1897 - Essendon's, and the League's First Flag


Scores:

ESSENDON......1.8.14
MELBOURNE.....0.8.8

The Team:

G. Stuckey, A. Sykes, N. Waugh, A. Kearney, A. Officer, J. Anderson, T. Collins, H. Gavin, C. Campbell, G. Cochrane, A. Cleghorn, G. Vautin, H. Wright, E. Kinnear, C. Forbes, E. Croft, P. O'Loughlin, E. Barry, G. Martin, J. Groves.

The start of an era...

The year 1897 was the first year the Victorian Football League played under that title, and it was a year Essendon would never forget. The mighty Bombers had the honour of winning the very first premiership of the VFL/AFL, something no other club could ever boast! In that historic first year there were eight clubs in the competition: Essendon (of course :)), Geelong, Melbourne, South Melbourne, Collingwood, Fitzroy, Carlton and St Kilda.

No Grand Final??

At the end of the season Essendon and Geelong finished on top of the ladder with eleven wins, three losses; the two teams that had really helped to build the competition. In these early days the finals system was completely different: there was no Grand Final! Essendon had to play Geelong, Collingwood and Melbourne; the winner being the team with the best record after these matches.

The Finals

Essendon defeated Geelong in Corio, 5.5.35 to Geelong's 3.11.29. In the second game, Essendon blitzed Collingwood in the last quarter to run out winners 9.16.70 to 4.6.30 (It's always good to see Collingwood go down in a final!). The final game, which could possibly be considered the Grand Final, was played against Melbourne, and the final score line was unbelievable. Essendon won with its lowest score ever against Melbourne (even up to today) and it still stands as Melbourne's lowest score ever against Es sendon. The scores were: Essendon 1.8.14 defeated Melbourne 0.8.8.

It was a good year for the Dons, the then captain, George Stuckey, also won the Stawell Gift! So if anyone asks who won the very first VFL/AFL flag, tell them the Mighty Bombers did it in style.
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