1927 VFL Grand Final

	1st	2nd	3rd	Final
Collingwood	0.1	2.6	2.9	2.13 (25)
Richmond	0.4	0.4	0.7	1.7 (13)

The 1927 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 1 October 1927. It was the season's Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1927 VFL season.

Background

Before the 1927 season, Collingwood had last won a premiership in 1919, and had suffered Grand Finals losses in 1920, 1922, 1925 & 1926. Great dissatisfaction brewed amongst the supporters, and at a meeting at the Collingwood Town Hall in March 1927 the committee was put under enormous pressure to end the 7 year premiership ‘drought’. In a remarkable response, the committee sacked the in-form Charlie Tyson as captain and player, and gave the captaincy to Syd Coventry. Coventry went on to win the 1927 Brownlow Medal and the inaugural Copeland Trophy. In the 1927 home-and-away season Collingwood had won 15 of its 18 matches to finish top of the table, with Richmond next, a game behind. Geelong and Carlton made up the Four. In the Semi-Finals, Richmond had narrowly beaten Carlton, while Collingwood comfortably defeated Geelong by 66 points, and went into the match as favourites.

Right to challenge

This season was played under the amended Argus system. If Richmond had won this match, Collingwood would have had the right to challenge Richmond to a rematch for the premiership on the following weekend, because Collingwood was the minor premier. The winner of that match would then have won the premiership.^[1]

Match summary

Torrential rain and freezing winds before and during the match made for atrocious conditions on the day. While Richmond tried to pick up the ball, Collingwood followed the instructions of coach Jock McHale by “marking on the chest, not out in front” and “kicking the ball off the ground wherever possible”. With Syd Coventry impassable in defence, Gordon Coventry booted two goals in the 2nd quarter to take his season tally to 97 and have Collingwood lead by 14 points at half time. Both goals came from mistakes by the Richmond backmen.

In the 3rd quarter Richmond responded with a fierce attack on the football and the man, with Collingwood’s Syd Coventry, Beveridge and Rumney all knocked out in the opening minutes, but the Tigers could not convert the effort into a score, and the Magpies maintained their 14-point margin at 3-quarter time. Richmond’s Fincher scored a goal early in the last quarter but the Collingwood defence held, with the Magpies winning by 12 points at the final bell.

The game's aggregate score of 3.20 (38) was the lowest-scoring game in the VFL since Round 6 1900, and is the lowest in any VFL/AFL Grand Final, the equal 11th lowest scoring game in VFL/AFL history, and the lowest scoring game (Grand Final or otherwise) in the 20th century or the 21st century.

As of 2013, Collingwood's 2.13 (25) is the lowest winning score in a Grand Final, and Richmond's 1.7 (13) is the lowest score in a Grand Final.

"The Machine"

The 1927 flag was Collingwood’s sixth premiership victory, they went on to win the next three Grand Finals. In winning four premierships in a row from 1927-1930 they set a record that has not been equaled to date. The teams from this era became known as “The Machine” for the teamwork, efficiency and effectiveness with which they played.

Teams

Collingwood
B:	Leo Wescott	Charlie Dibbs	Joe Poulter
HB:	Ernie Wilson	George Clayden	Albert Collier
C:	Harry Chesswas	Jack Beveridge	Charlie Milburn
HF:	Frank Murphy	Bob Makeham	John Harris
F:	Harold Rumney	Gordon Coventry	Harry Collier
Foll:	Syd Coventry (c)	Percy Rowe	Billy Libbis
Reserve(s):
Coach:	Jock McHale

Richmond
B:	Don Harris	Cyril Powell	Angus MacIsaac
HB:	Cyril Lilburne	Percy Bentley	Basil McCormack
C:	Frank O'Brien	Les Gallagher	Alan Geddes (c)
HF:	Harry Weidner	George Rudolph	Sam Jamison
F:	George Robinson	Jack McCormack	Jack Fincher
Foll:	Thomas O'Halloran	Bob O'Neill	Doug Hayes
Reserve(s):
Coach:	Checker Hughes

Umpire - Jack McMurray
Attendance - 34,551
Gate - ₤1,779

Statistics

Best	Collingwood	S Coventry, Makeham, Rowe, F Murphy, Clayden, Wilson, Beveridge, H Collier
	Richmond	B McCormack, Geddes, Hayes, Fincher, Harris, Rudolph, O’Halloran
Goals	Collingwood	G Coventry (2)
	Richmond	Fincher

References

↑ Rodgers, Stephen (1992), Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results, 1897–1991 (3rd ed.), Ringwood, VIC: Viking O'Neil

Atkinson, Graeme: The Complete Book of AFL Finals, 1996. ISBN 1-875971-47-5
McFarlane, Glenn and Roberts, Michael: The Machine - The Inside Story of Football's Greatest Team, 2005. ISBN 0-9586412-3-4

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

Collingwood Football Club 1927 VFL premiers

Collingwood 2.13 (25) defeated Richmond 1.7 (13), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

2. Beveridge 4. A. Collier 5. H. Collier 7. G. Coventry 8. S. Coventry (c) 10. Chesswas 11. Clayden 11. Harris 12. Dibbs 14. Libbis 15. Makeham 16. Milburn 18. Poulter 20. Murphy 22. Rowe 24. Rumney 24. Wilson 26. Wescott

Coach: McHale

Collingwood Football Club

History Records Current squad Players Captains Coaches Awards Copeland Trophy Leading goalkickers Captain: Scott Pendlebury Coach: Nathan Buckley Nickname: Magpies

Home grounds	Melbourne Cricket Ground (1992–present) Etihad Stadium (2000–present) Victoria Park (1897–1999)

Premierships (15)	1902 1903 1910 1917 1919 1927 1928 1929 1930 1935 1936 1953 1958 1990 2010

Seasons (121)	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

Awards	Copeland Trophy

Related articles	VFL team Carlton–Collingwood AFL rivalry Anzac Day clash Queen's Birthday clash Colliwobbles Eddie McGuire Joffa Corfe New York Magpies

Richmond Football Club

History Seasons Records Current squad Players Captains Coaches Individual awards Jack Dyer Medal Michael Roach Medal Captain: Trent Cotchin Coach: Damien Hardwick Nickname: Tigers

Stadiums	Punt Road Oval (1908–64) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1964–present)

Premierships (10)	1920 1921 1932 1934 1943 1967 1969 1973 1974 1980

Seasons (110)	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

Related articles	VFL team Dreamtime at the 'G

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