The 1969 VFL season was the 73rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 5 April until 27 September, and comprised a 20-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
In 1969, 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 20 rounds; rounds 12 to 20 were the "home-and-away reverse" of rounds 1 to 9.
Once the 20 round home-and-away season had finished, the 1969 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page–McIntyre system.
The consolation night series were held under the floodlights at Lake Oval, South Melbourne, for the teams (5th to 12th on ladder) out of the finals at the end of the home and away rounds.
The VFL introduced a rule awarding a free kick against a player if he kicked the ball out of bounds on the full. The rule is considered to be a major contributor to an increase in scoring, and an increased prominence of full forwards, by forcing teams to play more direct football – a trend which had also seen under the out-of-bounds rules which were in place during the 1930s.[1] Three full-forwards kicked large hauls of goals in 1969: Doug Wade of Geelong with 127 goals, Peter Hudson of Hawthorn with 120 goals (including 16.1 in Round 5), and Peter McKenna of Collingwood with 98 goals (including 16.4 in Round 19). The VFL was reprimanded for introducing the rule change without the approval of the Australian National Football Council, but there was no further penalty and the rule was soon agreed to at ANFC level.[2]
Prior to the season, Geoff Bryant of Victorian Football Association club Box Hill was cleared to the North Melbourne Football Club. Under a rule that the VFA had introduced in 1967, a transfer fee of $2,000 was set for Bryant's clearance; but, under the Coulter Laws, VFL clubs were forbidden from paying any sort of transfer fee. The VFA formally approved Bryant's clearance, and it initially appeared that it had done so without the transfer fee being paid; but VFA secretary Fred Hill then reported to the press that North Melbourne had indeed secretly paid the transfer fee in defiance of the VFL's rules[3] – and, in fact, Box Hill president Reg Shineberg claimed to have received the fee in cash, under cover of darkness, from a man he did not know.[4] North Melbourne was required to face the VFL arbitrators over the allegations, but charges against the club were dropped when the VFA did not provide any written corroborating evidence. Whether or not the illegal transfer fee was actually paid was never proven.[5]
In Round 2, Carlton set the record for highest score in a game, scoring 30.30 (210) against Hawthorn. This beat Richmond's 38-year-old record, set in the 1931 VFL season, by eleven points. This Carlton record stood for another 9 years, remained unbeaten until the 1978 VFL season.
The lowest score of the season was a record high 6.9 (45). The previous record high lowest score was 42 points in 1943.
In Round 4, Carlton and Collingwood played a tough, spiteful, and vicious match with many brawls at Princes Park. "Percy" Jones of Carlton was reported for striking both Terry Waters and "Jerker" Jenkin of Collingwood during the first quarter; Carlton's Ricky McLean was reported for striking Collingwood's Len Thompson during the first quarter and for striking Collingwood's Brian McKenzie during the last quarter; Ted Potter was reported for striking Carlton's John Nicholls during the last quarter (Nicholls had to leave the field with an eye injury); Len Thompson was reported for striking Carlton's Vin Waite (Carlton's 19th man, who substituted for the injured Nicholls) during the last quarter. Whilst the field umpire (Ray Sleeth) was writing out the match reports he had an extended, heated clash with Carlton president George Harris; the reason for this extended clash was later evident when all of the charges against all of the players were dismissed on a technicality: the umpires had taken too long to inform the club officials of the charges after the final siren had sounded.
In Round 8, Michael Patterson was hit in the face with a football by Carlton trainer, Ron Vincent. The event was immortalised in Mike Brady's football anthem "Up There Cazaly".
On 27 July 1969, Ted Whitten turned 36. The Round 16 Footscray team of twenty contained ten players who had not even been born when Whitten played his first game for Footscray in 1951.
In the First Semi-Final Richmond thrashed Geelong by a VFL semi-final record margin, 25.17 (167) to 7.7 (49) in front of a record crowd of 101,233 spectators.
In the 1969 Grand Final, Ian Owen's Richmond guernsey carried the number 52. There is no record of any Grand Final player carrying a larger number. (Owen played the entire match with a depressed fracture of the cheekbone that he had sustained in the Preliminary Final against Collingwood a week earlier.)
The reserves premiership was won by Melbourne. Melbourne 12.16 (88) defeated Carlton 8.12 (60) in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the seniors Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September.[6]
^Stephen Rodgers (1992), Every Game Ever Played (3rd ed.), Viking O'Neil, p. 514
^Scot Palmer (17 March 1970). "Permits: VFA is expelled". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 62.
^Rex Pullen (9 April 1969). "$2000 paid for North star". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. pp. 67–68.
^Kevin Hogan (19 April 1969). "North, secretary to face charges". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. p. 52.
^Bob Crimeen (29 April 1969). "Joseph, club get all clear". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne. pp. 55–56.
^"Win worth waiting for". The Age. Melbourne. 29 September 1969. p. 23.
Hogan, P., The Tigers of Old, The Richmond Football Club, (Richmond), 1996. ISBN0-646-18748-1
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
Blueseum: Match Report: Round 4, 1969
Sourcesedit
1969 VFL season at AFL Tables
1969 VFL season at Australian Football
January 01, 1970
1969, season, 73rd, 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 1969 VFL season was the 73rd season of the Victorian Football League VFL the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria The season featured twelve clubs ran from 5 April until 27 September and comprised a 20 game home and away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs 1969 VFL premiership seasonTeams12PremiersRichmond7th premiershipMinor premiersCollingwood14th minor premiershipConsolation seriesHawthorn2nd Consolation series winBrownlow MedallistKevin Murray Fitzroy Coleman MedallistDoug Wade Geelong AttendanceMatches played124Total attendance2 923 016 23 573 per match Highest119 165 19681970 The premiership was won by the Richmond Football Club for the seventh time after it defeated Carlton by 25 points in the 1969 VFL Grand Final Contents 1 Background 2 Home and away season 2 1 Round 1 2 2 Round 2 2 3 Round 3 2 4 Round 4 2 5 Round 5 2 6 Round 6 2 7 Round 7 2 8 Round 8 2 9 Round 9 2 10 Round 10 2 11 Round 11 2 12 Round 12 2 13 Round 13 2 14 Round 14 2 15 Round 15 2 16 Round 16 2 17 Round 17 2 18 Round 18 2 19 Round 19 2 20 Round 20 3 Ladder 4 Finals series 4 1 Semi finals 4 2 Preliminary final 4 3 Grand final 5 Consolation Night Series Competition 6 Season notes 7 Awards 8 See also 9 References 10 SourcesBackground editIn 1969 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 20 rounds rounds 12 to 20 were the home and away reverse of rounds 1 to 9 Once the 20 round home and away season had finished the 1969 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the Page McIntyre system Home and away season editRound 1 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date North Melbourne 15 20 110 South Melbourne 14 17 101 Arden Street Oval 14 046 5 April 1969 Hawthorn 17 9 111 Collingwood 11 23 89 Glenferrie Oval 28 104 5 April 1969 St Kilda 11 13 79 Carlton 11 16 82 Moorabbin Oval 37 767 5 April 1969 Geelong 17 16 118 Melbourne 13 13 91 Kardinia Park 23 501 7 April 1969 Fitzroy 15 13 103 Footscray 23 21 159 Princes Park 20 210 7 April 1969 Richmond 15 21 111 Essendon 12 10 82 MCG 62 152 7 April 1969 Round 2 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Melbourne 12 7 79 North Melbourne 15 17 107 MCG 16 379 12 April 1969 Footscray 9 11 65 St Kilda 14 14 98 Western Oval 21 352 12 April 1969 Essendon 13 13 91 Geelong 14 7 91 Windy Hill 18 400 12 April 1969 Collingwood 11 16 82 Richmond 14 15 99 Victoria Park 27 353 12 April 1969 Carlton 30 30 210 Hawthorn 12 10 82 Princes Park 26 400 12 April 1969 South Melbourne 14 14 98 Fitzroy 15 10 100 Lake Oval 12 464 12 April 1969 Round 3 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Geelong 19 20 134 South Melbourne 11 8 74 Kardinia Park 15 068 19 April 1969 Fitzroy 14 7 91 St Kilda 19 18 132 Princes Park 12 240 19 April 1969 Essendon 12 13 85 Hawthorn 14 14 98 Windy Hill 15 800 19 April 1969 Collingwood 19 16 130 Melbourne 9 8 62 Victoria Park 18 729 19 April 1969 Richmond 13 28 106 North Melbourne 16 15 111 MCG 26 884 19 April 1969 Footscray 7 10 52 Carlton 11 15 81 Western Oval 20 250 19 April 1969 Round 4 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date St Kilda 9 15 69 Geelong 13 14 92 Moorabbin Oval 42 954 25 April 1969 Melbourne 10 19 79 Essendon 13 19 97 MCG 38 358 25 April 1969 Carlton 13 11 89 Collingwood 23 15 153 Princes Park 39 120 26 April 1969 South Melbourne 13 13 91 Richmond 19 22 136 Lake Oval 16 663 26 April 1969 Hawthorn 19 16 130 Footscray 12 13 85 Glenferrie Oval 15 589 26 April 1969 North Melbourne 19 15 129 Fitzroy 13 18 96 Arden Street Oval 13 224 26 April 1969 Round 5 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Hawthorn 21 10 136 Melbourne 14 20 104 Glenferrie Oval 13 186 3 May 1969 Footscray 11 18 84 Geelong 22 12 144 Western Oval 17 522 3 May 1969 Essendon 16 17 113 North Melbourne 12 11 83 Windy Hill 23 000 3 May 1969 Carlton 20 17 137 South Melbourne 17 10 112 Princes Park 19 041 3 May 1969 Richmond 18 12 120 Fitzroy 6 19 55 MCG 22 991 3 May 1969 St Kilda 18 12 120 Collingwood 16 18 114 Moorabbin Oval 34 959 3 May 1969 Round 6 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Melbourne 13 15 93 Richmond 16 25 121 MCG 26 848 10 May 1969 Collingwood 17 13 115 Footscray 8 14 62 Victoria Park 19 025 10 May 1969 South Melbourne 14 9 93 St Kilda 7 14 56 Lake Oval 17 536 10 May 1969 North Melbourne 13 9 87 Hawthorn 14 12 96 Arden Street Oval 15 338 10 May 1969 Fitzroy 13 12 90 Essendon 17 13 115 Princes Park 13 028 10 May 1969 Geelong 18 16 124 Carlton 13 7 85 Kardinia Park 32 025 10 May 1969 Round 7 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Geelong 14 15 99 North Melbourne 14 23 107 Kardinia Park 17 102 17 May 1969 Footscray 8 10 58 South Melbourne 9 12 66 Western Oval 11 462 17 May 1969 Collingwood 13 20 98 Fitzroy 13 7 85 Victoria Park 14 614 17 May 1969 Carlton 14 24 108 Melbourne 12 6 78 Princes Park 14 973 17 May 1969 Richmond 7 10 52 Hawthorn 8 13 61 MCG 35 933 17 May 1969 St Kilda 16 10 106 Essendon 11 14 80 Moorabbin Oval 19 008 17 May 1969 Round 8 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date North Melbourne 15 13 103 St Kilda 13 16 94 Arden Street Oval 16 602 24 May 1969 Fitzroy 12 9 81 Melbourne 15 12 102 Princes Park 9 086 24 May 1969 Essendon 15 15 105 Footscray 13 12 90 Windy Hill 15 400 24 May 1969 Hawthorn 13 16 94 Geelong 13 12 90 Glenferrie Oval 21 788 24 May 1969 South Melbourne 11 8 74 Collingwood 18 22 130 Lake Oval 21 142 24 May 1969 Richmond 12 14 86 Carlton 17 13 115 MCG 48 656 24 May 1969 Round 9 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Melbourne 9 15 69 South Melbourne 14 10 94 MCG 13 765 31 May 1969 Footscray 8 13 61 Richmond 7 8 50 Western Oval 8 529 31 May 1969 Collingwood 17 16 118 North Melbourne 9 4 58 Victoria Park 21 154 31 May 1969 Carlton 15 13 103 Essendon 6 9 45 Princes Park 16 930 31 May 1969 St Kilda 14 11 95 Hawthorn 7 7 49 Moorabbin Oval 15 186 31 May 1969 Geelong 15 17 107 Fitzroy 6 9 45 Kardinia Park 8 923 31 May 1969 Round 10 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Richmond 14 10 94 St Kilda 11 14 80 MCG 44 710 7 June 1969 Fitzroy 12 9 81 Hawthorn 16 9 105 Princes Park 10 170 7 June 1969 Collingwood 14 22 106 Geelong 8 11 59 Victoria Park 38 436 14 June 1969 South Melbourne 15 13 103 Essendon 18 15 123 Lake Oval 18 453 14 June 1969 Melbourne 17 18 120 Footscray 12 23 95 MCG 27 330 16 June 1969 North Melbourne 7 15 57 Carlton 10 18 78 Arden Street Oval 26 914 16 June 1969 Round 11 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Hawthorn 25 13 163 South Melbourne 14 21 105 Glenferrie Oval 13 369 21 June 1969 Geelong 17 11 113 Richmond 12 14 86 Kardinia Park 24 278 21 June 1969 Footscray 20 23 143 North Melbourne 15 7 97 Western Oval 12 893 21 June 1969 Carlton 24 14 158 Fitzroy 14 14 98 Princes Park 16 260 21 June 1969 St Kilda 17 18 120 Melbourne 13 16 94 Moorabbin Oval 19 491 21 June 1969 Essendon 13 19 97 Collingwood 16 12 108 Windy Hill 28 850 21 June 1969 Round 12 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Essendon 8 15 63 Richmond 7 12 54 Windy Hill 16 957 28 June 1969 Collingwood 9 24 78 Hawthorn 6 11 47 Victoria Park 31 923 28 June 1969 Carlton 9 12 66 St Kilda 7 12 54 Princes Park 22 154 28 June 1969 South Melbourne 12 11 83 North Melbourne 11 14 80 Lake Oval 9 461 28 June 1969 Melbourne 11 12 78 Geelong 15 9 99 MCG 23 557 28 June 1969 Footscray 17 13 115 Fitzroy 10 8 68 Western Oval 11 603 28 June 1969 Round 13 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Fitzroy 18 21 129 South Melbourne 11 14 80 Princes Park 7 540 5 July 1969 North Melbourne 19 16 130 Melbourne 19 13 127 Arden Street Oval 6 470 5 July 1969 St Kilda 12 15 87 Footscray 12 5 77 Moorabbin Oval 14 995 5 July 1969 Geelong 10 14 74 Essendon 13 16 94 Kardinia Park 20 247 5 July 1969 Richmond 13 15 93 Collingwood 12 19 91 MCG 45 546 5 July 1969 Hawthorn 11 14 80 Carlton 22 17 149 Glenferrie Oval 18 848 5 July 1969 Round 14 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date North Melbourne 6 12 48 Richmond 17 15 117 Arden Street Oval 10 597 12 July 1969 Carlton 17 12 114 Footscray 16 16 112 Princes Park 15 078 12 July 1969 South Melbourne 12 15 87 Geelong 17 11 113 Lake Oval 9 598 12 July 1969 St Kilda 9 4 58 Fitzroy 11 8 74 Moorabbin Oval 11 874 12 July 1969 Hawthorn 17 19 121 Essendon 16 18 114 Glenferrie Oval 17 605 12 July 1969 Melbourne 16 11 107 Collingwood 15 19 109 MCG 32 485 12 July 1969 Round 15 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Richmond 22 12 144 South Melbourne 11 11 77 MCG 21 959 19 July 1969 Geelong 13 14 92 St Kilda 16 8 104 Kardinia Park 19 522 19 July 1969 Footscray 15 16 106 Hawthorn 14 9 93 Western Oval 15 955 19 July 1969 Fitzroy 20 6 126 North Melbourne 14 12 96 Princes Park 9 670 19 July 1969 Essendon 13 21 99 Melbourne 13 16 94 Windy Hill 15 012 19 July 1969 Collingwood 15 16 106 Carlton 17 14 116 Victoria Park 43 610 19 July 1969 Round 16 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Melbourne 13 17 95 Hawthorn 21 5 131 MCG 32 527 26 July 1969 North Melbourne 13 16 94 Essendon 9 13 67 Arden Street Oval 14 103 26 July 1969 South Melbourne 11 8 74 Carlton 19 12 126 Lake Oval 15 151 26 July 1969 Fitzroy 9 12 66 Richmond 8 9 57 Princes Park 16 211 2 August 1969 Collingwood 12 11 83 St Kilda 10 13 73 Victoria Park 29 759 2 August 1969 Geelong 23 17 155 Footscray 11 12 78 Kardinia Park 21 025 2 August 1969 Round 17 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date St Kilda 9 14 68 South Melbourne 15 10 100 Moorabbin Oval 13 400 9 August 1969 Hawthorn 22 12 144 North Melbourne 18 18 126 Glenferrie Oval 13 504 9 August 1969 Essendon 19 18 132 Fitzroy 14 11 95 Windy Hill 15 548 9 August 1969 Carlton 14 11 95 Geelong 17 8 110 Princes Park 27 166 9 August 1969 Richmond 19 11 125 Melbourne 12 13 85 MCG 23 519 9 August 1969 Footscray 11 16 82 Collingwood 16 8 104 Western Oval 21 201 9 August 1969 Round 18 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Hawthorn 13 10 88 Richmond 13 21 99 Glenferrie Oval 19 480 16 August 1969 Essendon 19 25 139 St Kilda 11 10 76 Windy Hill 15 246 16 August 1969 North Melbourne 13 11 89 Geelong 14 14 98 Arden Street Oval 12 836 16 August 1969 South Melbourne 16 17 113 Footscray 13 18 96 Lake Oval 11 250 16 August 1969 Fitzroy 9 16 70 Collingwood 12 18 90 Princes Park 17 890 16 August 1969 Melbourne 14 15 99 Carlton 13 14 92 MCG 27 209 16 August 1969 Round 19 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Geelong 16 14 110 Hawthorn 14 11 95 Kardinia Park 31 569 23 August 1969 Collingwood 19 15 129 South Melbourne 6 22 58 Victoria Park 19 428 23 August 1969 Carlton 20 7 127 Richmond 24 12 156 Princes Park 27 657 23 August 1969 St Kilda 21 18 144 North Melbourne 8 10 58 Moorabbin Oval 11 109 23 August 1969 Melbourne 14 13 97 Fitzroy 14 15 99 MCG 17 790 23 August 1969 Footscray 14 10 94 Essendon 12 10 82 Western Oval 16 043 23 August 1969 Round 20 edit Home team Home team score Away team Away team score Venue Crowd Date Hawthorn 14 17 101 St Kilda 13 12 90 Glenferrie Oval 13 539 30 August 1969 Fitzroy 13 15 93 Geelong 9 16 70 Princes Park 12 990 30 August 1969 South Melbourne 17 18 120 Melbourne 13 7 85 Lake Oval 10 038 30 August 1969 Richmond 23 16 154 Footscray 9 10 64 MCG 33 591 30 August 1969 North Melbourne 13 11 89 Collingwood 14 12 96 Arden Street Oval 17 504 30 August 1969 Essendon 17 16 118 Carlton 20 9 129 Windy Hill 24 456 30 August 1969Ladder edit P Premiers Qualified for finals Team P W L D PF PA Pts 1 Collingwood 20 15 5 0 2129 1651 129 0 60 2 Carlton 20 15 5 0 2260 1875 120 5 60 3 Geelong 20 13 6 1 2092 1745 119 9 54 4 Richmond P 20 13 7 0 2060 1653 124 6 52 5 Hawthorn 20 13 7 0 2025 2050 98 8 52 6 Essendon 20 10 9 1 1941 1893 102 5 42 7 St Kilda 20 9 11 0 1803 1747 103 2 36 8 North Melbourne 20 8 12 0 1859 2125 87 5 32 9 South Melbourne 20 7 13 0 1803 2186 82 5 28 10 Fitzroy 20 7 13 0 1745 2118 82 4 28 11 Footscray 20 6 14 0 1778 2079 85 5 24 12 Melbourne 20 3 17 0 1838 2211 83 1 12 Rules for classification 1 premiership points 2 percentage 3 points forAverage score 97 2Source AFL TablesFinals series editSemi finals edit Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final Geelong 2 1 2 4 3 6 7 7 49 Richmond 8 3 14 7 20 11 25 17 167 Attendance 101 233 Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final Collingwood 2 4 5 5 6 6 10 11 71 Carlton 1 4 5 8 11 10 16 11 107 Attendance 108 544 Preliminary final edit Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final Collingwood 4 2 7 6 8 8 12 9 81 Richmond 3 2 6 12 13 14 15 17 107 Attendance 107 279 Grand final edit Main article 1969 VFL Grand Final Team 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr Final Carlton 1 4 2 7 8 10 8 12 60 Richmond 2 2 6 5 8 6 12 13 85 Attendance 119 165Consolation Night Series Competition editThe consolation night series were held under the floodlights at Lake Oval South Melbourne for the teams 5th to 12th on ladder out of the finals at the end of the home and away rounds Final Hawthorn 10 17 77 defeated Melbourne 9 18 72 Season notes editThe VFL introduced a rule awarding a free kick against a player if he kicked the ball out of bounds on the full The rule is considered to be a major contributor to an increase in scoring and an increased prominence of full forwards by forcing teams to play more direct football a trend which had also seen under the out of bounds rules which were in place during the 1930s 1 Three full forwards kicked large hauls of goals in 1969 Doug Wade of Geelong with 127 goals Peter Hudson of Hawthorn with 120 goals including 16 1 in Round 5 and Peter McKenna of Collingwood with 98 goals including 16 4 in Round 19 The VFL was reprimanded for introducing the rule change without the approval of the Australian National Football Council but there was no further penalty and the rule was soon agreed to at ANFC level 2 Prior to the season Geoff Bryant of Victorian Football Association club Box Hill was cleared to the North Melbourne Football Club Under a rule that the VFA had introduced in 1967 a transfer fee of 2 000 was set for Bryant s clearance but under the Coulter Laws VFL clubs were forbidden from paying any sort of transfer fee The VFA formally approved Bryant s clearance and it initially appeared that it had done so without the transfer fee being paid but VFA secretary Fred Hill then reported to the press that North Melbourne had indeed secretly paid the transfer fee in defiance of the VFL s rules 3 and in fact Box Hill president Reg Shineberg claimed to have received the fee in cash under cover of darkness from a man he did not know 4 North Melbourne was required to face the VFL arbitrators over the allegations but charges against the club were dropped when the VFA did not provide any written corroborating evidence Whether or not the illegal transfer fee was actually paid was never proven 5 In Round 2 Carlton set the record for highest score in a game scoring 30 30 210 against Hawthorn This beat Richmond s 38 year old record set in the 1931 VFL season by eleven points This Carlton record stood for another 9 years remained unbeaten until the 1978 VFL season The lowest score of the season was a record high 6 9 45 The previous record high lowest score was 42 points in 1943 In Round 4 Carlton and Collingwood played a tough spiteful and vicious match with many brawls at Princes Park Percy Jones of Carlton was reported for striking both Terry Waters and Jerker Jenkin of Collingwood during the first quarter Carlton s Ricky McLean was reported for striking Collingwood s Len Thompson during the first quarter and for striking Collingwood s Brian McKenzie during the last quarter Ted Potter was reported for striking Carlton s John Nicholls during the last quarter Nicholls had to leave the field with an eye injury Len Thompson was reported for striking Carlton s Vin Waite Carlton s 19th man who substituted for the injured Nicholls during the last quarter Whilst the field umpire Ray Sleeth was writing out the match reports he had an extended heated clash with Carlton president George Harris the reason for this extended clash was later evident when all of the charges against all of the players were dismissed on a technicality the umpires had taken too long to inform the club officials of the charges after the final siren had sounded In Round 8 Michael Patterson was hit in the face with a football by Carlton trainer Ron Vincent The event was immortalised in Mike Brady s football anthem Up There Cazaly On 27 July 1969 Ted Whitten turned 36 The Round 16 Footscray team of twenty contained ten players who had not even been born when Whitten played his first game for Footscray in 1951 In the First Semi Final Richmond thrashed Geelong by a VFL semi final record margin 25 17 167 to 7 7 49 in front of a record crowd of 101 233 spectators In the 1969 Grand Final Ian Owen s Richmond guernsey carried the number 52 There is no record of any Grand Final player carrying a larger number Owen played the entire match with a depressed fracture of the cheekbone that he had sustained in the Preliminary Final against Collingwood a week earlier Awards editThe 1969 VFL Premiership team was Richmond The VFL s leading goalkicker was Doug Wade of Geelong who kicked 127 goals including 5 goals in the final series The winner of the 1969 Brownlow Medal was Kevin Murray of Fitzroy with 19 votes Melbourne took the wooden spoon in 1969 The reserves premiership was won by Melbourne Melbourne 12 16 88 defeated Carlton 8 12 60 in the Grand Final held as a curtain raiser to the seniors Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 6 See also editList of VFL debuts in 1969References edit Stephen Rodgers 1992 Every Game Ever Played 3rd ed Viking O Neil p 514 Scot Palmer 17 March 1970 Permits VFA is expelled The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 62 Rex Pullen 9 April 1969 2000 paid for North star The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne pp 67 68 Kevin Hogan 19 April 1969 North secretary to face charges The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne p 52 Bob Crimeen 29 April 1969 Joseph club get all clear The Sun News Pictorial Melbourne pp 55 56 Win worth waiting for The Age Melbourne 29 September 1969 p 23 Hogan P The Tigers of Old The Richmond Football Club Richmond 1996 ISBN 0 646 18748 1 Maplestone 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 0 Blueseum Match Report Round 4 1969Sources edit1969 VFL season at AFL Tables 1969 VFL season at Australian Football Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1969 VFL season amp oldid 1171615720, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
