1903 VFL grand final

The 1903 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and Fitzroy Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 12 September 1903. It was the 6th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1903 VFL season. The match, attended by 32,263 spectators, was won by Collingwood by a margin of 2 points, marking that club's second successive premiership victory.

1903 VFL grand final
Collingwood Fitzroy 4.7 (31) 3.11 (29)
1 2 3 4 COL 2.3 (15) 3.4 (22) 3.6 (24) 4.7 (31) FIT 2.2 (14) 2.5 (17) 2.8 (20) 3.11 (29)
Date	12 September 1903
Stadium	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Attendance	32,263
Umpires	Dick Gibson
← 1902 AFL Grand Final 1904 →

Gerald Brosnan had a chance to win Fitzroy the premiership with a set shot for goal off the last kick of the game but missed narrowly to give Collingwood back-to-back flags.

Collingwood's Jim Addison, despite playing in just his third game, was the only multiple goalkicker. Both Ern Jenkins and Bert Sharpe of Fitzroy were celebrating their 100th VFL games.

Lead-up

Gerald Brosnan, player of Fitz Roy

After the home-and-away season (which lasted for seventeen matches, including the "first round" of fourteen matches and a "second round" of three matches), Collingwood was top of the ladder with a record of 15–2 and a percentage of 159.4; Fitzroy finished second with a record of 14–3 and a percentage of 171.6.

The finals were contested using the variation of the first amended Argus system, seen between 1902 and 1906. Fitzroy faced fourth-placed Geelong in the first semi-final, and won by 52 points, and Collingwood faced third-placed Carlton in the second semi-final and won by four points.

Collingwood (now 16–2) and Fitzroy (now 15–3) then faced off in the final. By virtue of their records, neither club could lose the match and still finish with a better win–loss record than the other; and therefore under the first amended Argus system, there was no chance for a challenge grand final and it was known from the opening bounce that this match would be decisive for the premiership.

Teams

Collingwood

Fitzroy

Collingwood B: George Lockwood Bill Proudfoot Alf Dummett HB: Matthew Fell Jack Monohan Bob Rush C: Charlie Pannam Con McCormack Eddie Drohan HF: Teddy Lockwood Ted Rowell Lardie Tulloch (c) F: Arthur Leach Jim Addison Harry Pears Foll: Jack Incoll George Angus Dick Condon

Fitzroy B: Alf Sharp Ern Jenkins Lou Barker HB: Wally Naismith Jim Sharp Fred Fontaine C: Tammy Beauchamp Harry Clarke Frank Brophy HF: Alf Wilkinson Gerald Brosnan (c) Chris Kiernan F: Percy Trotter Les Millis Bert Sharpe Foll: Bill Walker Herbert Milne Bill McSpeerin

• Umpire – Dick Gibson

Statistics

Goalkickers

Collingwood, Premier team

Collingwood: Addison 2 Condon 1 T.Lockwood 1

Fitzroy: McSpeerin 1 Millis 1 Milne 1

Attendance

• MCG crowd – 32,263

References

• 1903 VFL Grand Final statistics
• The Official statistical history of the AFL 2004
• 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

See also

• 1903 VFL season