What is the most controversial event in AFL history?

[Gabbie]

Bourke? And he ankle tapped him and pushed him I thought?

And didnt Jason Love ex Sydney ,Port Magpie do something similar?

Bourke right. Yeah he probably did but over the years the story has got a bit more embellished. It was funny at the time especially Slug Jordan's comments.

 

[GENX]

South Melbourne relocated to Sydney underneath the VFL Boards nose - Stupid <unts.

Brisbane Bears and West Coast coming into the then VFL. - the League should have changed its name then to AFL... not 3 years later!!

Most Victorians still think the game not national...

All the "NEW" rules added to the game in the last 10 years!!

 

[Papa G]

A state government actually spending millions of dollars, not on health or education, which was their mandate, but on propping up their failing, basket case, "traditional" football teams. An entire state's football pride been dented so badly that a state government has thrown money at these clubs to try and redeem something over their numerically smaller but far superior interstate counterparts.

Money spent on football rather than healing the sick, helping the poor and educating their children - now that is contreversial.

 

[Vulcan]

No doubt the very forming of the then VFL in breaking away from the then VFA would been huge at the time.
If the same thing happened today it would be front and back page news for weeks.

 

[motumbo]

How about the 1958 Grand Final, where the players had to wear different numbers, as the Herald Sun put their usual numbers in the paper.

 

[ashy_magpies]

Nicky Winmar at Victoria Park...you all know the picture

 

[Roylion]

Fitzroy folding.

Agreed that Brisbane do quite well in looking after ex-Fitzroy fans (as far as I can tell) and seemed to do OK in terms of the jumper and theme song, etc.

However, maybe Fitzroy supporters might elaborate for us - does it bother you now the level of financial support afforded to some clubs by the CBF (and no, this is not a dig at those clubs - I support the idea of the CBF as compensation for draw inequities, etc). I imagine we would still have Fitzroy if they had been supported to the same extent the AFL support clubs now.

I understand the whole idea of 16 teams and that Victoria is struggling to maintain 10 clubs as it is, but it surely must irk the ex-Fitzroy faithful?

Yes it is galling. In 1996 Fitzroy owed $1.25 million to Nauru, a debt which it was adequately servicing and owed $2.7 million in total. Fitzroy only sought a merger because it believed it needed an extra $1 million to bring facilities up to AFL standard and to help purchase players to become competitive on the field. The directors knew they didn't have the means to raise an extra $1 million and were reluctant to go to their supporters for the money again. In fact Fitzroy also came to arrangement with the local council to return to Brunswick St Oval as their training ground and HQ, if they could find the funds to upgrade the stand and the ground. Unfortunately thhey never could. The ground was just up the road from the Fitzroy Football Club Social Club.

 

[luckysaint48]

A state government actually spending millions of dollars, not on health or education, which was their mandate, but on propping up their failing, basket case, "traditional" football teams. An entire state's football pride been dented so badly that a state government has thrown money at these clubs to try and redeem something over their numerically smaller but far superior interstate counterparts.

Money spent on football rather than healing the sick, helping the poor and educating their children - now that is contreversial.

It's called 'culture'

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

In no particular order:
Fitzroy being shafted.
South being sent packing.
Adelaide being allowed in ahead of Port, and the whole process behind the scenes with Port backstabbing the SANFL and the SANFL backstabbing Port.
Eddie.
Docklands surface, especially in 2000. Also Docklands ticketing in 2000.
The post incident at Latrobe (I think it was Latrobe in the NWFU playing North Hobart of the TANFL - interesting as both would have been wearing Melbourne colours in their respective leagues), Tas.
Woddville and West Torrens merger.
The beginnings of a national competition with West Coast and Brisbane coming in.
Warwick Capper's shorts, and what material they were made of. More a talking point than a controversy, but how those shorts never tore is yet to be adequately explained by sartorial scientists.
The lights going out at Waverly.
The death of Waverly.
The birth of Waverly.
Phil Carman's headbutt.
I'm guessing that the acceptance of Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Footscray back in 1925 was controversial; as most likely was the acceptance and thhe demise of University.
Moving away from Saturday afternoon was controversial at the time.

 

[Hard Ball Get]

The siren not working
The lights going out
Harms tap to Sheldon
Carey
The Long V Monkhorst racial vilification

 

[andypie]

A state government actually spending millions of dollars, not on health or education, which was their mandate, but on propping up their failing, basket case, "traditional" football teams. An entire state's football pride been dented so badly that a state government has thrown money at these clubs to try and redeem something over their numerically smaller but far superior interstate counterparts.

Money spent on football rather than healing the sick, helping the poor and educating their children - now that is contreversial.

excellent point, i agree.no one even plays at these grounds any more.

 

[Pluggeroo]

farcical.
And to think some clubs brag about how many premierships theyve won when so many of them came cheaply.

I think you will find that it was a war year, and, although Im not too sure, I heard that players that were left, played to keep spirits up at home whilst others were on the front.

I wouldnt call this Fitzroy Premiership a cheap one at all.

Like all other premierships before and since, you still gotta win em, no matter who you play or how many teams you play.

 

[Pluggeroo]

Thanks for clearing that up Bergerac.
From the SANFL comes:
1934 GF when Port Adelaide was cheated out of the premiership.
1902 Port Adelaide forfeited a game rather than be cheated by umpire Kneebone.
Port Adelaide attempted to join the AFL and caused the creation of the Crows.

Another team of magpies that were cheated........

BUGGER

 

[raboyle]

One that springs to mind in the SANFL is the 1984 Grand Final, when players from Norwood and Port went at it before a ball was bounced! Controversial, probably... infamous, definitely.

I remember watching a replay of a VFL game on ABC-2 recently and heard Phil Cleary talking about an incident where he was sent off? Would someone care to elaborate on this?

Nothing from the WAFL? I'm sure not everything in WA footy was rosy all the time.

 

[Pluggeroo]

Phil Carman geting suspended in 1977. Michael Tuck had "Fabulous" by the nuts so he jobbed him. I would have too.

Poor bastard got 2 weeks.

Missed the Drawn Granny and the Replay.

Saw a thing on the tube a coupla months ago. Twas the Tribunal Chairman for that year (Cant think of his name, now). He said he felt pretty bad about what happened. He gave him 2 weeks so there would be no appeal (or something like that). Then came the drawn grand final. Fabulous served his 2nd week's suspension during the Replay.

Only bloke in VFL/AFL history to miss like this, I think.

 

[Goldenblue]

Nothing from the WAFL? I'm sure not everything in WA footy was rosy all the time.

Grant Dorrington doing his best to stuff up the WAFL over here.

 

[ok.crows]

Adelaide being allowed in ahead of Port, and the whole process behind the scenes with Port backstabbing the SANFL and the SANFL backstabbing Port.

Very backwards.

Try this: Port trying behind the scenes to sneak around the best interests of the vast majority of SA footy followers and get into the AFL ahead of a more representative side, and backstabbing the SANFL in the process.

To put this act in terms you might follow better: it would be like Carlton, Essendon, Collingwood and Richmond conspiring to start an AFL-like competition and get rid of (say) Fitzroy, Bulldogs, Kangaroos, Melbourne, Geelong and Hawks ... disenfranchising a lot of footy followers in the process.

 

[Macca19]

Probably the Carey/Stevens saga since Ive been alive.

 

[Arabian Goggles]

The Crows fluking two premierships.

 

[chiangmaipie]

Sorry Flinders cannot agree. The Vfl expanded to a national competion and then changed its name. Still the same league but evolved and therefore they had to change the name. The AFL themselves still recognise the vfl pre 1991 as the same competion

Its like saying testra were never telecom . Collingwood used to be carringbush but it is still the same side.

The Vfa then changed there name to the VFL because the AFL wanted them to.

Collingwood was never called Carringbush, "Power Without Glory", initially published by Hardy himself with the assistance of Communist Party members, was filmed by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in the 1970s. The novel was a fictionalised version of the life of a Melbourne businessman, John Wren, and was set in the fictitious Melbourne suburb of Carringbush (based on the actual suburb Collingwood)

Hardy was a life long member of the collingwood footy club!


The most controversial incident has to be South Melbourne moving to Sydney in '82

 

[Sir_Adrian84]

Collingwood was never called Carringbush, "Power Without Glory", initially published by Hardy himself with the assistance of Communist Party members, was filmed by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in the 1970s. The novel was a fictionalised version of the life of a Melbourne businessman, John Wren, and was set in the fictitious Melbourne suburb of Carringbush (based on the actual suburb Collingwood)

Hardy was a life long member of the collingwood footy club!


The most controversial incident has to be South Melbourne moving to Sydney in '82

collingwood was called brittania or something like that.

 

[Entertainment Machine]

Has there ever been an AFL/VFL listed player who was trialed for murder whilst still playing?

I believe there was a certain high profile interstate VFL player many many years ago that killed a child whilst drunk at the wheel of his car. This person was a reluctant recruit and had no intention of coming to Victoria but the VFL club he went to put up a stack of money to go towards a lawyer to get him off the manslaughter charge and in return he had to sign to play for that club. He got off the charge and signed for that club.

 

[Arabian Goggles]

Fitzroy`s raping. Disgraceful.

That wasn't a rape, that was a snuff film.

 

[Sir_Adrian84]

maybe not the most controversial, but a defining event was the super-flood of the bulldogs vs essendon round 21, 2000

 

[Arabian Goggles]

collingwood was called brittania or something like that.

Didn't they absorb a club called Britannia?