The 10 most significant events in Collingwood Football Club history
GLENN McFARLANE, MICHAEL ROBERTS, Herald Sun
THEY are the moments that made the most famous football club in Australia what it is today.
The Herald Sun’s Glenn McFarlane and Collingwood historian Michael Roberts have identified 125 of the most significant events in Collingwood’s history in a new book, In Black & White, to mark the club’s 125th birthday.
These moments weren’t only about the events on the football field.
There were also heartbreaking setbacks, sackings and resignations, bloody boardroom coups, cruel injuries, wicked twists of fate, strokes of administrative genius, and fateful decisions and appointments.
Here, McFarlane and Roberts have chosen their top 10 in terms of the long-term imprint on the Collingwood Football Club.
1. THE APPOINTMENT OF JOCK McHALE, 1912
Collingwood’s decision to appoint McHale as coach altered the destiny of the club, leading to 38 seasons, 714 games and eight premierships. He coached for almost 14,000 days. McHale developed a brand of football on the field and a set of values off it that established Collingwood as the most successful club in the first half of the 20th century.
2. THE 1970 GRAND FINAL LOSS
The Magpies’ heartbreaking loss to Carlton — after leading by 44 points at halftime — was a seismic event that devastated the club, but also shaped future events. The club’s modern history would likely have been very different if the Magpies had won. There would have been no such thing as the ‘‘Colliwobbles’’ or finals hoodoos, Bob Rose would have remained as coach, the team would have stayed together, and another premiership would probably have followed.
3. THE 1958 GRAND FINAL WIN
It is arguably the greatest of all Collingwood’s premierships. It was a magical, against-the-odds, fairytale triumph, with the inspiration coming from a fierce desire to protect the record of four successive premierships won by the club’s Machine in 1927-30. The Magpies were the rankest of rank outsiders against Melbourne. But they produced the greatest upset in Grand Final history to not only protect the record, but write their own unique chapter.
4. THE FIRST FLAG, 1896
There was a feeling of goodwill towards Collingwood from outside the suburb in the first few years after the club’s birth in 1892. That all stopped when the Magpies won the VFA flag in 1896, beating South Melbourne in the first grand final played in Australian football. The victory gave residents of the downtrodden suburb something to cheer — and brag — about, but it also altered external perceptions. It was the first step on Collingwood’s path to becoming the most hated club, as well as the most loved by its own fans.
5. THE MACHINE’S FOUR-PEAT, 1930
As historic as it was to win a record fourth consecutive premiership, the feat became even more significant over time as so many other teams tried and failed to emulate it. That only added to the Machine’s mystique. And the spirit with which the club helped struggling local residents of the time during the Great Depression lives on in its modern-day community programs.
6. LEAVING VICTORIA PARK AND THE ARRIVAL OF EDDIE
Nothing symbolised Collingwood’s move into the 21st century more than its decision to leave Victoria Park, shift to a new facility at Olympic Park, as well as elevate Eddie McGuire to the presidency. The last game at Vic Park was in 1999, and in 2004 the club became one of the first to have a purpose-built training facility. McGuire’s elevation in late 1998 also helped to turn a financial basket case into a financial powerhouse.
7. THE APPOINTMENT OF LEIGH MATTHEWS LEADS TO THE 1990 FLAG
Matthews’ appointment as Collingwood coach in 1986 — and the club’s decision to pin its faith on youth — led to the 1990 flag, the club’s first in 32 years. Four members of that 1990 flag side — Mick McGuane, Gavin Brown, Damian Monkhorst and Gavin Crosisca — had played in the 1986 under-19s premiership.
8. THE SACKING OF TOM HAFEY
Hafey’s sacking in mid-1982 created massive divisions within the club and brought on a bitter election that saw the board thrown out and a reform group, the New Magpies, swept to power. The New Magpies embarked on the most expensive recruiting campaigns in the club’s history, sending the club to the point of bankruptcy in early 1986, and failing to deliver on that promised flag.
9. THE MALTHOUSE-BUCKLEY COACHING TRANSITION
Few off-field moments in modern Collingwood history have had as much impact as the coaching succession plan agreed by the club, Mick Malthouse and Nathan Buckley during the 2009 season. The Pies won a premiership the next year, but the relationship between Malthouse and the Magpies frayed. A full assessment of this decision won’t come until after Buckley’s coaching career, but it remains one of the biggest moments in the club’s history.
10. THE DEATH OF MILLANE
Darren Millane’s death in a car accident in October 1991 was a personal tragedy, first and foremost. But it also had a massive impact on the club. He would probably have been the next captain and his teammates believe Collingwood would have won the 1992 premiership if he had survived.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...y/news-story/f3c9314abb1f819f194e50ed92e89cb7
GLENN McFARLANE, MICHAEL ROBERTS, Herald Sun
THEY are the moments that made the most famous football club in Australia what it is today.
The Herald Sun’s Glenn McFarlane and Collingwood historian Michael Roberts have identified 125 of the most significant events in Collingwood’s history in a new book, In Black & White, to mark the club’s 125th birthday.
These moments weren’t only about the events on the football field.
There were also heartbreaking setbacks, sackings and resignations, bloody boardroom coups, cruel injuries, wicked twists of fate, strokes of administrative genius, and fateful decisions and appointments.
Here, McFarlane and Roberts have chosen their top 10 in terms of the long-term imprint on the Collingwood Football Club.
1. THE APPOINTMENT OF JOCK McHALE, 1912
Collingwood’s decision to appoint McHale as coach altered the destiny of the club, leading to 38 seasons, 714 games and eight premierships. He coached for almost 14,000 days. McHale developed a brand of football on the field and a set of values off it that established Collingwood as the most successful club in the first half of the 20th century.
2. THE 1970 GRAND FINAL LOSS
The Magpies’ heartbreaking loss to Carlton — after leading by 44 points at halftime — was a seismic event that devastated the club, but also shaped future events. The club’s modern history would likely have been very different if the Magpies had won. There would have been no such thing as the ‘‘Colliwobbles’’ or finals hoodoos, Bob Rose would have remained as coach, the team would have stayed together, and another premiership would probably have followed.
3. THE 1958 GRAND FINAL WIN
It is arguably the greatest of all Collingwood’s premierships. It was a magical, against-the-odds, fairytale triumph, with the inspiration coming from a fierce desire to protect the record of four successive premierships won by the club’s Machine in 1927-30. The Magpies were the rankest of rank outsiders against Melbourne. But they produced the greatest upset in Grand Final history to not only protect the record, but write their own unique chapter.
4. THE FIRST FLAG, 1896
There was a feeling of goodwill towards Collingwood from outside the suburb in the first few years after the club’s birth in 1892. That all stopped when the Magpies won the VFA flag in 1896, beating South Melbourne in the first grand final played in Australian football. The victory gave residents of the downtrodden suburb something to cheer — and brag — about, but it also altered external perceptions. It was the first step on Collingwood’s path to becoming the most hated club, as well as the most loved by its own fans.
5. THE MACHINE’S FOUR-PEAT, 1930
As historic as it was to win a record fourth consecutive premiership, the feat became even more significant over time as so many other teams tried and failed to emulate it. That only added to the Machine’s mystique. And the spirit with which the club helped struggling local residents of the time during the Great Depression lives on in its modern-day community programs.
6. LEAVING VICTORIA PARK AND THE ARRIVAL OF EDDIE
Nothing symbolised Collingwood’s move into the 21st century more than its decision to leave Victoria Park, shift to a new facility at Olympic Park, as well as elevate Eddie McGuire to the presidency. The last game at Vic Park was in 1999, and in 2004 the club became one of the first to have a purpose-built training facility. McGuire’s elevation in late 1998 also helped to turn a financial basket case into a financial powerhouse.
7. THE APPOINTMENT OF LEIGH MATTHEWS LEADS TO THE 1990 FLAG
Matthews’ appointment as Collingwood coach in 1986 — and the club’s decision to pin its faith on youth — led to the 1990 flag, the club’s first in 32 years. Four members of that 1990 flag side — Mick McGuane, Gavin Brown, Damian Monkhorst and Gavin Crosisca — had played in the 1986 under-19s premiership.
8. THE SACKING OF TOM HAFEY
Hafey’s sacking in mid-1982 created massive divisions within the club and brought on a bitter election that saw the board thrown out and a reform group, the New Magpies, swept to power. The New Magpies embarked on the most expensive recruiting campaigns in the club’s history, sending the club to the point of bankruptcy in early 1986, and failing to deliver on that promised flag.
9. THE MALTHOUSE-BUCKLEY COACHING TRANSITION
Few off-field moments in modern Collingwood history have had as much impact as the coaching succession plan agreed by the club, Mick Malthouse and Nathan Buckley during the 2009 season. The Pies won a premiership the next year, but the relationship between Malthouse and the Magpies frayed. A full assessment of this decision won’t come until after Buckley’s coaching career, but it remains one of the biggest moments in the club’s history.
10. THE DEATH OF MILLANE
Darren Millane’s death in a car accident in October 1991 was a personal tragedy, first and foremost. But it also had a massive impact on the club. He would probably have been the next captain and his teammates believe Collingwood would have won the 1992 premiership if he had survived.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...y/news-story/f3c9314abb1f819f194e50ed92e89cb7
