1959 VFL Grand Final

Melbourne	Essendon
17.13 (115)	11.12 (78)

	1	2	3	4
MEL	1.4 (10)	8.5 (53)	11.10 (76)	17.13 (115)
ESS	3.5 (23)	7.8 (50)	10.10 (70)	11.12 (78)

Date

26 September 1959

Stadium

Melbourne Cricket Ground

Attendance

103,506

← 1958

VFL Grand Final

1960 →

The 1959 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Melbourne Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 20 September 1959. It was the 62nd annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1959 VFL season. The match, attended by 103,506 spectators, was won by Melbourne by 37 points, marking that club's tenth premiership victory.

This was Melbourne's sixth successive Grand Final appearance. It was the second time in three years in which the two teams met in a Grand Final, with Melbourne also having won the 1957 VFL Grand Final.

Teams

[edit]

Melbourne

Essendon

Melbourne
B:	John Beckwith (c)	Tassie Johnson	John Lord
HB:	Geoff Case	Dennis Jones	Ian Thorogood
C:	Ian McLean	Laurie Mithen	Brian Dixon
HF:	Geoff Tunbridge	Clyde Laidlaw	Hassa Mann
F:	Ron Barassi	Alan Rowarth	Ian Ridley
Foll:	Bob Johnson	Dick Fenton-Smith	Frank 'Bluey' Adams
Res:	Don Williams	Peter Brenchley
Coach:	Norm Smith

Essendon
B:	Bob Shearman	John Towner	Brian Sampson
HB:	Alec Epis	Ian Shelton	Col Hebbard
C:	Alby Murdoch	Reg Burgess	Barry Capuano
HF:	Ken Peucker	Ken Fraser	Greg Sewell
F:	David Shaw	Ron Evans	John Birt
Foll:	Geoff Leek	Hugh Mitchell	Jack Clarke (c)
Res:	Barry Mackie	Graham Leydin
Coach:	Dick Reynolds

Umpire: Bill Barbour

Statistics

[edit]

Goalkickers

[edit]

Melbourne:

R Barassi 4
A Rowarth 4
F Adams 3
B Johnson 3
H Mann 1
I Ridley 1
G Tunbridge 1

Essendon:

G Sewell 4
J Clarke 2
R Evans 2
D Shaw 2
K Fraser 1

References

[edit]

AFL Tables: 1959 Grand Final
The Official statistical history of the AFL 2004
Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. ISBN 0-670-86814-0

v t e Melbourne Football Club 1959 VFL premiers
Melbourne 17.13 (115) defeated Essendon 11.12 (78), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
1. Fenton-Smith 2. Rowarth 4. Lord 5. McLean 6. Adams 7. Case 8. T. Johnson 9. Dixon 11. Mithen 16. B. Johnson 23. Tunbridge 24. Ridley 25. Williams 26. Thorogood 27. Jones 29. Mann 30. Beckwith (c) 31. Barassi 35. Laidlaw 38. Brenchley
Coach: Smith

v t e Melbourne Football Club
Nickname: Demons History Club honours Current squad Players Coaches Captains Honour board Awards Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy Daisy Pearce Trophy Leading goalkickers AFL coach: Simon Goodwin AFL captain: Max Gawn AFLW coach: Mick Stinear AFLW captain: Kate Hore
VFL/AFL home grounds	Melbourne Cricket Ground (1897–1941; 1946–) Punt Road Oval (1942–45)
AFLW home grounds	Casey Fields (2017–)
VFL/AFL premierships (13)	1900 1926 1939 1940 1941 1948 1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1964 2021
Runner-up (5)	1946 1954 1958 1988 2000
AFLW premierships (1)	2022 (S7)
Runner-up (1)	2022 (S6)
Seasons (150) (non-club articles in italics)	1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Women's seasons (7)	2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (S6) 2022 (S7) 2023
Related articles	2009 tanking scandal Casey Demons King's Birthday match Melbourne Hawks
Melbourne did not field a team from 1916–1918 due to the First World War

v t e Essendon Football Club
Nickname: Bombers History Premierships Records Players Captains Coaches Honours Crichton Medal Leading goalkickers AFL coach: Brad Scott AFL captain: Dyson Heppell AFLW coach: Natalie Wood AFLW co-captains: Stephanie Cain & Bonnie Toogood
VFL/AFL home grounds	East Melbourne Cricket Ground (1897–1921) Windy Hill (1922–1991) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1992–) Docklands Stadium (2000–)
VFA premierships (4)	1891 1892 1893 1894
VFL/AFL premierships (16)	1897 1901 1911 1912 1923 1924 1942 1946 1949 1950 1962 1965 1984 1985 1993 2000
Runner-up (14)	1898 1902 1908 1941 1943 1947 1948 1951 1957 1959 1968 1983 1990 2001
VFA/VFL/AFL seasons (144)	1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
AFLW home grounds	North Port Oval (2022 (S7)) Windy Hill (2023–)
AFLW seasons (2)	2022 (S7) 2023
Related articles	Anzac Day match Archer–Hird Medal Carlton rivalry Dreamtime at the 'G The Hangar Line in the Sand Match Round 16, 2001 comeback against North Melbourne Supplements saga West Melbourne Football Club
Essendon did not participate in the 1916 and 1917 VFL seasons due to World War I (indicated in grey)

Australian Football League

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Grand finals

Venues

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Known as the Victorian Football League from 1897–1989; no grand finals were held in 1897 and 1924

Teams

Statistics

Goalkickers

References

See also