The 1952 VFL season was the 56th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 19 April until 27 September, and comprised a 19-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
The premiership was won by the Geelong Football Club for the fifth time and second time consecutively. Geelong defeated Collingwood by 46 points in the 1952 VFL Grand Final, as part of a 23-game winning streak spanning the 1952 and 1953 seasons which stands as the longest in league history.
In 1952, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man. A player could be substituted for any reason; however, once substituted, a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances.
Teams played each other in a home-and-away season of 19 rounds.
There was an extra round (round 8), in addition to 1951's 18 rounds. Promoted as a "National Day Round", it was held on the Saturday (14 June) of the Queen's Birthday weekend and saw all clubs play a match for premiership points at country or interstate locations, while the Victorian State side played against the West Australian State side at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The season was constructed as follows: in rounds 1 to 7 and 9 to 12 the teams played each other. Round 8, the "National Day Round", was the reverse of round 11 (and the designated round 8 "home team" was the reverse of that in round 11). Rounds 13 to 19 were the "home-and-away reverse" of rounds 1 to 7.
Once the 19 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1952 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system.
As a consequence of its 1981 decision to change its rules relating to tied Brownlow Medal contests, the AFL awarded a retrospective medal to Bill Hutchison in 1989.
Essendon winger Lance Mann won the 1952, 130-yard Stawell Gift in eleven and fourteen-sixteenths seconds, off a handicap of 7¼yards; his teammate, half-back flanker Norm McDonald, running off a handicap of 5 yards, came second.
Bowing to pressure from its players and supporters, Fitzroy abandoned "The Gorillas" as its emblem. Originally intended to signify strength, tenacity, aggression, power, etc. the symbol had become somewhat devalued when opposition supporters started referring to the team as "The Apes". "The Lions" was not introduced until 1957; in the interim they were known as either "The Maroons" or "The Roys".
In May 1952, as part of its promotion of the Burt Lancaster movie Ten Tall Men, the management of the Melbourne cinema The State Theatre on the corner of Flinders Street and Russell Street (now known as the Forum Theatre) measured the height of the ten tallest VFL players. Geoff Leek of Essendon was officially declared to be the tallest, at 6'4½" (194.3 cm).[1]
As part of an effort by the Australian National Football Council to promote the game, a special round of VFL premiership matches was held in different cities around Australia on Queen's Birthday weekend: Brisbane, Sydney, Euroa, Yallourn, Albury and Hobart. Wet weather across much of eastern Australia affected crowds at Yallourn[2] and Sydney,[3] and forced the postponement of the match at Brisbane from Saturday afternoon to Monday evening after the RNA feared the match would damage the rain-sodden turf;[4] but matches not affected by rain drew huge crowds, including:
The crowd of 18,387 between Fitzroy and Melbourne in Hobart set a new record for the largest crowd ever to attend a football match in Tasmania, breaking the record which had been set at the 1947 Hobart Interstate Carnival.[5]
The crowd of 15,000 between South Melbourne and North Melbourne in Albury set a new record for the largest football crowd in Albury's history.[6]
The crowd of 28,000 between Geelong and Essendon at the postponed match in Brisbane was unable to be accommodated by the venue, and a further 2,000 spectators entered without paying after breaking through a perimeter fence.[7]
The National Day Round was played in addition to the standard eighteen games, so that the people of Melbourne and Geelong would still have nine home matches. An interstate match between Victoria and Western Australia was played in Melbourne during that weekend. The endeavour was financed by the ANFC, which turned a small profit on the event after having insured the gate against rain.[3]
In the First Semi-Final, Carlton's high marking centreman Keith Warburton received a heavy knock to his abdomen early in the match, but thought little of it. Later that evening he collapsed at the Carlton Club dance. He was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that he was suffering from a severed artery leading to his bowel. He hovered near death for some days, requiring almost continuous transfusions of blood. It was said that his physical fitness was the only reason he survived that time.
Overall, the season was the wettest season for more than 20 years. Many matches were played in deep sticky mud on grounds that were covered in sheets of water. Mud was ankle deep at the Brunswick Street Oval in Round 11. White balls were introduced in July to help players see the ball in all of the mud.
The overall bad weather and the atrocious condition of the grounds throughout the season, and the effect that had on the condition of the ball, especially in relation to hand-passing, marking and kicking, as well as the physical problems of leading and being unable to spring from muddy ground, highlights the significance of John Coleman's 103 goals in 18 matches.
^Frank Walsh (18 June 1952). "Yallourn says "come again"". Sporting Globe. Melbourne. p. 12.
^ ab"Profit on football". Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, NSW. 19 June 1952. p. 11.
^"Postponement costing £1200". Sunday Mail. Brisbane, QLD. 15 June 1952. p. 20.
^"V.F.L. game "good for Tasmania"". The Mercury. Hobart, TAS. 16 June 1952. p. 20.
^"Big crowd at Aust. rules at Albury". Daily Advertiser. Wagga Wagga, NSW. 16 June 1952. p. 2.
^"2000 storm football game". The Courier Mail. Brisbane, QLD. 17 June 1952. p. 1.
References
Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. ISBN0-9591740-2-8
Rogers, S. & Brown, A., Every Game Ever Played: VFL/AFL Results 1897–1997 (Sixth Edition), Viking Books, (Ringwood), 1998. ISBN0-670-90809-6
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. ISBN0-670-86814-0
External links
1952 Season - AFL Tables
April 16, 2023
1952, season, 56th, season, victorian, football, league, highest, level, senior, australian, rules, football, competition, victoria, season, featured, twelve, clubs, from, april, until, september, comprised, game, home, away, season, followed, finals, series, . The 1952 VFL season was the 56th season of the Victorian Football League VFL the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria The season featured twelve clubs ran from 19 April until 27 September and comprised a 19 game home and away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs 1952 VFL premiership seasonTeams12PremiersGeelong5th premiershipMinor premiersGeelong7th minor premiershipBrownlow MedallistBill Hutchison Essendon Roy Wright Richmond Leading Goalkicker MedallistJohn Coleman Essendon Matches played118Highest82 890 19511953 The premiership was won by the Geelong Football Club for the fifth time and second time consecutively Geelong defeated Collingwood by 46 points in the 1952 VFL Grand Final as part of a 23 game winning streak spanning the 1952 and 1953 seasons which stands as the longest in league history Contents 1 Premiership season 1 1 Round 1 1 2 Round 2 1 3 Round 3 1 4 Round 4 1 5 Round 5 1 6 Round 6 1 7 Round 7 1 8 Round 8 National Day Round 1 9 Round 9 1 10 Round 10 1 11 Round 11 1 12 Round 12 1 13 Round 13 1 14 Round 14 1 15 Round 15 1 16 Round 16 1 17 Round 17 1 18 Round 18 1 19 Round 19 2 Ladder 3 Finals 3 1 First Semi Final 3 2 Second Semi Final 3 3 Preliminary Final 3 4 Grand final 4 Awards 5 Notable events 6 Footnotes 7 References 8 External linksPremiership season EditIn 1952 the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on the field players each plus two substitute players known as the 19th man and the 20th man A player could be substituted for any reason however once substituted a player could not return to the field of play under any circumstances Teams played each other in a home and away season of 19 rounds There was an extra round round 8 in addition to 1951 s 18 rounds Promoted as a National Day Round it was held on the Saturday 14 June of the Queen s Birthday weekend and saw all clubs play a match for premiership points at country or interstate locations while the Victorian State side played against the West Australian State side at Melbourne Cricket Ground The season was constructed as follows in rounds 1 to 7 and 9 to 12 the teams played each other Round 8 the National Day Round was the reverse of round 11 and the designated round 8 home team was the reverse of that in round 11 Rounds 13 to 19 were the home and away reverse of rounds 1 to 7 Once the 19 round home and away season had finished the 1952 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page McIntyre system Round 1 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateFitzroy 5 15 45 Richmond 7 12 54 Brunswick Street Oval 20 500 19 April 1952South Melbourne 11 16 82 St Kilda 8 26 74 Lake Oval 18 000 19 April 1952Melbourne 14 13 97 Geelong 15 13 103 MCG 25 000 19 April 1952Footscray 6 10 46 Essendon 6 5 41 Western Oval 24 000 19 April 1952Hawthorn 2 8 20 Collingwood 15 16 106 Glenferrie Oval 14 000 19 April 1952North Melbourne 8 19 67 Carlton 13 12 90 Arden Street Oval 22 000 19 April 1952Round 2 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateEssendon 14 12 96 North Melbourne 13 11 89 Windy Hill 21 000 26 April 1952Collingwood 13 17 95 Fitzroy 8 14 62 Victoria Park 26 000 26 April 1952Carlton 12 12 84 South Melbourne 13 11 89 Princes Park 31 500 26 April 1952St Kilda 13 11 89 Melbourne 12 19 91 Junction Oval 19 000 26 April 1952Richmond 12 10 82 Hawthorn 8 14 62 Punt Road Oval 13 000 26 April 1952Geelong 10 4 64 Footscray 7 15 57 Kardinia Park 30 000 26 April 1952Round 3 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateGeelong 14 15 99 St Kilda 5 4 34 Kardinia Park 20 500 3 May 1952Collingwood 9 21 75 Essendon 7 9 51 Victoria Park 34 000 3 May 1952Carlton 10 12 72 Fitzroy 13 14 92 Princes Park 25 500 3 May 1952South Melbourne 14 17 101 Richmond 12 9 81 Lake Oval 28 500 3 May 1952Melbourne 8 12 60 Hawthorn 10 14 74 MCG 13 500 3 May 1952North Melbourne 11 11 77 Footscray 10 6 66 Arden Street Oval 20 000 3 May 1952Round 4 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateHawthorn 11 3 69 South Melbourne 8 12 60 Glenferrie Oval 15 000 10 May 1952Footscray 6 16 52 Melbourne 10 16 76 Western Oval 20 000 10 May 1952Fitzroy 6 15 51 Geelong 14 16 100 Brunswick Street Oval 19 500 10 May 1952Richmond 18 13 121 North Melbourne 16 15 111 Punt Road Oval 24 000 10 May 1952St Kilda 8 16 64 Collingwood 12 12 84 Junction Oval 19 500 10 May 1952Essendon 13 9 87 Carlton 13 16 94 Windy Hill 28 000 10 May 1952Round 5 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateMelbourne 8 9 57 South Melbourne 10 11 71 MCG 27 000 17 May 1952Geelong 11 16 82 North Melbourne 6 10 46 Kardinia Park 20 000 17 May 1952Footscray 9 6 60 Richmond 5 6 36 Western Oval 22 500 17 May 1952Fitzroy 6 6 42 Hawthorn 5 11 41 Brunswick Street Oval 9 500 17 May 1952St Kilda 11 10 76 Essendon 18 8 116 Junction Oval 17 500 17 May 1952Collingwood 15 16 106 Carlton 7 14 56 Victoria Park 36 000 17 May 1952Round 6 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateCollingwood 12 19 91 Footscray 4 5 29 Victoria Park 20 500 31 May 1952Carlton 14 10 94 St Kilda 10 13 73 Princes Park 12 500 31 May 1952North Melbourne 6 13 49 Melbourne 9 9 63 Arden Street Oval 11 000 31 May 1952Richmond 8 7 55 Geelong 11 13 79 Punt Road Oval 25 000 31 May 1952South Melbourne 14 12 96 Fitzroy 9 11 65 Lake Oval 15 000 31 May 1952Hawthorn 5 14 44 Essendon 15 8 98 Glenferrie Oval 14 000 31 May 1952Round 7 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateFitzroy 8 15 63 St Kilda 3 6 24 Brunswick Street Oval 10 300 7 June 1952North Melbourne 12 8 80 Hawthorn 7 8 50 Arden Street Oval 11 000 7 June 1952Melbourne 12 10 82 Collingwood 6 14 50 MCG 58 543 7 June 1952Essendon 7 18 60 Richmond 10 9 69 Windy Hill 29 000 9 June 1952Carlton 18 12 120 Geelong 13 15 93 Princes Park 37 500 9 June 1952South Melbourne 16 14 110 Footscray 11 13 79 Lake Oval 26 000 9 June 1952Round 8 National Day Round Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateRichmond 5 6 36 Collingwood 10 12 72 SCG 24 174 14 June 1952Fitzroy 13 12 90 Melbourne 10 10 70 North Hobart Oval 18 387 14 June 1952South Melbourne 18 10 118 North Melbourne 14 12 96 Albury Sports Ground 15 000 14 June 1952Footscray 5 4 34 St Kilda 7 7 49 Yallourn Oval 3 500 14 June 1952Carlton 17 15 117 Hawthorn 11 14 80 Euroa Oval 7 500 14 June 1952Geelong 12 14 86 Essendon 23 17 155 Brisbane Exhibition Ground 28 000 16 June 1952Round 9 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateGeelong 7 13 55 South Melbourne 4 11 35 Kardinia Park 21 513 21 June 1952Essendon 11 8 74 Melbourne 10 15 75 Windy Hill 16 000 21 June 1952Collingwood 6 8 44 North Melbourne 8 12 60 Victoria Park 15 500 21 June 1952St Kilda 5 11 41 Hawthorn 7 6 48 Junction Oval 7 500 21 June 1952Footscray 6 9 45 Fitzroy 7 8 50 Western Oval 14 085 21 June 1952Richmond 5 3 33 Carlton 5 9 39 Punt Road Oval 21 000 21 June 1952Round 10 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateNorth Melbourne 9 10 64 St Kilda 5 9 39 Arden Street Oval 7 000 28 June 1952Melbourne 12 11 83 Richmond 6 10 46 MCG 23 557 28 June 1952Carlton 15 22 112 Footscray 8 9 57 Princes Park 12 617 28 June 1952Hawthorn 6 8 44 Geelong 10 10 70 Glenferrie Oval 7 500 28 June 1952Fitzroy 13 12 90 Essendon 5 8 38 Brunswick Street Oval 12 500 28 June 1952South Melbourne 9 10 64 Collingwood 12 13 85 Lake Oval 21 000 28 June 1952Round 11 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateNorth Melbourne 7 4 46 South Melbourne 10 17 77 Arden Street Oval 15 000 5 July 1952Essendon 10 16 76 Geelong 11 10 76 Windy Hill 21 000 5 July 1952Collingwood 10 19 79 Richmond 8 8 56 Victoria Park 21 911 5 July 1952St Kilda 11 13 79 Footscray 12 13 85 Junction Oval 7 800 5 July 1952Melbourne 11 7 73 Fitzroy 11 17 83 MCG 25 089 5 July 1952Hawthorn 5 11 41 Carlton 9 24 78 Glenferrie Oval 11 000 5 July 1952Round 12 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateRichmond 10 17 77 St Kilda 6 8 44 Punt Road Oval 9 000 12 July 1952Footscray 4 11 35 Hawthorn 9 4 58 Western Oval 12 218 12 July 1952Fitzroy 13 11 89 North Melbourne 10 11 71 Brunswick Street Oval 10 500 12 July 1952Carlton 6 14 50 Melbourne 6 14 50 Princes Park 24 839 12 July 1952South Melbourne 8 12 60 Essendon 9 15 69 Lake Oval 27 000 12 July 1952Geelong 9 8 62 Collingwood 4 9 33 Kardinia Park 36 145 12 July 1952Round 13 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateSt Kilda 5 8 38 South Melbourne 6 8 44 Junction Oval 15 000 19 July 1952Geelong 14 26 110 Melbourne 8 6 54 Kardinia Park 21 744 19 July 1952Essendon 5 12 42 Footscray 7 15 57 Windy Hill 17 000 19 July 1952Collingwood 12 15 87 Hawthorn 4 4 28 Victoria Park 12 643 19 July 1952Carlton 5 23 53 North Melbourne 5 8 38 Princes Park 21 055 19 July 1952Richmond 5 17 47 Fitzroy 11 10 76 Punt Road Oval 18 000 19 July 1952Round 14 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateMelbourne 11 12 78 St Kilda 8 10 58 MCG 14 045 26 July 1952Hawthorn 8 14 62 Richmond 14 7 91 Glenferrie Oval 11 000 26 July 1952Footscray 8 9 57 Geelong 9 12 66 Western Oval 22 759 26 July 1952North Melbourne 7 11 53 Essendon 7 8 50 Arden Street Oval 15 000 26 July 1952Fitzroy 5 6 36 Collingwood 4 11 35 Brunswick Street Oval 26 000 26 July 1952South Melbourne 10 16 76 Carlton 10 16 76 Lake Oval 32 000 26 July 1952Round 15 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateRichmond 10 14 74 South Melbourne 12 14 86 Punt Road Oval 19 000 2 August 1952Hawthorn 9 3 57 Melbourne 12 13 85 Glenferrie Oval 9 000 2 August 1952Footscray 7 6 48 North Melbourne 8 9 57 Western Oval 14 760 2 August 1952St Kilda 7 13 55 Geelong 9 16 70 Junction Oval 12 000 2 August 1952Essendon 13 10 88 Collingwood 12 17 89 Windy Hill 21 000 2 August 1952Fitzroy 5 15 45 Carlton 5 14 44 Brunswick Street Oval 29 000 2 August 1952Round 16 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateNorth Melbourne 14 10 94 Richmond 9 12 66 Arden Street Oval 12 000 9 August 1952Collingwood 20 19 139 St Kilda 8 7 55 Victoria Park 14 100 9 August 1952Carlton 11 16 82 Essendon 12 11 83 Princes Park 34 000 9 August 1952South Melbourne 6 14 50 Hawthorn 9 14 68 Lake Oval 12 000 9 August 1952Melbourne 15 17 107 Footscray 8 12 60 MCG 17 421 9 August 1952Geelong 12 16 88 Fitzroy 5 10 40 Kardinia Park 31 314 9 August 1952Round 17 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateEssendon 22 15 147 St Kilda 7 9 51 Windy Hill 12 000 16 August 1952Carlton 12 16 88 Collingwood 9 13 67 Princes Park 42 662 16 August 1952South Melbourne 10 14 74 Melbourne 8 18 66 Lake Oval 24 000 16 August 1952North Melbourne 11 9 75 Geelong 15 13 103 Arden Street Oval 15 000 16 August 1952Richmond 13 11 89 Footscray 5 14 44 Punt Road Oval 11 000 16 August 1952Hawthorn 7 6 48 Fitzroy 12 12 84 Glenferrie Oval 12 000 16 August 1952Round 18 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateMelbourne 11 16 82 North Melbourne 15 7 97 MCG 16 402 23 August 1952Geelong 17 9 111 Richmond 10 7 67 Kardinia Park 21 318 23 August 1952Fitzroy 9 10 64 South Melbourne 7 15 57 Brunswick Street Oval 29 000 23 August 1952Essendon 20 12 132 Hawthorn 11 11 77 Windy Hill 12 000 23 August 1952Footscray 6 14 50 Collingwood 14 15 99 Western Oval 20 584 23 August 1952St Kilda 8 8 56 Carlton 13 14 92 Junction Oval 18 000 23 August 1952Round 19 Edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd DateHawthorn 8 11 59 North Melbourne 12 10 82 Glenferrie Oval 6 000 30 August 1952Footscray 13 13 91 South Melbourne 8 13 61 Western Oval 20 723 30 August 1952Collingwood 13 14 92 Melbourne 10 11 71 Victoria Park 18 753 30 August 1952St Kilda 10 12 72 Fitzroy 8 18 66 Junction Oval 9 000 30 August 1952Richmond 15 11 101 Essendon 11 10 76 Punt Road Oval 28 000 30 August 1952Geelong 10 17 77 Carlton 3 14 32 Kardinia Park 49 107 30 August 1952Ladder Edit1952 VFL ladder Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts1 Geelong P 19 16 2 1 1594 1183 134 7 66 Finals2 Collingwood 19 14 5 0 1528 1058 144 4 563 Fitzroy 19 13 6 0 1233 1170 105 4 524 Carlton 19 11 6 2 1473 1310 112 4 485 South Melbourne 19 11 7 1 1411 1337 105 5 466 Melbourne 19 9 9 1 1420 1379 103 0 387 North Melbourne 19 9 10 0 1352 1396 96 8 368 Essendon 19 8 10 1 1579 1390 113 6 349 Richmond 19 8 11 0 1281 1384 92 6 3210 Footscray 19 5 14 0 1052 1364 77 1 2011 Hawthorn 19 5 14 0 1030 1480 69 6 2012 St Kilda 19 2 17 0 1071 1573 68 1 8Source VFL ladderRules for classification 1 points 2 percentage 3 number of points for P PremiersFinals EditFirst Semi Final Edit Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr FinalFitzroy 2 1 6 3 8 5 10 9 69 Carlton 0 5 3 10 7 15 8 20 68 Attendance 59 970Second Semi Final Edit Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr FinalGeelong 2 6 5 9 12 10 14 16 100 Collingwood 1 4 3 5 5 6 6 10 46 Attendance 77 417Preliminary Final Edit Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr FinalCollingwood 4 4 9 9 10 12 11 15 81 Fitzroy 4 2 4 3 9 5 9 8 62 Attendance 54 046Grand final Edit Main article 1952 VFL Grand Final Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr FinalGeelong 4 2 5 3 11 6 13 8 86 Collingwood 1 1 3 3 5 3 5 10 40 Attendance 82 890Awards EditThe 1952 VFL Premiership team was Geelong The VFL s leading goalkicker was John Coleman of Essendon with 103 goals The winner of the 1952 Brownlow Medal was Roy Wright of Richmond with 21 votes He won on a count back from Bill Hutchison of Essendon As a consequence of its 1981 decision to change its rules relating to tied Brownlow Medal contests the AFL awarded a retrospective medal to Bill Hutchison in 1989 St Kilda took the wooden spoon in 1952 Notable events EditEssendon winger Lance Mann won the 1952 130 yard Stawell Gift in eleven and fourteen sixteenths seconds off a handicap of 7 yards his teammate half back flanker Norm McDonald running off a handicap of 5 yards came second Bowing to pressure from its players and supporters Fitzroy abandoned The Gorillas as its emblem Originally intended to signify strength tenacity aggression power etc the symbol had become somewhat devalued when opposition supporters started referring to the team as The Apes The Lions was not introduced until 1957 in the interim they were known as either The Maroons or The Roys In May 1952 as part of its promotion of the Burt Lancaster movie Ten Tall Men the management of the Melbourne cinema The State Theatre on the corner of Flinders Street and Russell Street now known as the Forum Theatre measured the height of the ten tallest VFL players Geoff Leek of Essendon was officially declared to be the tallest at 6 4 194 3 cm 1 As part of an effort by the Australian National Football Council to promote the game a special round of VFL premiership matches was held in different cities around Australia on Queen s Birthday weekend Brisbane Sydney Euroa Yallourn Albury and Hobart Wet weather across much of eastern Australia affected crowds at Yallourn 2 and Sydney 3 and forced the postponement of the match at Brisbane from Saturday afternoon to Monday evening after the RNA feared the match would damage the rain sodden turf 4 but matches not affected by rain drew huge crowds including The crowd of 18 387 between Fitzroy and Melbourne in Hobart set a new record for the largest crowd ever to attend a football match in Tasmania breaking the record which had been set at the 1947 Hobart Interstate Carnival 5 The crowd of 15 000 between South Melbourne and North Melbourne in Albury set a new record for the largest football crowd in Albury s history 6 The crowd of 28 000 between Geelong and Essendon at the postponed match in Brisbane was unable to be accommodated by the venue and a further 2 000 spectators entered without paying after breaking through a perimeter fence 7 The National Day Round was played in addition to the standard eighteen games so that the people of Melbourne and Geelong would still have nine home matches An interstate match between Victoria and Western Australia was played in Melbourne during that weekend The endeavour was financed by the ANFC which turned a small profit on the event after having insured the gate against rain 3 In the First Semi Final Carlton s high marking centreman Keith Warburton received a heavy knock to his abdomen early in the match but thought little of it Later that evening he collapsed at the Carlton Club dance He was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that he was suffering from a severed artery leading to his bowel He hovered near death for some days requiring almost continuous transfusions of blood It was said that his physical fitness was the only reason he survived that time In Round 10 in a match played in atrocious conditions at the Brunswick Street Oval Fitzroy s champion full back Vic Chanter held Essendon champion full forward John Coleman goalless for the only time in his 98 game career Overall the season was the wettest season for more than 20 years Many matches were played in deep sticky mud on grounds that were covered in sheets of water Mud was ankle deep at the Brunswick Street Oval in Round 11 White balls were introduced in July to help players see the ball in all of the mud The overall bad weather and the atrocious condition of the grounds throughout the season and the effect that had on the condition of the ball especially in relation to hand passing marking and kicking as well as the physical problems of leading and being unable to spring from muddy ground highlights the significance of John Coleman s 103 goals in 18 matches Footnotes Edit See Geoff Leek Tops of the Tall Men The Sporting Globe Saturday 31 May 1952 p 8 At 6 4 194 3 cm Leek was half an inch taller than the next 8 tallest players Denis Cordner of Melbourne Kevin Easton of North Melbourne John Gill of Essendon Brian Gilmore of Footscray Jack Chooka Howell of Carlton Tom H McLean of Melbourne Bill McMaster of Geelong and George Swarbrick of Geelong all measured 6 4 193 cm Leek was an inch taller than the ninth player Colin Thornton of North Melbourne who was measured at 6 3 191 8 cm Frank Walsh 18 June 1952 Yallourn says come again Sporting Globe Melbourne p 12 a b Profit on football Barrier Miner Broken Hill NSW 19 June 1952 p 11 Postponement costing 1200 Sunday Mail Brisbane QLD 15 June 1952 p 20 V F L game good for Tasmania The Mercury Hobart TAS 16 June 1952 p 20 Big crowd at Aust rules at Albury Daily Advertiser Wagga Wagga NSW 16 June 1952 p 2 2000 storm football game The Courier Mail Brisbane QLD 17 June 1952 p 1 References EditMaplestone M Flying Higher History of the Essendon Football Club 1872 1996 Essendon Football Club Melbourne 1996 ISBN 0 9591740 2 8 Rogers S amp Brown A Every Game Ever Played VFL AFL Results 1897 1997 Sixth Edition Viking Books Ringwood 1998 ISBN 0 670 90809 6 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 0External links Edit1952 Season AFL Tables Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1952 VFL season amp oldid 1128522037, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
