run but kicked it out of bounds on the full. St Kilda then began to work the ball out of defence after winning the boundary throw-in. A kick from Ian Cooper saw the ball make its way to centre half-forward. Collingwood defender

Ted Potter Ted Potter (born 11 November 1944) is a former Australian rules footballer. A key defender, he was a regular in the Collingwood Magpies The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Aust ...

failed to mark the ball low down, and with the players scrummaging for the ball, a bounce was called.

Brian Mynott Brian Richard Mynott (born 29 January 1944) is a former 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 o ...

won the tap for the Saints, but it was intercepted by Potter, who was quickly tackled. Potter, however, managed to get out a handball, but it found its way to St Kilda's

Barry Breen Barry Breen (born 7 January 1948) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League, playing with St Kilda Football Club. Breen attended De La Salle College, Malvern. His grandfather was a Gaelic footballer with the Kerr ...

, who snapped at goal and kicked a behind to put his side in front. With about a minute left on the clock, Collingwood were able to work the ball towards their forward line. St Kilda's Bob Murray, however, was able to take a mark at centre half-back, and the siren sounded after he kicked the ball towards the wing. One of the timekeepers was an avid St Kilda fan and blew the final siren for more than ten seconds.

Jim Main Jim Main (1943 – August 2022) was an Australian sports journalist and writer. He is known especially for his coverage of Australian rules football. He studied law at the University of Melbourne and later graduated from La Trobe University ...

Background

Teams

Match summary

Scorecard

References

External links

See also