35-630: The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded annually to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which was formerly known as the Victorian Football Association (VFA). It is named after J.J. Liston , a businessman, civic leader and sports administrator who was fundamental in advancing sport in Australia, particularly Australian Rules Football and Soccer. The first award for
70-452: A desire to have the eligibility criterion removed from the award (effectively eliminating the fairest component altogether); but this view is not universally held, and 1958 winner Neil Roberts stated in 1988 that he would hand back his medal if the fairness criterion were removed. Over the years, the award ceremony has become increasingly elaborate, with footballers and their dates gradually becoming more fashion-conscious. This aspect of
105-462: A former Geelong Football Club footballer (1880–1891) and club secretary (1885–1923), and VFL president (1918–19), who had died in January 1924 after an extended illness. Although the award is generally spoken of the best and fairest , the award's specific criterion is fairest and best , reflecting an emphasis on sportsmanship and fair play (this also explains the decision to have the votes cast by
140-418: A one-match suspension are caused by negligent play, rather than intentionally unfair play, and hence that suspension is not a reasonable measure of fairness. The temporary break from tradition under the demerit points-based tribunal system (which saw player being ineligible despite not having served suspensions) was also criticised as confusing. Prominent players, including dual-winner Chris Judd , have indicated
175-475: A player's good or bad record, or for accepting an early guilty plea – meaning that players with a good record or early plea could be ineligible despite avoiding suspension, or a player with a bad record could be eligible despite having been suspended. Umpires cast their votes for each game independent of eligibility criteria of the players; i.e. umpires can cast votes for players who have already been suspended during that season if they perceive them to be amongst
210-660: A two-umpire system but Division 2 was still using a single umpire; in that year, the Field Trophy voting system was unchanged from 1980. As for the Liston Trophy, a countback existed until 1988 to break ties, and retrospective Field Medals were later awarded to players who had lost on this countback. J. Field Medal Best and fairest Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
245-515: Is done instead. The event itself consists of the votes for each match being read out in succession by the CEO of the AFL, interspersed with a retrospective look at highlights from each round of the season and commentary from the broadcast network's usual football commentary team. The integrity of the award is upheld by the tight security and secrecy surrounding the votes. Once the umpires make their decision,
280-581: The Association best and fairest player was the Woodham Cup , named after North Melbourne committeeman Alf Woodham, which was first awarded in 1923. The Woodham Cup was renamed the Recorder Cup , named after the Association's official match-day publication, in 1926. Starting from 1933, a second award, the V.F.A. Medal (or Association Medal), was awarded concurrently. From 1933 until 1939, both
315-400: The Liston Trophy was instituted in 1945, a countback system was introduced, such that if two players tied on votes, the award would go to the player who polled the higher number of first preferences; and (after 1981) if still tied, the higher number of second preferences; if these countbacks failed to separate the players (as occurred in 1978), the players were joint winners. The countback system
350-470: The Recorder Cup and the V.F.A. Medal were presented annually based on the votes of the umpires; but the two awards were given based on different voting systems. The two best and fairest awards were combined into one in 1940, when the Association dispensed with the Recorder Cup voting system; in 1940 and 1941, both the V.F.A. Medal and the Recorder Cup were awarded as trophies to the same player based on
385-530: The award was won retrospectively. * Awarded under V.F.A. Medal voting rules. From 1961 until 1988, the J. Field Medal was awarded to the best and fairest in the Association's second division. The award was originally known simply as the Division 2 Best and Fairest until 1968, then was named after former secretary Jack Field in 1969. The Field Medal voting system was identical to the Liston Trophy voting in all years except 1981, when Division 1 had switched to
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#1732779784647420-420: The awards night, the votes from each match are tallied, and the player(s) with the highest number of votes is awarded the medal (subject to eligibility – see below). The current voting system has been used for the vast majority of Brownlow Medal counts. There have been different voting systems for short periods in the past: Since the rules were changed after the 1980 season, if two or more eligible players score
455-573: The best and fairest in Division 1. A separate award, known as the J. Field Medal , was awarded for the second division. The current voting system for the J. J. Liston Trophy is the same as for the Australian Football League 's Brownlow Medal . At the conclusion of each game, the field umpires confer, and award three votes to the player deemed best on ground, two votes to the player deemed second-best on ground, and one vote to
490-442: The best on the ground. Prior to 1991, votes could not be awarded to a player in a match in which he was reported, but this rule was eliminated in 1991 so that a player would not be disadvantaged if he would have gained votes in a match in which he was reported but later cleared by the tribunal. On three occasions, an ineligible player has tallied the highest number of Brownlow votes: The voting system has come under scrutiny because
525-435: The best two players on a 2–1 basis, but the goal umpires did not, giving a new total of six votes per game, with any player able to poll a maximum of four. This system was used only in 1981, and the present day 3–2–1 voting system, based on agreement between the two (and later, three) field umpires, was adopted in 1982. During the 1930s, multiple players could win the V.F.A. Medal if they were tied on total number of votes. When
560-587: The betting odds of supposed winners has led to increasingly elaborate security measures to ensure the Brownlow votes are kept secret until the vote count. Since 1987, the theme used in the moments after the winning player has been announced is the end credits theme from The Untouchables . During World War II, there was an Australian rules football competition amongst the prisoners of war held at Singapore 's Changi prison. There were four teams named "Geelong", "Essendon", "Collingwood" and "Carlton". The standard
595-410: The change of the monogram from VFL to AFL in 1990, the design, shape and size of the medallion have been virtually unchanged since 1924. To determine the best player, the four field umpires (not the goal umpires or boundary umpires) confer after each home-and-away match and award 3 votes, 2 votes and 1 vote to the players they regard as the best, second best and third best in the match respectively. On
630-468: The details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 210066593 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:43:04 GMT Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy , better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie ), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during
665-424: The equal highest number of votes, each wins a Brownlow medal. Up to 1980, if two or more players were tied, a single winner was chosen on a countback: Even with these considerations, these countbacks failed to separate Des Fothergill and Herbie Matthews , who tied for the medal in 1940. The league decided to keep the original medal and award replica medals to the two winners. In 1989, the eight players who since
700-518: The event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic preventing the event from being held in Melbourne. In years past, prospective Grand Final players have attended the ceremony in person, but in recent years non-Victorian Grand Final teams have declined to attend the ceremony due to the inconvenience of travel in such an important week; a live video link to Brownlow functions in their home city
735-500: The following circumstances: The application of the ineligibility criteria has remained fairly consistent throughout the history of the award, with some subtle changes, since it was introduced in 1931. The main exception was from 2005 until 2014, when a player would become ineligible if he committed an infringement that the Tribunal's Match Review Panel judged as being worthy of a one-game suspension, before applying adjustments based on
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#1732779784647770-417: The home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the four officiating field umpires after each game. It is the most prestigious award for individual players in the AFL. It is also widely acknowledged as the highest individual honour in the sport of Australian rules football . The medal was first awarded by the Victorian Football League (VFL). It was created and named in honour of Charles Brownlow ,
805-544: The inception of the award had tied on votes but lost on a countback were awarded retrospective medals. The fairest component of the medal is achieved by making ineligible any player who is suspended by the AFL Tribunal during the home-and-away season. An ineligible player cannot win the Brownlow Medal, regardless of the number of votes he has received. A player remains eligible for the Brownlow Medal under
840-429: The medal is almost always won by midfield players, with relatively few key-position players ever winning. Some of the game's greatest players in these positions never even came close to winning the Brownlow despite having high reputations amongst their peers and coaches. This is primarily because players who are most valuable to their teams in key or defensive positions tend not to attract enough attention to feature amongst
875-574: The night has become widely reported by gossip columns, with the red carpet arrival often humorously referred to as the 'Gownlow'. The ceremony is currently held at Crown Melbourne on the Monday five days prior to the AFL Grand Final . Only three times since the award's inception in 1924 has the count been held outside of Melbourne: when it was held in Sydney in 1999, and in 2020 and 2021 when
910-473: The player deemed third best on ground. A player is ineligible to win the award if he is suspended for a reportable offence during the season. If more than one player ties for the highest number of votes, each is awarded a Liston Trophy jointly. Initial voting rules for the Woodham and Recorder cups, used from 1924 until 1932, saw the field umpire award two votes in each game: one to the best player on each team;
945-413: The player they deemed second-best on ground – a total of nine votes awarded per game, with any player able to poll a maximum of six; this voting system was retained when the Recorder Cup and V.F.A. Medals were combined in 1940, and was then used for Liston Trophy voting until 1980. The system was altered in 1981 when a second field umpire was introduced; after this change, each field umpire awarded votes to
980-438: The player with the most votes at the end of the season won the cup. This was amended in 1933, such that the umpire awarded a single vote to the overall best player on the ground; this voting system was used from 1933 until 1939. When the V.F.A. Medal was established in 1933, its voting system was: the field umpire and each of the two goal umpires separately awarded two votes to the player they deemed best on ground, and one vote to
1015-488: The result sometimes comes down to the final round of votes. From 1959 until 1974 radio stations including 3UZ , 3KZ and 3AW broadcast the vote counts. 1116 SEN now covers the count. Direct television telecasts began in 1970, when the venue was the Dallas Brooks Hall , and have occurred every year since. Some bookmakers offer bets on the winner of the Brownlow Medal. A number of well-publicised plunges on
1050-403: The same set of votes. The Association went into recess from 1942 until 1944 during World War II; upon resumption in 1945, and continuously since, the winning player has received one trophy, the J. J. Liston Trophy, named after long-term Association president John James Liston , who died in 1944. From 1961 until 1988, when the Association operated in two divisions, the Liston Trophy was awarded to
1085-521: The top three players on the ground. It is also perceived that umpires may not be best suited to judging the quality of gameplay. This view has existed for a very long time, appearing in opinion columns even as early as the 1930s. Several prominent coaches, including Kevin Sheedy and Leigh Matthews , have publicly criticised the voting process. The eligibility system has also come under criticism. The argument has been made that many offences worthy only of
J. J. Liston Trophy - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-666: The umpires), as the 1924 illuminated facsimile expressly states: You were selected as the fairest and best player and we have pleasure in presenting the accompanying Gold Medal in recognition of those sterling qualities. The VFL was the last of the three elite leagues to strike an award for league best and fairest, with the SANFL 's Magarey Medal being first awarded in 1898, and the WAFL 's Sandover Medal first being awarded since 1921. Over time, all three awards have migrated towards similar rules regarding voting and eligibility. Excluding
1155-411: The votes are locked away and transported by armoured security vehicles. No one except the three umpires knows exactly who has been voted for, and as different umpires vote on different games, no one can be sure of who will win. Unlike most award ceremonies, the votes are not tallied or even opened until they are actually announced on the night, so the drama is maintained until late on the actual night, when
1190-463: Was abandoned from 1988, making total votes the only criterion for the award; and, in September 1989, the Association amended the history books and awarded Liston Trophies retrospectively to players who had been beaten on a countback, following by five months a similar action taken by the Victorian Football League regarding players who had been beaten for the Brownlow Medal on countback. † denotes
1225-592: Was reportedly high, with some of the players having appeared in the major league in Australia. At the end of the final season in 1943, Corporal Peter Chitty won a makeshift award known as the "Changi Brownlow", which his family later donated to the Australian War Memorial. It is variously claimed the medal was originally a piece of an aircraft wing or part of a kitchen utensil. The War Memorial states that it may have been an old soccer medallion found in stores and refashioned and engraved. The presentation
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