1961 VFL Grand Final

Hawthorn	Footscray
13.16 (94)	7.9 (51)

	1	2	3	4
HAW	2.4 (16)	3.9 (27)	9.15 (69)	13.16 (94)
FOO	4.2 (26)	5.5 (35)	6.6 (42)	7.9 (51)

Date

23 September 1961

Stadium

Melbourne Cricket Ground

Attendance

107,935

← 1960

VFL Grand Final

1962 →

The 1961 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Footscray Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 23 September 1961. It was the 65th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1961 VFL season. The match, attended by 107,935 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 43 points, marking that club's first premiership victory.

Hawthorn, who were competing in their inaugural VFL Grand Final despite being in the competition since 1925, came into the game as minor premiers and favourites. Footscray, the 1954 premiership winners, had finished the home and away season in fourth place but upset the Ron Barassi-led Melbourne by 27 points in the Preliminary Final to end the Demons' sequence of seven consecutive Grand Final appearances.

It was a young Footscray side, with only two players coming into the game with more than 80 VFL games behind them, although one of them was veteran Ted Whitten. Hawthorn's Brendan Edwards was playing in his 100th VFL game and dominated in the centre. Despite trailing at half time, Hawthorn won comfortably in the end courtesy of a dominant third quarter in which they kicked six goals to just one by Footscray.

The Bulldogs did not appear in another Grand Final until 2016, which they won.

The 1961 Grand Final is the oldest currently available on DVD. Videos of the 1962, 1963 and 1964 Grand Finals have not yet surfaced. It is also the first Grand Final in VFL/AFL history that did not include any of the original eight clubs that formed the VFL in 1897 (Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St. Kilda, South Melbourne).

Teams

Hawthorn
B:	29 Reg Poole	1 Les Kaine	10 Graham Cooper
HB:	20 Sted Hay	28 John McArthur	16 Cam McPherson
C:	30 Colin Youren	9 Brendan Edwards	5 John Fisher
HF:	14 Ian Mort	31 Garry Young	4 Morton Browne
F:	11 Malcolm Hill	23 John Peck	19 Jack Cunningham
Foll:	12 John Winneke	2 Graham Arthur (c)	7 Ian Law
Reserve(s):	22 Phil Hay	3 Ron Nalder
Coach:	John Kennedy, Sr.

Footscray
B:	28 Charlie Evans	29 Bernie Lee	4 Bob Ware
HB:	25 John Jillard	23 John Hoiles	38 Barry Ion
C:	12 Alex Gardiner	8 Bob Spargo	37 Ian Bryant
HF:	15 John Quarrell	17 Graham Ion	30 Barney McKellar
F:	3 Ted Whitten (c)	24 Jack Slattery	6 Keith Beamish
Foll:	14 John Schultz	9 Cameron McDonald	2 Merv Hobbs
Reserve(s):	16 Ken Duff	5 Charlie Stewart
Coach:	Ted Whitten

Scoreboard

Team	1	2	3	Final
Hawthorn	2.4	3.9	9.15	13.16 (94)
Footscray	4.2	5.5	6.6	7.9 (51)

Statistics

Goal kickers

Hawthorn:

Browne 3
Law 2
Mort 2
Arthur 1
Cunningham 1
Edwards 1
Hill 1
Nalder 1
Peck 1

Footscray:

Whitten 3
Quarrell 2
Hobbs 1
McKellar 1

Attendance

MCG attendance - 107,935

References

1961 Grand Final page on AFL Tables
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

Victorian/Australian Football League Grand Finals

VFL Grand Finals	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 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

AFL Grand Finals	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

Hawthorn Football Club 1961 VFL premiers

Hawthorn 13.16 (94) defeated Footscray 7.9 (51), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

1. Kaine 2. Arthur (c) 3. Nalder 4. Browne 5. Fisher 7. Law 9. Edwards 10. Cooper 11. Hill 12. Winneke 14. Mort 19. Cunningham 20. S. Hay 22. P. Hay 23. Peck 26. McPherson 28. McArthur 29. Poole 30. Youren 31. Young

Coach: Kennedy

Hawthorn Football Club

History Records Players Captains Coaches Current squad Peter Crimmins Medal Leading goalkickers Captain: Luke Hodge Coach: Alastair Clarkson Nickname: Hawks

Stadiums	Glenferrie Oval (1925–73) Princes Park (1974–91) Waverley Park (1992–99) Melbourne Cricket Ground (2000–present) York Park (2001–present)

Premierships (13)	1961 1971 1976 1978 1983 1986 1988 1989 1991 2008 2013 2014 2015

Seasons (93)	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

Related articles	Blue Ribbon Cup Beyond Blue Cup Line in the sand match Kennett curse Melbourne Hawks

Western Bulldogs

History Records Current squad Players Captains Coaches Awards Charles Sutton Medal Leading goalkickers Captain: Robert Murphy Coach: Luke Beveridge

Home grounds	Whitten Oval (1925–41; 1943–97) Yarraville Oval (1942) Princes Park (1997–99) Docklands Stadium (2000–present)

Premierships (2)	1954 2016

Seasons (92)	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

Related articles	VFL team Year of the Dogs Fitzroy Bulldogs

Known as Footscray Football Club from 1925–96

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1961 VFL Grand Final

Teams

Scoreboard

Statistics

Goal kickers

Attendance

References

See also