1951 VFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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Date | 29 September 1951 | |||||||||||||||
Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||||||||||||||
Attendance | 84,109 | |||||||||||||||
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The 1951 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 1951. It was the 54th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1951 VFL season.
The match, attended by 84,109 spectators, was won by Geelong by 11 points (the club's fourth premiership). The win by Geelong — its first since winning the 1937 VFL Grand Final — capped off a brilliant season; the team won the Minor Premiership, its back-pocket, Bernie Smith, won the Brownlow Medal, and its full-forward, George Goninon, was the league's leading goalkicker.
Essendon went into the match without star full-forward John Coleman who had been suspended in controversial circumstances for four matches. On the day of the match, champion ruckman John Gill had a heavy cold and declared himself unfit to play. At the last minute, the Essendon coach, Dick Reynolds, who had retired the year before, was re-registered as a player; Fred Payne replaced Gill in the run-on team, and Reynolds became 19th Man.[1]
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Geelong
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Essendon
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Team | 1 Qtr | 2 Qtr | 3 Qtr | Final |
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Geelong | 3.8 (26) | 4.10 (34) | 9.13 (67) | 11.15 (81) |
Essendon | 1.0 (6) | 6.2 (38) | 6.4 (40) | 10.10 (70) |
Attendance: 85,795 |
Geelong:
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Essendon:
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Coach: Hickey |
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VFL/AFL home grounds |
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AFLW home grounds |
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VFA premierships (7) | |
VFL/AFL premierships (10) | |
Runner-up (9) | |
Seasons (152) |
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Women's seasons (9) | |
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Geelong did not participate in the 1916, 1942 and 1943 VFL seasons due to the World Wars (indicated in grey) |
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VFL/AFL home grounds |
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VFA premierships (4) | |
VFL/AFL premierships (16) | |
Runner-up (14) | |
VFA/VFL/AFL seasons (144) |
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AFLW home grounds |
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AFLW seasons (2) | |
Related articles | |
Essendon did not participate in the 1916 and 1917 VFL seasons due to World War I (indicated in grey) |
Clubs |
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Grand finals |
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Second-tier and junior competitions |
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Known as the Victorian Football League from 1897–1989; no grand finals were held in 1897 and 1924 |