108-519: This is a list of captains and coaches of Australian Football League premiership teams. Jock McHale has coached the most premierships, with eight in total. Syd Coventry , Dick Reynolds and Michael Tuck are the most successful captains, with four premierships each. The coach of the premiership winning team currently receives the Jock McHale Medal, named in McHale's honour. The medal
216-523: A proprietary limited company called Australian Football Championships Pty Ltd in 1978 to run its night competition and offered shareholdings to the other state leagues in an attempt to lure other states into the competition. For the three years from 1977 until 1979, the NFL and VFL night competitions were run separately as rival night competitions. In 1978, the Tasmanian representative team competed in both
324-835: A 20% cut in industry jobs. The 2021 grand final was played in September at Perth Stadium in Perth because an ongoing COVID-19 lockdown prevented the match from being played with spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne , Victoria. It was the first grand final played in Perth and the second consecutive grand final to be played outside Victoria. The event set a new attendance record for Australian rules football in Western Australia, eclipsing
432-474: A 23-match regular (or home-and-away) season, which runs from March to September. The team with the best record at the end of the home-and-away season is awarded the minor premiership ; the top eight teams then play off in a four-round finals series , culminating in the AFL Grand Final , which is normally held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground each year. The grand final winners are termed the premiers ,
540-487: A 73-point loss to Geelong. In 2010, Collingwood finished as minor premiers, and after wins in the qualifying and preliminary finals, reached the first Grand Final against St Kilda . The match finished as a draw, forcing the first grand final replay in 33 years. Collingwood won the replay by 56 points. Key defensive player Nick Maxwell captained the club to victory and midfielder Scott Pendlebury (who had already won his first of eventually three Anzac medals earlier in
648-442: A broad-ranging internal review. The emergence of new-generation players such as Taylor Adams , Adam Treloar and Jordan De Goey , alongside key talls Brodie Grundy and Mason Cox mixed well with veterans Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom . Collingwood jumped from 13th in 2017 to 3rd in 2018, sensationally knocking out reigning premiers Richmond in the preliminary final before falling five points short after leading for most of
756-524: A few home games on the Gold Coast in previous years, was offered significant subsidies to relocate to the Gold Coast but declined. The AFL then began work to establish a club on the Gold Coast as a new expansion team. Early in 2008, a meeting held by the AFL discussed having two new teams enter the AFL competition. In March 2008, the AFL won the support of the league's 16 club presidents to establish sides on
864-841: A goal or less, losing to Geelong by 6 points in the Qualifying Final, and Sydney by 1 point in the Preliminary Final. McRae was awarded the Monjon Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award by the AFL Coaches Association for the 2022 season. The 2023 season marked a shift in the club's leadership, as long-time team captain Scott Pendlebury stepped down from the role he had held from 2014 to 2022. Darcy Moore
972-688: A healthy Anzac Day rivalry with Essendon since 1995. Collingwood fields a reserves team in the Victorian Football League (formerly the VFA) and women's teams in the AFL Women's and VFL Women's competitions. It also owned and operated a netball team in the National Netball League from 2017 to 2023. The Collingwood Football Club was established on 12 February 1892. Collingwood played its first game in
1080-503: A healthy Anzac Day rivalry with Essendon since 1995. Collingwood's two opponents in the themed Rivalry Rounds staged to date have been Carlton (2005–2006, 2009) and Richmond (2007–2008). Arising from the fact that the two areas neighbour each other, Richmond and Collingwood were both highly successful in the late 1920s to the early 1930s; the clubs played against each other in five grand finals between 1919 and 1929 (Collingwood won in 1919, 1927, 1928 and 1929, while Richmond won in 1920). In
1188-493: A joint venture to begin construction of a brand-new stadium situated at Melbourne's Docklands . Representative state football came to an end, with the last State of Origin match held in 1999. In the late 2000s, the AFL looked to establish a permanent presence on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland, which was fast-developing as a major population centre. North Melbourne, which was in financial difficulty and had played
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#17327725809751296-501: A member of the losing side. Despite a very successful home-and-away next season, they were again defeated by the Lions in the 2003 Grand Final , this time in thoroughly convincingly fashion. Following those Grand Final losses, Collingwood struggled for the next two years, finishing 13th in 2004 and second-last in 2005; the latter meant Collingwood was eligible for a priority pick which the club used to recruit Dale Thomas . Collingwood made
1404-487: A phenomenon wittily dubbed "Colliwobbles". Whether this perception is accurate remains a subject of debate; having only won one and drawn one of its last six Grand Finals. Lou Richards ceremoniously buried the Colliwobbles at Victoria Park after the club's 1990 premiership. The 1990 premiership team , coached by Leigh Matthews and captained by Tony Shaw , had a one-sided grand final win against Essendon ,
1512-576: A preliminary final to eventual premiers the Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium . The club qualified for finals once more in 2013, though were surprisingly eliminated in the first week by underdogs Port Adelaide at home. The result prompted the Magpies coaching staff to begin making radical changes to the club's playing list, which saw premiership players Heath Shaw , Sharrod Wellingham , Heritier Lumumba among others leave for other clubs or retire. Over
1620-420: A record of 12 wins, nine losses and two draws, with percentage separating them from eighth-placed arch-rival Carlton. In doing so, Collingwood became the third reigning premier in four years (after Richmond in 2021 and Geelong in 2023) to miss the finals. Throughout the club's history, Collingwood has worn a guernsey of black and white vertical stripes. The all white jumper, with the three black vertical stripes
1728-497: A return to the finals in 2006, finishing fifth, but were defeated by the Western Bulldogs by 41 points in its elimination final. A loss to Essendon (who were on the bottom of the ladder at the time) late in the season ultimately cost them the double chance. The 2007 season saw them finish sixth on the ladder at season's conclusion, and in the finals they knocked out the grand finalists of the past two years, Sydney , in
1836-452: A sole source of income for players who had previously had part-time or full-time jobs outside of football. Functionally, the AFL gave up control over its Victorian-based minor grades at the end of 1991 – clubs continued to field reserves teams in a competition run by the new Victorian State Football League and the under-19s competition and zone-based recruiting were abolished and replaced with an independent system . Midway through 1990,
1944-493: A total of 18 wins and 5 losses, and ultimately finishing first overall on the ladder. In the first Qualifying Final of the 2023 AFL Finals, Collingwood (9.6.60) defeated Melbourne (7.11.53) by 7 points. In the preliminary final, Collingwood (8.10.58) defeated the Giants (8.9.57) by 1 point, to secure a spot in the 2023 AFL Grand Final . In a closely contested match, Collingwood (12.18.90) defeated Brisbane (13.8.86) by 4 points to win
2052-804: A winning percentage of around 86% across the four seasons, and an average winning margin of about five goals. In 1929 they also became the only team in history to go through a home-and-away season undefeated. Collingwood remains the only club in the history of the VFL/AFL to have been declared premiers on four successive occasions. In the 1950s, the Melbourne Football Club enjoyed an era of unprecedented success, winning five premierships in six years (the last coming in 1960, and having been runner up in 1954). Collingwood lost two Grand Finals to Melbourne in this decade, but bounced back to win premierships in 1953 and 1958. Collingwood's 1958 premiership
2160-580: A year at Marvel Stadium since 2014. Collingwood is a working-class suburb and the Collingwood Football Club supporter base traditionally came from the working class (though its supporter base today goes far beyond). Many of the club's supporters who regularly attend games still come from the working class or from lower socio-economic groups, leading to jokes from supporters of other clubs which typically stereotype their Collingwood counterparts as poor, crude and ignorant. Collingwood
2268-464: Is far reaching as evidence by memberships, crowds, broadcast ratings and more recently, the emergence of influential digital media, such as the Pie Hard podcast. "Good Old Collingwood Forever" is the team song of the Collingwood Football Club. The lyrics were written by player Tom Nelson during Collingwood's 1906 tour of Tasmania, making it the oldest of the team songs currently used in the AFL. It
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#17327725809752376-421: Is much cherished by the club as it prevented Melbourne from equalling Collingwood's record four premierships in a row. The 1958 premiership was however to be Collingwood's last for 32 years, as the club was to suffer a string of Grand Final defeats in coming decades. A string of eight Grand Final losses, often by narrow margins, between 1960 and 1981 gave rise to a perception that the club was prone to "choking",
2484-555: Is sung to the tune of " Goodbye, Dolly Gray ", originally a song written in connection with the Spanish–American War , then a popular Boer War and First World War anthem. It is the only AFL team song to reference the barracker, an Australian rules football term for fan. The current version of the song played at the ground during game day was recorded in 1972 by the Fable Singers. The lyrics are as follows: In 1983,
2592-433: Is the iconic strip that the club is most associated with. The current incarnation of the guernsey is mostly black, with white stripes on the front and lower half of the back, and white numbers. The main clash guernsey is the reverse of this: mostly white, with black stripes and black numbers, worn in away matches against clubs with a predominantly dark guernsey such as Fremantle and Port Adelaide . A secondary clash guernsey
2700-407: Is traditionally reviled by non-Collingwood supporters ("You either love 'em or you hate 'em"). The dislike of the club by outsiders is said to have originated during the 1920s and 1930s, a period of great success for the club which drew the envy and resentment of other clubs. In this period, Collingwood was also perceived as a Catholic and Irish club, at a time when these groups were looked down upon by
2808-506: The 1902 VFL Grand Final . Collingwood was the most successful Victorian club of the 1920s and 1930s, appearing in 13 out of a possible 20 Grand Finals during the period. Collingwood were premiers six times during this time, including four consecutive premierships between 1927 and 1930, a VFL record, and two consecutive premierships in 1935 and 1936. The club's coach during this period was Jock McHale , who served as coach from 1912 to 1949. Collingwood also had three Brownlow Medallists during
2916-452: The 2008 AFL season and were assigned an away final against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium . After at one point trailing in the match, Collingwood went on to end Adelaide's season and earn a semi-final meeting against St Kilda . Having defeated the Saints in both their regular season meetings, Collingwood lost convincingly, ending their 2008 season. The 2009 season saw Collingwood finish inside
3024-636: The Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Founded in 1892 in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood , the club played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) before joining seven other teams in 1896 to form the breakaway Victorian Football League (VFL), known today as the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally based at Victoria Park , Collingwood now plays home games at
3132-685: The Gold Coast and in Western Sydney . The Gold Coast Suns were established and joined the AFL in 2011 as the 17th team. The Greater Western Sydney Giants , representing both Western Sydney and Canberra, were then established and entered the league as the 18th team in 2012. On 25 April 2013 the Westpac Stadium in Wellington , New Zealand hosted the first ever Australian Football League game played for premiership points outside Australia. The night game between St Kilda and Sydney
3240-544: The Melbourne Cricket Ground and has its headquarters and training facilities at Olympic Park Oval and the AIA Centre . Collingwood has played in a record 45 VFL/AFL Grand Finals (including rematches), winning 16 (tied with Carlton and Essendon ), drawing two and losing 27 (also a record). Regarded as one of Australia's most popular sports teams, Collingwood, as of 2013, attracted the highest attendance figures and television ratings of any professional football club in
3348-560: The Melbourne Hawks but the merger ultimately fell through and both teams continued as separate entities. Fitzroy, however, was too weak to continue by itself. The club nearly merged with North Melbourne to form the Fitzroy-North Melbourne Kangaroos but the other clubs voted against it. In 1994 Port Adelaide was awarded an AFL licence but could not enter until a Victorian team had folded or merged. At
List of VFL/AFL premiership captains and coaches - Misplaced Pages Continue
3456-553: The VFL Night Series (1956–1971) and records relating to the three competitions are often combined. With the number of players recruited from country leagues increasing, the wealthier VFL clubs were gaining an advantage that metropolitan zoning and the Coulter law (salary cap) restricting player payments had prevented in the past. Country zoning was introduced in the late 1960s and while it pushed Essendon and Geelong from
3564-531: The Victorian Football Association (VFA) against Carlton on 7 May 1892. The club won the VFA Premiership in 1896. In 1897, Collingwood, along with fellow VFA clubs Fitzroy , Melbourne , St Kilda , Carlton , Essendon , South Melbourne and Geelong split from the VFA and formed the Victorian Football League (VFL). Collingwood won its first premiership in 1902, defeating Essendon by 33 points in
3672-704: The West Australian Football League and Queensland Australian Football League were awarded licences to field expansion teams in the VFL, leading to the establishment of the clubs in Brisbane and Perth ( Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles ), who both joined the league in 1987. These expansion team licences were awarded on payment of multimillion-dollar fees which were not required of the existing VFL clubs. In 1989 financial troubles nearly forced Footscray and Fitzroy to merge but fees paid by
3780-575: The 11 Titles of which Port Adelaide was the most successful winning four titles in 1890, 1910, 1913 and 1914. The majority of the matches were held in South Australia at Adelaide Oval . Following the outbreak of World War 1 the Championship playoff ceased and wasn't revived until 1968. In 1916, district football was introduced, meaning new players from metropolitan Melbourne were allocated to clubs based on residential address. In 1925,
3888-416: The 1890s, an off-field power struggle occurred between the VFA's stronger and weaker clubs, the former seeking greater administrative control commensurate with their relative financial contribution to the game. This came to a head in 1896 when it was proposed that gate profits, which were always lower in matches involving the weaker clubs, be shared equally among all teams in the VFA. After it was intimated that
3996-401: The 1911 season, with clubs permitted to pay players beyond the reimbursement of expenses for the first time. University, after three promising seasons, finished last each year from 1911 until 1914, including losing 51 matches in a row, in part caused by its players' focus on their studies rather than football and in part because it had chosen to remain amateur; as a result, the club withdrew from
4104-773: The 1980 Grand Final, Richmond handed Collingwood an 81-point defeat, a record at the time, causing Collingwood to lose an 8th Grand Finals in a row. Both clubs continue to draw large crowds to their meetings in each season, and the two were the subject of a 'recruiting war' throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with David Cloke, Geoff Raines, Brian Taylor, Wally Lovett, Phillip Walsh, Steven Roach, Gerald Betts, Neil Peart, Peter McCormack, Kevin Morris, Craig Stewart, Ross Brewer, Michael Lockman, Rod Oborne, Allan Edwards, John Annear, Noel Lovell and Bob Heard all exchanging clubs, as well as coach Tom Hafey (moving to Collingwood in 1977 following four flags at Punt Road). Melees have been fought between
4212-568: The 1980s. The AFL publishes its Laws of Australian football , which are used, with variations, by other Australian rules football organisations. The AFL competition currently consists of 18 teams spread over Australia's five mainland states, with Tasmania to join the league as its 19th team in 2028. AFL premiership season matches have been played in all states and mainland territories, as well as in New Zealand and China to expand its audience. The AFL premiership season currently consists of
4320-431: The 2010 and 2011 seasons, before assuming the head coaching position at the start of the 2012 season . Malthouse, who had been contracted to take on a "head of coaching" role, elected to leave the club rather than put Buckley in what he regarded as an awkward position. Under Buckley, Collingwood continued to be successful in the short term, qualifying inside the top-four in the 2012 season, before falling 26 points short in
4428-556: The 2017 season, which was the club's 125th anniversary year. In 2020, the club commissioned an independent review into claims of racism at the club. In February 2021, the report was leaked to journalists and revealed that "while claims of racism have been made across the AFL, there is something distinct and egregious about Collingwood's history" and that "what is clear is that racism at the club has resulted in profound and enduring harm to First Nations and African players. The racism affected them, their communities, and set dangerous norms for
List of VFL/AFL premiership captains and coaches - Misplaced Pages Continue
4536-494: The 2023 AFL Premiership, equalling the league-record of 16 VFL/AFL premierships for the club. The 2024 season would prove to be a disappointment for the reigning premiers. Collingwood started the year poorly, losing the first three matches of their flag defence before recovering strongly to lose just once in the following eleven games. Despite this, the Magpies finished the season in indifferent fashion, winning just four of their last nine matches. They ultimately finished ninth with
4644-476: The Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles, propped up the struggling VFL sides. The 1980s first saw new regular timeslots for VFL matches. VFL matches had previously been played on Saturday afternoons but Sydney began playing its home matches on Sunday afternoons and North Melbourne pioneered playing matches on Friday night. These have since become regular timeslots for all teams. The first national draft
4752-486: The Collingwood Football Club on 9 February 2021, although he had initially wanted to see the year through for a seamless transition until being compelled to step down. Buckley stepped down after Round 13 of the 2021 AFL season , and assistant coach Robert Harvey took over as the caretaker coach until the end of the season. Harvey focused on developing youth and letting them play, with Collingwood winning 2 out of their 9 remaining games. In September 2021, Craig McRae
4860-404: The Magpies recording a 48-point victory and ending a 32-year premiership drought which included eight grand final losses and one draw. The sight of club great Darren Millane , who died in a car-crash one year later, holding the ball aloft in triumph at the final siren is one of the indelible images of the match. After the drought-breaking premiership, the club lapsed into a state of decline for
4968-647: The NFL and VFL night competitions but all SANFL and WAFL clubs and the minor states teams remained in the NFL Night Series. In 1979, the WAFL clubs and the New South Wales and A.C.T. representative teams defected from the NFL Night Series and joined the VFL's night competition, leaving the NFL Night Series mostly composed of SANFL teams. The NFL Night Series was not revived in 1980 and the SANFL clubs joined
5076-562: The Olympic Park Complex. The Collingwood Football Club also used Olympic Park Stadium being adjacent to Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre as its outdoor training ground from 2004 until 2012, when it was demolished. After this occurred, Collingwood Football Club moved its outdoor training ground to the newly developed Olympic Park Oval that replaced the space of the stadium after demolition. The club's original primary home ground, where they played their AFL home games
5184-543: The SANFL's most successful club, Port Adelaide , made a bid for an AFL licence. In response, the SANFL gained an injunction via Glenelg and Norwood against Port Adelaide , allowing it time to establish a composite South Australian team called the Adelaide Crows , which was awarded the licence and joined the league in 1991 as the fourth non-Victorian club. The same year saw the West Coast Eagles become
5292-719: The VFL at the end of 1914. The VFL premier and the premier of the South Australian Football League met in a playoff matches for the Championship of Australia beginning in 1888 with a 3-game playoff between South Melbourne from the VFL and the Norwood the most successful club in the SAFA. Matches where then held sporadically during the 1890s as single game playoffs and then annually from 1907 until 1914 (except 1912). South Australian clubs won 8 of
5400-481: The VFL commenced in 1957 with direct telecasts of the final quarter permitted. At first, several channels competed through broadcasting different games. When the VFL found that television coverage had reduced crowds, it decided no that television coverage was to be allowed for 1960. In 1961 television replays in Melbourne were introduced although direct telecasts were rarely permitted, where as the rest of Australia received live telecasts every Saturday afternoon. In 1959,
5508-434: The VFL expanded from nine teams to twelve, with Footscray , Hawthorn and North Melbourne each crossing from the VFA. North Melbourne and Hawthorn remained very weak in the VFL for a very long period. Although North Melbourne would become the first of the 1925 expansion sides to reach a grand final in 1950 , initially it was Footscray that adapted to the VFL with the most ease of the three clubs and by 1928 were well off
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#17327725809755616-435: The VFL night competition was at its largest, with all VFL, WAFL and SANFL clubs plus the four minor states teams (selected under residential qualification rather than state of origin qualification) competing for a total of 34 teams. In 1982, the size of the competition was reduced and, thereafter, only the top two or three teams from the SANFL and WAFL and the winner of the minor states' annual carnival were invited. In 1987,
5724-483: The VFL planned the first purpose-built mega-stadium, VFL Park (later known as Waverley Park) , to give it some independence from the Melbourne Cricket Club , which managed the Melbourne Cricket Ground . VFL Park was planned to hold 155,000 spectators, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world – although it would ultimately be built with a capacity of 78,000. Land for the stadium
5832-423: The VFL's night competition. Although the NFL itself continued to exist as an administrative body into the early 1990s, the power gained by the VFL as a result of its take-over of night competition was one of the first significant steps in the VFL's spread interstate and ultimately its take-over and control of Australian football across Australia. In 1980 and 1981, the first years after the NFL Night Series ended,
5940-416: The VFL's weaker clubs into dire financial situations. The South Melbourne Swans became the first VFL team to relocate interstate. The South Melbourne Football Club was deeply indebted, including to the VFL which took over the club's Swans team and moved the team's home games to Sydney in 1982 and renamed the team the Sydney Swans the following year. Under the private ownership of Dr Geoffrey Edelsten during
6048-428: The VFL, SANFL and WAFL, as well as state representative teams from other states. In November 1976, the VFL announced that it was withdrawing from the NFL's competition, having arranged more substantial television and sponsorship deals for its own, rival night competition for 1977 to be based in Melbourne and feature only the VFL clubs. Light towers were erected at VFL Park specifically for the event. The VFL established
6156-574: The assistance of state governments and health officials, the season resumed on 11 June, with the length of the season reduced from 22 matches per team to 17 matches. The grand final was played in October at The Gabba in Brisbane , the first time it was held outside of Victoria since the creation of the league due to the spiking cases in that state. The pandemic caused the league to lose out on up to $ 400 million in anticipated revenue and also precipitated
6264-511: The bottom of the ladder. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first and only VFL team, to win four successive premierships. In 1952, the VFL hosted a national day, when all six matches were played outside Melbourne. Matches were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground , Brisbane Exhibition Ground , North Hobart Oval , Albury Sports Ground and Victorian country towns Yallourn and Euroa . Footscray became
6372-422: The club's 2011 AFL season, Malthouse left Collingwood after deciding not to stay on as "director of coaching". Star midfielder Dane Swan won the 2011 Brownlow Medal with a then-record 34 votes. Malthouse would leave having coached the club to eight finals series and four grand finals in 12 years. Nathan Buckley, regarded as one of Collingwood's greatest players, was appointed assistant coach under Malthouse for
6480-416: The elimination final and then West Coast in overtime at Subiaco Oval in the semi-final. Having earned a preliminary final against Geelong , Collingwood lost to the eventual premiers, by five points in one of the most memorable preliminary finals in over a decade. Nathan Buckley would announce his retirement at season's end after playing just five games in 2007 due to injury. Collingwood finished eighth in
6588-596: The end of 1996 Fitzroy played its last match and merged with Brisbane to form the Brisbane Lions. This allowed Port Adelaide to enter the AFL for the 1997 season as the sixth and only pre-existing non Victorian club. Through the 1990s there was a significant trend of Melbourne-based teams abandoning the use of their small (20,000–30,000 capacity) suburban venues for home matches in favour of the MCG and VFL Park , which have and had larger seating capacities. The 1990s saw
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#17327725809756696-486: The end of the home-and-away season. The club made significant on-field and administrative changes in the late 2010s. It was a foundation member of the inaugural AFL Women's competition in 2017 and in the same year established the Collingwood Magpies Netball team, a division of the club competing in the professional National Netball League . Collingwood unveiled a new permanent logo at the end of
6804-774: The field, a succession of owners and transfer to its supporter "members", the Sydney Swans remain indebted to the AFL and subject to its veto control and reversion rights in what became a model for the AFL control of teams. Throughout the 1980s, approaches were made by SANFL and WAFL clubs to enter the VFL. Of particular note were approaches by the East Perth Royals in 1980, the Norwood Redlegs in 1986 and 1988, and an East – South Fremantle merger proposal in 1987. None of these attempts were successful despite Norwood trying again in 1990 and 1994. In 1986,
6912-476: The first and most recent match in 2024 ending in draws respectively. The rivalry between Collingwood and Melbourne was at its peak between 1955 and 1964, when the two played off in the grand final on five occasions. This included the 1958 Grand Final where Collingwood's victory prevented Melbourne from equalling Collingwood's record of four premierships in succession (1927–1930). The old rivalry with Melbourne has faded in recent decades due to Melbourne not enjoying
7020-518: The first non-Victorian club to reach the grand final, which was won by Hawthorn. The Eagles would then win the premiership in 1992 and 1994. In 1994, Fremantle obtained an AFL licence and joined the AFL in 1995, becoming the fifth non-Victorian club, and the second from Western Australia. The VFA took over the Victorian Football League name in 1996. In 1996 several Victorian clubs were in severe financial difficulties, most notably Fitzroy and Hawthorn. Hawthorn proposed to merge with Melbourne to form
7128-443: The first of the 1925 expansion teams to win the premiership in 1954. Melbourne became a powerhouse during the 1950s and early 1960s under coach Norm Smith and star player Ron Barassi . The club contested seven consecutive grand finals from 1954 to 1960, winning five premierships, including three in a row from 1955 to 1957. The became the only club to win the minor premiership 6 times in a row from 1955-1960. Television coverage for
7236-601: The first-ever AFL match for premiership points in Shanghai , China, attracting a crowd of 10,114 at Jiangwan Stadium . Port Adelaide won the game by 72 points. In 2020, the AFL season was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic . The first round of matches was played in front of no crowds due to the pandemic, before the season was suspended on 22 March due to health concerns and strict government regulations on non-essential travel. After nearly two months of planning with
7344-452: The football ground. The VFL played the first of a series of exhibition matches in 1962 in an effort to lift the international profile of the league. In 1967, district football was expanded throughout all of Victoria, clubs now allocated a country zone in addition to their metropolitan districts. The 1970 season saw the opening of VFL Park, with the inaugural match being played between Geelong and Fitzroy, on 18 April 1970. Construction work
7452-556: The game by 10 points, featured a famous spectacular mark by Alex Jesaulenko and was witnessed by a record crowd of 121,696. In 1976, the National Football League , which was the peak national administrative body of Australian rules football at the time, established the NFL Night Series to succeed the Championship of Australia . The Night Series was played concurrently with the premiership season and
7560-418: The inaugural season. Six clubs joined the league in the coming years; Geelong and North Melbourne entered the competition in 2019, while Gold Coast , Richmond , St Kilda and West Coast made their debut in 2020. The remaining four clubs— Essendon , Hawthorn , Port Adelaide and Sydney — entered AFL Women's in the seventh season in 2022. On 14 May 2017, Port Adelaide and the Gold Coast played
7668-553: The ladder in the 2000 AFL season and in the 2001 AFL season , only narrowly missing the finals in the latter year. Collingwood met reigning premiers Brisbane in the 2002 Grand Final and were regarded as massive underdogs, eventually falling just 9 points short of an improbable premiership. Buckley, the captain, became just the third player to win the Norm Smith Medal as best afield in the Grand Final despite being
7776-460: The last matches played at Windy Hill (Essendon), Moorabbin Oval (St Kilda), Western Oval (Footscray) and Victoria Park (Collingwood) and saw Princes Park abandoned by its long-term co-tenant, Hawthorn. The transition to the use of only two venues in Melbourne was ultimately completed in 2005 when Carlton abandoned the use of Princes Park. In 1999, the league sold VFL Park and used the funds in
7884-448: The line "Oh, the premiership's a cakewalk" was briefly changed to "there is just one team we favour" as it was felt to be embarrassing due to the long period the club had been without a premiership. However, the change was unpopular and was quickly reverted. Carlton is considered to be the club's most bitter arch-rival (for full details see Carlton–Collingwood AFL rivalry ), with Richmond close behind. Collingwood has also enjoyed
7992-449: The match against West Coast in the 2018 Grand Final , the senior team's 27th defeat in a Grand Final. Buckley's growth as a coach was partially credited for the rapid improvement. In 2019, Collingwood had another strong season, finishing fourth on the ladder, but they were unable to return to the Grand Final after a shattering four-point defeat to Greater Western Sydney in the first preliminary final. In 2020, Collingwood finished 8th at
8100-535: The mid-1980s, the Sydney Swans became successful on-field. Moving the Swans team to Sydney effectively shifted the debts of a Melbourne club onto Australian football in Sydney and re-directed support and finance to the Swans team to the detriment of existing Australian Football clubs and league competitions in Sydney. However, the Swans team attracted new prominence and supporters for the sport. Despite becoming successful on
8208-609: The modern scoring system, in which six points are awarded for a goal and one point for a behind. Although the VFL and the VFA continued to compete for spectator interest for many years, the VFL quickly established itself as the premier competition in Victoria. In 1908, the league expanded to ten teams, with Richmond crossing from the VFA and University Football Club from the Metropolitan Junior Football Association . Professionalism began from
8316-424: The most important team prizes for which are the premiership cup and flag . Carlton , Collingwood and Essendon are the joint-most successful clubs in the competition, having each won 16 premierships. The Brisbane Lions are the reigning premiers, having won the 2024 AFL Grand Final . Several of the AFL's current member clubs date back to the origins of Australian football and were instrumental in establishing
8424-517: The nation, across all codes. In 2023, it topped the AFL membership ladder with 106,470 members. The club's song, " Good Old Collingwood Forever ", dates back to 1906, making it the oldest team song currently used in the AFL. Its home guernsey consists of black and white stripes, based on the colours of the Australian magpie . Historically, the club's biggest rivals have been neighbouring clubs Carlton and Richmond . Collingwood has also enjoyed
8532-431: The next four years, younger talent was drafted but the club's win–loss recorded continued to deteriorate. Collingwood failed to make finals from 2014 through to the end of the 2017 season , progressively sliding down the ladder each year. Buckley came under intense media pressure to resign or be sacked from his position, though club administrators elected to grant him a two-year extension to his contract in October 2017 after
8640-602: The next two seasons, before poor results in 1998 and 1999 saw Shaw announce his resignation. Media personality, sports journalist and administrator Eddie McGuire was elected President in October 1998. He oversaw the installation of new head coach Michael Malthouse in October 1999, whose appointment proved to be a masterstroke in reviving the club on-field. Under Malthouse, the acquisition and emergence of players such as Paul Licuria , Alan Didak , Anthony Rocca and Nathan Buckley resulted in Collingwood quickly moving up
8748-400: The night competition reverted to include only the VFL teams. The competition was pushed earlier into the year, with the final played on 28 April. The following season, the competition did not overlap with the day premiership season at all and became entirely a pre-season competition . The night competition is generally considered to be of equivalent importance as the pre-season competition and
8856-414: The opportunity to compete as junior sides at a level beneath the VFL but rejected the offer and remained for the 1897 VFA season . The VFL's inaugural season occurred in 1897. It made several innovations early on to entice the public's interest, including an annual finals tournament, rather than awarding the premiership to the team with the best record through the season; and, the formal establishment of
8964-574: The period, with Syd Coventry winning in 1927, Albert Collier in 1929 and Harry Collier in 1930. The club's ruthlessly successful period later earned the club the nickname "The Machine". American journalist and author Sam Walker included the Machine team in his book The Captain Class , which listed some the author's greatest teams in the history of world sport. The Collingwood team of 1927–30 not only achieved four straight premierships, but did so with
9072-544: The preliminary final in front of a crowd of 94,959, which caused the rivalry to reach its highest point since 1980. Games between these two clubs regularly attract large crowds regardless of whether they are in finals contention or not. Collingwood has enjoyed an Anzac Day rivalry with the Essendon Football Club since 1995, when the first Anzac Day clash took place. After the 2024 match, Collingwood have won this contest 17 times and Essendon 11 times, with
9180-646: The previous record set in 2018 despite not featuring any WA-based teams and being played during the COVID pandemic. [REDACTED] The AFL operates on a single table system, with no divisions and conferences, nor promotion and relegation from other leagues. Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club , nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies , is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne , Victoria that competes in
9288-481: The proposal would be put to a vote, six of the strongest clubs— Collingwood , Essendon , Fitzroy , Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne —seceded from the VFA and later invited Carlton and St Kilda to join them in founding a new competition, the Victorian Football League (VFL). The remaining VFA clubs— Footscray , North Melbourne , Port Melbourne , Richmond and Williamstown —were given
9396-439: The public." Collingwood President Eddie McGuire suggested that the report signalled "A historic and proud day" for the media and club which was working towards addressing racism and that it "was not a racist club". Many criticised McGuire's response, including AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan , Héritier Lumumba , former Indigenous Collingwood player Tony Armstrong and a Victorian Senator, among others. McGuire later apologised for
9504-553: The remainder of the decade, culminating with the club's second wooden spoon in 1999. The Magpies returned to finals, though were quickly eliminated, in the 1992 season against St Kilda and in the 1994 AFL season against West Coast . Matthews left as head coach at the end of the 1995 season and was replaced at the start of the following year by 1990 premiership captain Tony Shaw , who had only retired from football 18 months earlier. Mid-table finishes under Shaw were achieved for
9612-402: The remarks. On 4 February, 150 Collingwood players from the men's and women's teams penned an open letter apologising "to anyone who, through their association with our club, has been marginalised, hurt or discriminated against due to their race." First-grade footballer Darcy Moore said that the players were "humiliated and shocked" by the report's findings. McGuire stood down as President of
9720-633: The rest of Australian society and subjected to a considerable degree of social exclusion. According to a 2001 study, Collingwood ' s old home ground of Victoria Park had a reputation as one of the worst venues for racial vilification, though it has also been said that the problem was similar at all grounds. Collingwood has however been involved in several high-profile incidents of this type, such as those involving indigenous players Nicky Winmar in 1993 and Adam Goodes in 2013. Michael Long ' s accusation of racial vilification against Collingwood ruckman Damian Monkhorst in 1995 also led directly to
9828-473: The same level of on-field success, however, it remains strong and is an annual scheduled fixture on the Kings Birthday public holiday. Collingwood Football Club had its original training and administration base at Victoria Park from 1892 until 2004. In 2004, Collingwood Football Club moved its primary administrative and training base to the purpose-built Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre at
9936-455: The sport's popularity and the AFL. The oldest club is Melbourne Football Club , which wrote the first laws of the code, and Geelong , which date back to 1858 and 1859 respectively, while Melbourne University , also founded in 1859, is also one of the oldest clubs to have later participated in the competition. The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was established in 1877 and quickly went on to become Victoria 's football competition. During
10044-492: The team's coach. Australian Football League The Australian Football League ( AFL ) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football . It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season in 1897. It changed its name to Australian Football League in 1990 after expanding its competition to other Australian states in
10152-446: The teams in two recent matches—Round 20, 2009, and Round 2, 2012—with almost all players from both teams involved in the altercations. Both teams played each other 3 times during 2018, with all three games attracting massive crowds. Crowds of 72,157 and 88,180 were recorded between both home-and-away games, with Richmond winning both times, until Collingwood unexpectedly pulled off a massive upset in their finals game, smashing Richmond in
10260-455: The top of the ladder, it created severe inequality during the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1972 and 1987, only six of the league's twelve clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Richmond – played in grand finals. (equivalent to $ 53,142 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 2,898,675 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 3,221,426 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 99,714 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 12,885,702 in 2022) The 1980s
10368-407: The top-four for the first time since 2003, but in the qualifying final were beaten by minor premiers St Kilda convincingly. Having won a second chance, Collingwood struggled against Adelaide for the second year in a row before John Anthony kicked the match-winning goal with a minute left to send them into another preliminary final meeting with Geelong. But the season ended abruptly for the Magpies, with
10476-464: The year) was awarded the Norm Smith Medal . The club won a second consecutive minor premiership in 2011, and qualified for the Grand Final after a three-point victory against Hawthorn in the preliminary final. However, Collingwood was then beaten by Geelong by 38 points in the decider, after trailing by seven points at three-quarter time. Following the Grand Final loss, which also marked the end of
10584-499: Was a period of significant structural change in Australian football around the country. The VFL was dominant among the Australian football leagues around the country in terms of overall attendance, interest and money and began to look towards expanding its influence directly into other states. The VFL and its top clubs were asserting their financial power to recruit top players from interstate. The resulting rising cost pressures drove
10692-426: Was appointed as head coach of the club for the 2022 season and onwards. In his first season as Senior Coach, McRae led the club from a 17th place finish in the previous year, to 4th place on the ladder at the conclusion of the 2022 regular season, which included an 11 game winning streak and an AFL record of 11 separate wins by under 12 points. Collingwood would go on to lose two of their three Finals games in 2022 by
10800-460: Was at Victoria Park from 1892 until 1999. Since 2000, The club's primary home ground has been the Melbourne Cricket Ground , even though the club had already experimented playing home games at the venue since 1993, where in the period between 1994 and 1999, the club would play seven of its home games at the MCG, while retaining three at Victoria Park. Additionally, the club has played two home games
10908-406: Was carried out at the stadium as the 1970s progressed, culminating in the building of the now heritage listed Sir Kenneth Luke Stand. Queen Elizabeth II , was a guest at the game and formally opened the stadium to the public. The 1970 grand final between traditional rivals Carlton and Collingwood, arguably the league's most famous game, saw Carlton recover from a 44-point deficit at half-time to win
11016-536: Was contested among twelve clubs from the VFL, SANFL and WAFL , invited based on their finishing positions from the previous year. The event was mostly played on Tuesday nights, with night games at Norwood Oval in Adelaide and all games were televised live in colour on Channel 9 , which opened up unprecedented revenue streams from television rights and sponsorship opportunities for the sport. The NFL began plans to expand its Night Series to incorporate more teams from
11124-622: Was first awarded in 2001, and Jock McHale Medals were retrospectively awarded to all premiership-winning coaches from 1950 onwards, which was the first season following McHale's retirement from coaching. The captain or co-captains of the premiership winning team currently receive the Ron Barassi Medal, named in Barassi's honour. The medal was first awareded in 2024 and has not been retrospectively awarded. Note : All team captains prior to 1902, and occasionally until 1922, also acted as
11232-541: Was introduced in 1986 and a salary cap was introduced in 1987. District football within Victoria was discontinued around the same time. The league was renamed the Australian Football League in 1990 to reflect its national composition. In 1990 the AFLPA , the players union, signed its first Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the league which outlined wages and conditions in what was becoming
11340-459: Was introduced in 2011 and is used only in matches against North Melbourne due to similarity between the two uniforms. The alternate uniform is black with only two white stripes on each side instead of three. Traditionally, Collingwood has worn a white guernsey with black stripes. The club switched to the black guernsey with white stripes in 2001. Nike is the current manufacturer of the Magpies' apparel. Collingwoods cultural reach and impact
11448-504: Was played in front of a crowd of 22,183 on Anzac Day to honour the Anzac bond between the two countries. A national women's league comprising a subset of AFL clubs began in 2017. Thirteen AFL clubs placed bids to participate in the women's competition. Eight clubs – Adelaide , Brisbane Lions , Carlton , Collingwood , Fremantle , Greater Western Sydney , Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs – were granted licences to participate in
11556-658: Was purchased at Mulgrave, then farmland but predicted to be near the demographic centre of Melbourne's population. The VFL premiership trophy was first awarded in addition to a pennant flag in 1959; essentially the same trophy design has been in use since. In the 1960s, television coverage began to have a huge impact on the VFL. Spectators hurried home from games to watch replays and many former players took up positions as commentators on pre-game preview programs and post-game review programs. There were also several attempts at variety programs featuring VFL players, who generally succeeded in demonstrating that their skills were limited to
11664-447: Was voted as the club's new captain for the 2023 season and beyond. The Magpies entered the 2023 season with the aim to build upon their strong performance in the 2022 season. Key offseason additions included Tom Mitchell (from Hawthorn), Bobby Hill (from GWS), and Billy Frampton (from Adelaide) through trades, and signing Dan McStay to the club as a free agent. Collingwood had a successful second season under Craig McRae, securing
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