1954 Footscray Football Club season
The 1954 Footscray season was the club's 29th since they began competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1925. After falling short in the Preliminary final the previous season, the Bulldogs finally won through to their first Grand Final, and beat Melbourne to claim their first VFL premiership, making them the first of the teams admitted to the VFL in 1925 to do so.
| 1954 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Otto Grobbecker | ||
| Coach | Charlie Sutton | ||
| Captain(s) | Charlie Sutton | ||
| Home ground | Western Oval | ||
| VFL season | 2nd | ||
| Finals series | Premiers | ||
| Best and Fairest | Ted Whitten | ||
| Leading goalkicker | Jack Collins (84) | ||
| |||
Home-and-Away Season Summary and Results
The Bulldogs went into the 1954 VFL season as premiership contenders. However, the season did not start well with losses St Kilda and Richmond, both of which finished in the bottom four the previous season.[1] In the following two matches, against South Melbourne and Carlton, the club returned to form with Jack Collins booting eight and nine goals respectively to help propel the Bulldogs to victory.[2][3] In Round 7 against Hawthorn at Glenferrie Oval, Footscray, led by Don Ross after Ted Whitten injured his shoulder, came from 23 points down at the last break to kick seven goals and win by nine points.[4] With Richmond upsetting Collingwood at Victoria Park that same day, the Bulldogs went to the top of the ladder, where they would stay until Round 11, when they lost to Collingwood by ten points in a top-of-the-ladder clash at Victoria Park. Footscray slipped to fourth in Round 16 when, at Arden Street Oval against North Melbourne, they looked set for a win, being 13 points up with five minutes remaining, before the home side rallied to snatch a draw with a behind on the siren. With two rounds remaining and seven teams still in contention for a finals berth, the pressure was on the Bulldogs when they met second-placed Essendon at Windy Hill. In a performance that set them up for their premiership success, Footscray won the match with a decisive five-goal-to-none third quarter to run out 19-point winners. Whitten was judged best on ground and Collins kicked six goals, while Essendon were clearly missing full-forward John Coleman, who had gone down with a career-ending knee injury earlier in the season.[5]
| Round | Date | Venue | Home | Score | Away | Score | Result/Margin | Ladder Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saturday 17 April | Western Oval | Footscray | 7.11 (53) | St Kilda | 9.10 (64) | LOST by 11 | 9th |
| 2 | Saturday 24 April | Punt Road Oval | Richmond | 12.19 (91) | Footscray | 9.19 (73) | LOST by 18 | 11th |
| 3 | Saturday 1 May | Western Oval | Footscray | 17.14 (116) | South Melbourne | 3.11 (29) | WON by 87 | 7th |
| 4 | Saturday 8 May | Princes Park | Carlton | 17.21 (123) | Footscray | 20.14 (134) | WON by 11 | 5th |
| 5 | Saturday 15 May | Western Oval | Footscray | 11.7 (73) | North Melbourne | 5.5 (35) | WON by 38 | 3rd |
| 6 | Saturday 22 May | Western Oval | Footscray | 12.8 (80) | Essendon | 4.7 (31) | WON by 49 | 2nd |
| 7 | Saturday 29 May | Glenferrie Oval | Hawthorn | 10.9 (69) | Footscray | 11.12 (78) | WON by 9 | 1st |
| 8 | Saturday 5 June | Western Oval | Footscray | 13.9 (87) | Fitzroy | 10.14 (74) | WON by 13 | 1st |
| 9 | Monday 14 June | Kardinia Park | Geelong | 9.13 (67) | Footscray | 8.15 (63) | LOST by 4 | 1st |
| 10 | Saturday 26 June | Western Oval | Footscray | 10.13 (73) | Melbourne | 8.9 (57) | WON by 16 | 1st |
| 11 | Saturday 3 July | Victoria Park | Collingwood | 12.10 (82) | Footscray | 10.12 (72) | LOST by 10 | 2nd |
| 12 | Saturday 10 July | Junction Oval | St Kilda | 9.8 (62) | Footscray | 13.14 (92) | WON by 30 | 2nd |
| 13 | Saturday 24 July | Western Oval | Footscray | 6.9 (45) | Richmond | 6.13 (49) | LOST by 4 | 2nd |
| 14 | Saturday 31 July | Lake Oval | South Melbourne | 6.5 (41) | Footscray | 11.12 (78) | WON by 37 | 2nd |
| 15 | Saturday 7 August | Western Oval | Footscray | 6.7 (43) | Carlton | 8.12 (60) | LOST by 17 | 3rd |
| 16 | Saturday 14 August | Arden Street Oval | North Melbourne | 9.14 (68) | Footscray | 9.14 (68) | DRAWN | 4th |
| 17 | Saturday 21 August | Windy Hill | Essendon | 7.17 (59) | Footscray | 11.12 (78) | WON by 19 | 2nd |
| 18 | Saturday 28 August | Western Oval | Footscray | 17.15 (117) | Hawthorn | 5.4 (34) | WON by 83 | 2nd |
1954 Finals Series
Captain-coach Charlie Sutton, who had been struggling since injuring his left knee against Carlton, was declared fit by the selectors to play against Geelong in the Semi Final after getting through a training session,[6] but pulled out at the last minute on advice of the club doctor.[7] Lionel Ryan, who had been dropped to accommodate Sutton, was reinstated to the team, and defender Wally Donald took charge of the team on the field.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground was undergoing renovation work to be ready for the 1956 Summer Olympics, and the demolition of the public stand left a gap for the breeze to affect the game. Geelong kicked with the wind in the first quarter, and in the early going it looked like the pace and class which had taken them to the last three Grand Finals would again do the job. The Bulldogs began to work their way into the match, led by their defence – the finest in the League – which managed to restrict Geelong to four goals whilst themselves kicking three against the wind, goals that would be crucial in deciding the outcome.[7][8]
| Round | Date | Venue | Crowd | Opposition | Team score | Oppos. score | Result/Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semi Final | Saturday 11 September | MCG | 64,686 | Geelong | 11.19 (85) | 8.14 (62) | WON by 23 |
| Grand Final | Saturday 25 September | MCG | 80,897 | Melbourne | 15.12 (102) | 7.9 (51) | WON by 52 |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geelong | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1630 | 1225 | 133.1 | 52 | Finals Series |
| 2 | Footscray (P) | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1423 | 1095 | 130.0 | 46 | |
| 3 | North Melbourne | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1355 | 1361 | 99.6 | 46 | |
| 4 | Melbourne | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1504 | 1239 | 121.4 | 44 | |
| 5 | Richmond | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1503 | 1310 | 114.7 | 40 | |
| 6 | Essendon | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1471 | 1364 | 107.8 | 40 | |
| 7 | Collingwood | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1312 | 1301 | 100.8 | 40 | |
| 8 | Carlton | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1382 | 1391 | 99.4 | 32 | |
| 9 | Hawthorn | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1177 | 1337 | 88.0 | 32 | |
| 10 | South Melbourne | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1209 | 1482 | 81.6 | 24 | |
| 11 | Fitzroy | 18 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 1174 | 1604 | 73.2 | 18 | |
| 12 | St Kilda | 18 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 1149 | 1580 | 72.7 | 18 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers.
See also
References
- "TIGERS WIN ALL WAY". The Argus. Melbourne. 26 April 1954. p. 17. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
- "COLLINS LEADS REVIVAL". The Argus. Melbourne. 3 May 1954. p. 16. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
- Bickford, George (10 May 1954). "Collins beats Carlton". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 16. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
- Buggy, Hugh (30 May 1954). "BULLDOGS CRASH THROUGH 7 GOALS TO SNATCH GAME". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 11. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
- Buggy, Hugh (23 August 1954). "BULLDOG BURST SHATTERS DONS Magnificent 3rd term sweeps aside baffled defence". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 19. Retrieved 9 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- Beames, Percy (10 September 1954). "BULLDOGS TAKE RISK WITH SUTTON". The Age (31, 000). Victoria, Australia. p. 10. Retrieved 10 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- Beames, Percy (13 September 1954). "BULLDOGS TOO STRONG FOR GEELONG". The Age (31, 002). Victoria, Australia. p. 16. Retrieved 10 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- Buggy, Hugh (13 September 1954). "SEMI WIN SHOWS THE REAL BULLDOG SPIRIT". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 19. Retrieved 10 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
External links
- 1954 Results at AFL Tables