NON-PREMIERSHIP MATCHES

1969 GOLDEN FLEECE NIGHT PREMIERSHIP

RESULTS
ABOUT
TEAMS / FORMAT
EVENTS
MATCH REPORTS
RESULTS

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Date

Teams

1/4

1/2

3/4

Final

Margin

Venue

Day/Time

Crowd

ROUND 1

Sep-04

Footscray (11)

2.3 (15)

6.6 (42)

10.13 (73)

13.13 (91)

10

Lake Oval,

Thu

13,917

South Melbourne (9)

2.4 (16)

8.4 (52)

10.5 (65)

12.9 (81)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Sep-09

St Kilda (7)

0.5 (5)

2.11 (23)

3.16 (34)

8.21 (69)

13

Lake Oval,

Tue

9,059

Melbourne (12)

0.3 (3)

3.7 (25)

9.11 (65)

11.16 (82)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Sep-11

Essendon vs Fitzroy moved to Sept.12 due to inclement weather

Thu

 

Sep-12

Essendon (6)

2.2 (14)

9.3 (57)

11.10 (76)

14.11 (95)

6

Lake Oval,

Fri

5,432

Fitzroy (10)

4.4 (28)

4.6 (30)

11.8 (74)

15.11 (101)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Sep-16

Hawthorn (5)

5.4 (34)

11.10 (76)

14.16 (100)

16.21 (117)

29

Lake Oval,

Tue

10,287

North Melbourne (8)

1.5 (11)

4.10 (34)

6.12 (48)

11.21 (87)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

SEMI FINALS

Sep-18

Footscray (11)

1.3 (9)

5.8 (38)

6.10 (46)

6.15 (51)

5

Lake Oval,

Thu

12,516

Melbourne (12)

2.4 (16)

3.6 (24)

6.9 (45)

7.14 (56)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

Sep-23

Fitzroy v Hawthorn moved to Sept.24 due to inclement weather

Tue

 

Sep-24

Fitzroy (10)

3.2 (20)

9.4 (58)

11.7 (73)

18.10 (118)

2

Lake Oval,

Wed

7,353

Hawthorn (5)

5.7 (37)

9.8 (62)

13.9 (87)

18.12 (120)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

GRAND FINAL

Sep-29

Melbourne (12)

1.7 (13)

5.10 (40)

7.16 (58)

9.18 (72)

5

Lake Oval,

Mon

21,061

Hawthorn (5)

2.4 (16)

4.7 (31)

9.11 (65)

10.17 (77)

South Melbourne

(8:00pm)

 

ABOUT

ABOUT THE 1969 SERIES

*Hawthorn goes back-to-back - the Hawks made up for lost time, winning their second consecutive night flag (and third senior trophy overall). They joined South Melbourne (1956-57), Footscray (1963-64) and North Melbourne (1965-66) as the only teams to win successive titles.


*Crowds plummet - night crowds had steadily declined since peaking at 153,635 fans in 1965. The 1968 series had attracted a little under 90,000 people; the second worst total in series history. The situation deteriorated further in 1969 with just 79,631 spectators passing through the turnstiles. 


*Leading goalkicker of the series - as with the 1968 series, Hawthorn spearhead Peter Hudson again led the goalkicking, this time with 17 goals from his 3 night matches; one shy of the series record he equalled the previous year.
Picture
1969 Night Series Grand Final programme (private collection)
TEAMS / FORMAT

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

The series featured the eight teams that missed the VFL finals series:
5th - Hawthorn
6th - Essendon
7th - St Kilda
8th - North Melbourne
9th - South Melbourne
10th - Fitzroy
11th - Footscray
12th - Melbourne
They competed for the K.G. Luke Trophy (donated by VFL President Kenneth Luke) with the winning team receiving a $2800 cash prize.

SERIES FORMAT

The teams were randomly drawn in the opening round (5 vs 8 / 6 vs 10 / 7 vs 12 / 9 vs 11) with winning teams advancing to the next stage, and losing teams eliminated from the series.

EVENTS

NOTABLE EVENTS

*An unusual delay - the opening round Fitzroy-Essendon match ground to a halt in the third quarter when spectators on the wing threw cans at the umpire and players stepped in to support him, throwing the cans back at the crowd. The situation quickly escalated with both parties hurling cans back and forth for several minutes until order was restored and play resumed.


*Huddo kicks another bag - Hawthorn's Peter Hudson continued to torment full-backs across the league, this time kicking 8 goals against Fitzroy in the second semi-final.


*Alves promoted - Melbourne's captain Bob Johnson was unavailable for the Grand Final due to injury. In his absence vice-captain Stan Alves led the Demons.


MATCH REPORTS

MATCH REPORTS

Listed below are match reports for all 7 games played during the series. This is the first time these reports have been collated and published online or in print. Unless otherwise noted the information was sourced from The Football Record and The Age newspaper.

ROUND 1
SEMI FINALS
G.F. TEAMS
GRAND FINAL
ROUND 1

Match 1 - Thursday, September 4

FOOTSCRAY

2.3 (15)

6.6 (42)

10.13 (73)

13.13 (91)

SOUTH MELBOURNE

2.4 (16)

8.4 (52)

10.5 (65)

12.9 (81)

BEST PLAYERS:

Footscray

Bisset, Haynes, Welsh, Round, Delmenico, Jillard

South Melbourne

Harrison, Rantall, Baskin, McAuliffe, Haenan, Hoffman

GOALKICKERS:

Footscray

Bisset 3, Bryant 2, Round 2, Darcy 2, Dempsey 2, Thorpe, Casey

South Melbourne

Baskin 2, Bedford 2, McAuliffe 2, Hoffman 2, Gates 2, Haenan, Leahy

REPLACEMENTS:

Footscray

Bryant replaced Skreja (half-time)

South Melbourne

(none)

UMPIRE:

Huggins

CROWD:

13,917

SOURCE:

SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 2 - Tuesday, September 9

ST KILDA

0.5 (5)

2.11 (23)

3.16 (34)

8.21 (69)

MELBOURNE

0.3 (3)

3.7 (25)

9.11 (65)

11.16 (82)

BEST PLAYERS:

St Kilda

Ditterich, Smith, Bonney, Roberts, Cooper, Davis

Melbourne

Clark, Townsend, Bourke, Sullivan, Alves, Parke, Feldmann

GOALKICKERS:

St Kilda

Griffiths 3, Breen 2, Bonney, Smith, Elliott

Melbourne

Townsend 3, Clark 2, Bourke 2, Alves, Dillon, Parke, Wells

REPLACEMENTS:

St Kilda

unknown

Melbourne

unknown

UMPIRE:

Jolley

CROWD:

9,059

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 3 - Friday, September 12

ESSENDON

2.2 (14)

9.3 (57)

11.10 (76)

14.11 (95)

FITZROY

4.4 (28)

4.6 (30)

11.8 (74)

15.11 (101)

BEST PLAYERS:

Essendon

Fletcher, Blethyn, Davis, Stephenson, Pryor

Fitzroy

Murphy, Murray, Newnham, Andrews, Peoples, Searl

GOALKICKERS:

Essendon

Blethyn 4, B. Lake 2, Sproule 2, E. Lake 2, I. Payne, Daniel, Ellis, Collins

Fitzroy

Murphy 5, Searl 5, Ruscuklic 2, Peoples, Newnham, Brown

REPLACEMENTS:

Essendon

unknown

Fitzroy

unknown

UMPIRE:

Coates

CROWD:

5,432

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

Originally scheduled for Sept.11 but postponed due to inclement weather.

The game was delayed during the third quarter when spectators on the wing threw cans at the umpire; players threw the cans
back at the crowd and the situation escalated with both parties hurling cans back and forth for several minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 4 - Tuesday, September 16

HAWTHORN

5.4 (34)

11.10 (76)

14.16 (100)

16.21 (117)

NORTH MELBOURNE

1.5 (11)

4.10 (34)

6.12 (48)

11.21 (87)

BEST PLAYERS:

Hawthorn

Crimmins, Heath, Beck, Matthews, Wilson, Olsson, Keddie

North Melbourne

Goodingham, Dowdle, McCarthy, Taylor, Steward, Johnstone

GOALKICKERS:

Hawthorn

Hudson 6, Crimmins 3, Keddie 2, Heath 2, Meagher, Matthews, Angus

North Melbourne

Dowdle 4, McCarthy 2, Taylor 2, D. Farrant 2, O’Brien

REPLACEMENTS:

Hawthorn

Angus replaced Growcott (last quarter)

North Melbourne

Scholes replaced Dimattina (third quarter)

D. Farrant replaced Heywood (last quarter)

UMPIRE:

Crouch

CROWD:

10,287

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

The Sun has Hawthorn’s final score as 16.20 (116), The Age and the Football Record have the correct score of 16.21 (117)

 

SEMI FINALS

Match 5 - Thursday, September 18

FOOTSCRAY

1.3 (9)

5.8 (38)

6.10 (46)

6.15 (51)

MELBOURNE

2.4 (16)

3.6 (24)

6.9 (45)

7.14 (56)

BEST PLAYERS:

Footscray

Jillard, Bisset, Dempsey, Quinlan, Magee

Melbourne

Davis, Parke, Bourke, Feldmann, Hardeman, Rollinson

GOALKICKERS:

Footscray

Quinlan 2, Round 2, Darcy, Casey

Melbourne

Parke 2, Townsend 2, Dillon 2, Bourke

REPLACEMENTS:

Footscray

unknown

Melbourne

unknown

UMPIRE:

Sheales

CROWD:

12,516

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 6 - Wednesday, September 24

FITZROY

3.2 (20)

9.4 (58)

11.7 (73)

18.10 (118)

HAWTHORN

5.7 (37)

9.8 (62)

13.9 (87)

18.12 (120)

BEST PLAYERS:

Fitzroy

Ruscuklic, Zunneberg, Shearer, Lazarus, Herrod, Andrews, Murray

Hawthorn

Hudson, Heath, Keddie, Olsson, Angus, Tipping, Beck

GOALKICKERS:

Fitzroy

Ruscuklic 5, Searl 4, Padley 2, Murphy 2, Murray, Robertson, Newnham, Brown, Shearer

Hawthorn

Hudson 8, Matthews 3, Keddie 2, Angus 2, Knights, Olsson, Law

REPLACEMENTS:

Fitzroy

unknown

Hawthorn

unknown

UMPIRE:

Artso

CROWD:

7,353

SOURCE:

AGE/SUN/Football Record

NOTES:

Originally scheduled for Sept.23 but postponed due to inclement weather

 

G.F. TEAMS

MELBOURNE

COACH

John Beckwith

 

BACKS

Davis

Rowlands

Jones

HALF-BACKS

Feldmann

Hardeman

Sullivan

CENTRES

Rollinson

Clark

Jennings

HALF-FORWARDS

Alves (C)

Parke

Wells

FORWARDS

Callery

Dillon

Bourke

FOLLOWERS

Walker

Hone

ROVER

Townsend

 

RESERVES

Letcher

Stone

EMERGENCIES

Rhoden

Forster

HAWTHORN

COACH

John Kennedy

 

BACKS

Parkin (C)

Bremner

Blood

HALF-BACKS

Wilson

Bussell

Chiron

CENTRES

Angus

Murphy*

Meagher

HALF-FORWARDS

Olsson

Keddie

Heath

FORWARDS

Matthews

Hudson

Knights

FOLLOWERS

Beck

Scott

ROVER

Crimmins

 

RESERVES

Morton

Fisher

EMERGENCIES

Law*

Ferguson

*Murphy was a late withdrawal from Hawthorn's selected team

(Law was promoted to the starting eighteen)

 

GRAND FINAL

1969 VFL NIGHT PREMIERSHIP - GRAND FINAL

Match 7 - Monday, September 29

MELBOURNE

1.7 (13)

5.10 (40)

7.16 (58)

9.18 (72)

HAWTHORN

2.4 (16)

4.7 (31)

9.11 (65)

10.17 (77)

BEST PLAYERS:

Melbourne

Sullivan, Feldmann, Hardeman, Walker, Dillon, Parke, Rowlands

Hawthorn

Matthews, Knights, Beck, Bussell, Keddie, Heath, Fisher

GOALKICKERS:

Melbourne

Callery 3, Dillon 2, Alves 2, Clark, Stone

Hawthorn

Hudson 3, Knights 3, Matthews 2, Keddie, Crimmins

REPLACEMENTS:

Melbourne

(none)

Hawthorn

Morton replaced Angus (second quarter)

UMPIRE:

Sleeth

CROWD:

21,061*

SOURCE:

AGE/Football Record

NOTES:

Melbourne’s captain Bob Johnson was unavailable due to injury, in his absence Melbourne was led by Stan Alves (VC).

CROWD DISCREPANCY:

Current AFL records have the crowd for this match as 21,067.

The Football Record (28-9-1970) says it was actually 21,061.

 

Written and researched by David Eastman
First published 15/2/2017
Last updated 2/5/2022