When did Carlton last win it?
Collingwood & Carlton are the two biggest teams?
Irish connections:
Brisbane - @Little_Lord_Fauntleroy supports them in the same way he supports the Irish rugby team. Conor McKenna plays for them and Darragh Joyce is passing up a promising inter-county football career with Kilkenny to sit on a bench for them and from what I can make out one of the two James Maddens from Ballyboden St. Enda’s is doing similar.
Carlton - former TFK poster @Sidney once attended an AFL match where Carlton were playing and bought a Carlton beanie cap. Ardfert’s Rob Monahan is sitting on a bench for them.
Collingwood - traditionally the team of Melbourne’s Irish Catholic bogan class - they have lads named Kelly, Murphy, Ryan and McStay playing for them.
Greater Western Sydney - a nouveau franchise who it was once speculated would be called the “Sydney Celtics” as a gimmick to attract Irish supporters before the AFL decided they would wear orange instead. Former Londonderry minor and under-20 GAA player Callum Brown plays for them.
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He was playing for Brendan’s board last night so the jet lag will be a killer
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Carlton last won in 1995. I did not have to Google that. They’re one of the traditional powerhouses but have reached the finals (play-offs) maybe once or twice in the last 20 years or so and have become a massive underachiever in that time. Essendon would be similar in that regard though they remain languishing.
Melbourne AFL teams would probably be ranked in the following order in terms of “bigness”:
Collingwood
Carlton
Essendon
Richmond
Hawthorn
Footscray
St. Kilda
North Melbourne
Melbourne
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Carlton have an extra motivating factor as club legend Ron Barassi died overnight. Mind you he was an even bigger club legend for Melbourne and Carlton beat Melbourne yesterday. I knew of Ron Barassi’s name from an early age as he was the captain of the first Aussie team to play an Irish team in the 1960s. They stuffed the Irish lads at Gaelic football.
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He’ll have to hotfoot it back to Australia as fast as Ardfert Mick if he wants to get picked for the Grand Final.
They might have something to say about that in the ‘Footy’ hotbed of the Western Sydney suburbs.
They love their footy in the Western Sydney suburbs but it’s mainly of the Rugby League variety, with the round ball game making serious inroads too.
GWS could be a dark horse this year and will fancy their chances against the Magpies, especially having beaten them at the same stage in 2019. They’re a form team having won 11 of their last 13. However Collingwood will conversely realise the full threat of Western Sydney this time having drastically underestimated them in 2019 and will have over 90,000 fanatical supporters barracking for them at the G. GWS however are the only team who sport a “G” on their guernsey.
Just reading up a bit on it there. There have been 6 Victorian Football League Grand Final meetings of Carlton v Collingwood. The Magpies won the first in 1910, Carlton won the other 5, the most recent of which was in 1981.
I wonder do they have any split season zealots in Victoria agitating to move the Grand Final out of September?
There have occasionally been Grand Finals in October for one reason or another (1990, 1994, 2011, 2015, 2016) but the last Saturday in September is a very cherished tradition in Melbourne and in Australia as a whole. The main debate would be whether to stick with an afternoon Grand Final or to move it to the evening or night. Thankfully the traditionalists seem to have won out for now.
This is a great watch. “The Club” from 1980, a cult Australian comedy classic, featuring action from real life VFL (as it was then) finals matches.
Carlton lost the 1993 final to Essendon. My missus was there cheering on the Bombers. She lived in Essendon for 5 years in the late 80’s/early 90’s when her father had a posting in Melbourne.
That’s the one sporting bucket list item she’s one up on me. I’d love to go to a Victorian Football League Grand Final.
That Essendon team were called the “Baby Bombers” as they drastically overhauled their squad compared to the 1990 Grand Final humiliation against Collingwood.
One of the great indigenous Australian footballers Michael Long got a famous goal early in that Grand Final which was a pointer to how the game would go. It came at the end of a season in which Nicky Winmar of St. Kilda had famously and defiantly pointed to the colour of his skin in the face of racist abuse from Collingwood supporters in a game at Victoria Park.
Two years later on Anzac Day Long was the victim of racist abuse by Collingwood’s Damian Monkhorst.
Basically what I’m trying to say is that Collingwood are a shower of racist cunts.
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I think I’m correct in saying that Collingwood would traditionally have attracted a large Irish/Catholic support?
Yes. Jock McHale was their most famous coach back in the 1920s, maybe 1930s (I think).
More recently Eddie McGuire was a very high profile president but he too was implicated in a racism scandal at the club and had to step down.
Collingwood would always have attracted a mass support similar to Manchester United or Juventus or Flamengo in Brazil.
Carlton as far as I know have always had significant support from the Italian community in Melbourne.
The various sociological themes associated with the various Melbourne clubs are fascinating.
When you get a chance there, maybe fire up a Martin Breheny style list of the best Victorian Football League club songs.
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Cracking version of Carlton’s “The Old Dark Navy Blues” here after the 1999 Preliminary Final against Essendon, an utterly epic sporting contest. 11 minutes and 12 seconds in.
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It looks like Collingwood are getting the Colliwobbles.
Collingwood 18 GWS 28 HT.
Collingwood put a massive amount of effort into trying to blow GWS away in the first quarter and only got a two goal lead. GWS steadily assumed dominance in Quarter 2, which has pleased their 13 supporters and steadily silenced Collingwood’s 96,000.
Londonderry’s Callum Brown is having a nightmare for GWS.
Brown with a biggie to stop Magpie momentum. 30-41.
9:40 left Q3.
COLLLLL
ING
WOOOOOOOD
The Maggies hit the front.