The Collingwood Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League ('AFL').
Like many Victorian AFL clubs, Collingwood has a history extending back over 130 years. It initially represented the inner Melbourne suburb of Collingwood, Victoria; however, its supporter base, while rooted in the city of Melbourne, extends throughout Australia. It has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships, being tied with Essendon and Carlton for the most number of premierships. The Club holds the record for most premierships in a row with 4 (1927–1930) and remains the only VFL club to have examined a full home and away season undefeated (1929).
This article explores the club's history from its formation over 130 years ago in 1892 to the current season.
Early history
Formation The Collingwood Football Club was born on the cusp of one of the world's worst depressions in February 1892.A Century Of The Best, Michael Roberts p.viii pub:1991 Collingwood played its first game in the Victorian Football Association ('VFA'), the premier football competition against Carlton Football Club on, 7 May 1892.A Century Of The Best, Michael Roberts p.x pub:1991
Collingwood initially had only scheduled 17 games but needed more than 18 games to join the Victorian Football Association. The Club looked to be missing out on being a part of the 1892 season until the Carlton Football Club added a game to its list of matches so that Collingwood would have the required 18 games. Carlton even donated the gate takings from the game to the fledgling club.The 1892 season. Blueseum.org
Sporting a black and white striped guernsey reminiscent of the magpie, the Club became known colloquially as the 'Magpies' - or the 'Pies' for short.
1896 premiership and entry to VFL
Being the VFA's newest team, Collingwood improved quickly and won its first and only VFA premiership in 1896.
At the end of the 1896 season, Collingwood and South Melbourne finished equal at the top of the ladder with records of 14–3–1, causing a playoff match to determine the premiership; this was the first time this had occurred in VFA history. The VFA delayed the playing of the final match between the two top teams for a week to avoid adversely affecting the attendance of the other final-round matches. The game was played on 3 October 1896 at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground. Collingwood won the match six goals to five, in front of an estimated crowd of 12,000.
Even though this victory brought Collingwood a premiership, it was not promoted as a "Grand Final" but as a Match for the Premiership.
In 1897, Collingwood and fellow VFA clubs Fitzroy, Melbourne, St Kilda, Carlton, Essendon, South Melbourne, and Geelong split from the VFA and formed the VFL (Victorian Football League).
Early 20th century In the decade of 1900–1909, Collingwood scored 119 wins from 172 games, and two Grand Final victories from four attempts. The Pies built a reputation as a fearsome side. During this period, the club had eight skippers, with Lardie Tulloch, the longest-standing captain of the decade, spending three years at the helm. Collingwood also employed their first coach, Bill Strickland, in 1904. In 1906, Collingwood's first true icon emerged, Dick Lee. In his career at the club, he played 230 games and, after his retirement in 1922, had totalled 707 goals. The Magpies played off in the Grand Finals of 1901, 1902, 1903, and 1905–coming out on top in ’02 and ’03. In 1902, Collingwood defeated Essendon by 33 points in front of a crowd of 35,202 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground ('MCG').
The following year Collingwood won to complete back-to-back wins against rival Fitzroy by only two points. For the rest of the decade, Collingwood could only manage one more Grand Final, against Fitzroy again, at the MCG. This time, however, Fitzroy atoned for their loss two years prior with a 13-point victory.
Collingwood only played in four finals in the next four seasons, winning none of them. The Club finished the decade with seven finals losses in a row. During this decade, Dick Condon, credited with the invention of the stab kick,"'The Stab Kick' — A Football Development", The Argus, (Monday 27 June 1910), p.6 was considered one of the Club's most talented players. Club legend Jock McHale labelled Condon the greatest footballer he had seen at Collingwood.
1920s-1940s: McHale era Collingwood became a powerhouse club during the 1920s and 1930s. This era included a run of four premierships in a row from 1927 to 1930, the only VFL/AFL undefeated season (1929), and the longest-serving coach in the history of the VFL/AFL, Jock McHale. McHale coached Collingwood for 37 years from 1912 to 1949 after playing for the Magpies from 1902 to 1921.
The record of four premierships in succession has never been matched. Melbourne won in 1955–1957 and the Brisbane Lions in 2001–2003, reaching the following season's Grand Final only to be thwarted by Collingwood and Port Adelaide, respectively. This period produced six premierships, and some of the club's greatest players.
Syd Coventry, brother Gordon Coventry, Harry Collier and Albert Collier were among the preeminent players of their time, helping establish the Magpies as a club based upon strong family connections. Gordon Coventry led the goal-kicking every season between 1922 and 1927, while brother Syd captained the club for eight seasons. Syd's record of 153 matches as skipper was overtaken by Nathan Buckley in late 2006. Albert Collier won the Brownlow Medal in 1929, and brother Harry won it the following year. The Collingwood team of the late 1920s has been described as one of the greatest football 'dynasties' along with Melbourne of the 1950s, Hawthorn of the 1980s and, some suggest, Brisbane of the early 2000s (decade).
Post McHale Jock McHale retired from coaching at the end of 1949 and Phonse Kyne, former ruckman, coached for the next 14 years. After losing the 1952 Grand Final to Geelong, Collingwood finally achieved premiership success in 1953 with a two-goal victory over reigning premier Geelong, led by Lou Richards. This premiership team comprised three sets of brothers–Ron & Lou Richards, Bob & William Rose, and Bill, Pat & Mick Twomey. Coincidentally, it was the first and last time Collingwood legend Bob Rose was to experience premiership success as a player or coach.
The Club's 1958 premiership was to be its last for 32 years. The victory in 1958 was an underdog victory, with Collingwood motivated to prevent its opponent Melbourne winning a fourth successive Grand Final.
1959–1989: the Colliwobbles In 1959 Melbourne won again, and after Collingwood's poor performance against Melbourne in the 1960 Grand Final, the Colliwobbles were born. Bob Rose took over as coach in 1962 and he was unlucky to coach three losing Grand Final sides, by 4, 1 and 10 points in 1964, 1966 and 1970.
The 1960s and 1970s produced some of Collingwood's greatest ever players, including Len Thompson, Des Tuddenham, Peter McKenna, Wayne Richardson, Barry Price, Ross Dunne, Phil Carman, John Greening, Billy Picken, Ron Wearmouth, Peter Moore and Max Richardson. Yet none of them achieved a Premiership win.
The 1976 season saw the Club win its first-ever wooden spoon, which subsequently led to the dismissal of senior coach Murray Weideman. This was partly because Weideman refused to work at the club while Ern Clarke was president, leading to a turbulent season for the Magpies. But then Collingwood broke with long-held tradition the following year when the Club appointed a non-Collingwood member as coach for the first time in its history–high-profiled former Richmond Premiership coach Tom Hafey. Hafey lifted the Magpies from a last position the previous year to the Grand Final. The Hafey-led Magpies played in grand finals in 1977 (drew, then lost in a replay the following week to North Melbourne), 1979, 1980, 1981, inspiring the term "Colliwobbles" to signify a choking phenomenon.
Hafey was sensationally sacked during the 1982 season after guiding the club to five Grand Finals. Mick Erwin replaced him, then John Cahill and Bob Rose between 1982 and 1986. Leigh Matthews took over after Bob Rose stepped aside and developed a team leading to the drought-breaking premiership of 1990. Ironically, he would later coach against the Magpies in two more Grand Finals.
1990s The 1990s saw Collingwood win its first premiership after a long break, only to fall from success to earn its second-ever wooden spoon by 1999.
1990–1995 The 1990 Premiership, coached by Leigh Matthews and skippered by Tony Shaw, provided relief via a one-sided affair against Essendon in which the Magpies recorded a 48-point victory. The win ended a 32-year premiership drought that included eight Grand Final losses and one draw.
Unfortunately, however, the Club lapsed into a state of decline. Its status as a potential powerhouse at the beginning of the decade was reduced with each passing season, the Club contesting the finals only twice after 1990 (in 1992 and 1994, losses to St Kilda and West Coast, respectively).
The Club then ended Matthews’ ten-year term. Matthews himself said that after being rolled by the Board after chasing and almost signing Tony Lockett, he knew his time was up.
1996–1998 Opting to find a replacement from inside the Club, it selected Tony Shaw as the new coach. Under Shaw, the team appeared to start the season strongly before tapering off. The team comprised a blend of veterans at the end of their playing career, poor drafting and bungled trades.
In Shaw's first year as coach, 1996, the team was more attacking than it had been under Matthews, but injuries to skipper Gavin Brown and key players Graham Wright and Damian Monkhorst derailed the season. By mid-year the team nearly became the first Collingwood team to lose eight successive games. The losses were interrupted by a ten goal victory over North Melbourne in round 15, supported by high quality performances from Nathan Buckley and Saverio Rocca.
Following the recruitment of Anthony Rocca, Saverio Rocca's younger brother in 1997, the team reached the top of the league ladder after only eight rounds, losing only two matches. But after leading by 37 points at a quarter time over the previous year's runner-up, Sydney, the team lost.
The Magpies lost to Hawthorn at Waverley Park the following week, failing to score a goal in the opening term. The team did not win a match until round 15 at Victoria Park, against Fremantle. The Club celebrated a 100-point victory in Buckley's 100th outing, with Saverio Rocca scoring nine goals.
The season petered out; the team lacking the polish to crack it for September action, the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the side on show in the final two weeks, with a narrow defeat at the hands of Adelaide snuffing out any finals hopes before ending the year on a high note, a decisive win over perennial powerhouse North Melbourne. At least the club had something to work with in the future.
Sadly, 1998 proved much of the same for Shaw, but without the thrilling finish. Instead, another bright start paved the way for some heavy losses midseason, successive victories in rounds 15 and 16 over Geelong and Hawthorn in the wet, the club's final opportunity to belt out its favourite tune until round eight of 1999.
1999: A low point One loss followed another as the team plummeted to an all-new low, losing the final six matches of the year.
The true bottoming out of the football club occurred after what was dubbed an insipid performance against the oldest and most hated rival, Carlton, in round 21 at the MCG. Scoring a dismal 8.15 for the match, it is remembered by many as the very day the Collingwood Football Club's nose dive from premiers in 1990 to easybeats was completed. Players struggled for direction as their opponents blew them out of the water.