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.

Footscray
1954 season
PresidentOtto Grobbecker
CoachCharlie Sutton
Captain(s)Charlie Sutton
Home groundWestern Oval
VFL season2nd
Finals seriesPremiers
Best and FairestTed Whitten
Leading goalkickerJack Collins (84)
← 1953 1955 →

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]

1954 Home And Away Season

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
Main article: 1954 VFL Grand Final

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
1954 VFL 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
Source: VFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
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See also

References
  1. "TIGERS WIN ALL WAY". The Argus. Melbourne. 26 April 1954. p. 17. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  2. "COLLINS LEADS REVIVAL". The Argus. Melbourne. 3 May 1954. p. 16. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  3. Bickford, George (10 May 1954). "Collins beats Carlton". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 16. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  4. Buggy, Hugh (30 May 1954). "BULLDOGS CRASH THROUGH 7 GOALS TO SNATCH GAME". The Argus. Melbourne. p. 11. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
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