# 1901 Geelong Football Club season

The 1901 VFL season was the Geelong Football Club's fifth season in the Victorian Football League and its first with Henry Young as captain.
Geelong finished the home and away with 14 wins and 3 losses, finishing in first position, winning the minor premiership. In the final series, Geelong lost to Collingwood in the semi-final. Due to Geelong's great record in the home and away season, Geelong were displeased that the minor premier has the same chance of winning the major premiership as the other finalists. As such, the first Argus system was revoked after only one season.
The leading goalkicker was Charlie Coles with 24 goals.

## Playing List

3 players played all 18 games this season, with a total of 33 players being used. Charlie Coles was the leading goalkicker with 24 goals. 9 players made their VFL debuts and 2 players, both from South Melbourne, Tim McKeegan and Bill Moodie. One player reached the 50 game milestone, Teddy Rankin.

### Statistics

* Denotes statistical category leader for season
Geelong's 1901 playing list and statistics :
| Player | Games | Goals | Milestones |
| Les Bailiff | 13 | 0 | |
| Jack Baker | 4 | 4 | VFL Debut (Round 1) |
| Bill Bennion | 2 | 1 | VFL Debut (Round 17) |
| Frank Bowey | 5 | 0 | VFL Debut (Round 1) |
| Tommy Buchan | 14 | 6 | |
| Peter Burns | 17 | 0 | |
| Charlie Coles | 17 | 24 | |
| Mick Donaghy | 17 | 0 | |
| Percy Fletcher | 2 | 0 | VFL Debut (Round 16) |
| Jim Flynn | 13 | 6 | |
| Billy Gill | 6 | 1 | VFL Debut (Round 9) |
| Jack Hardiman | 5 | 2 | |
| Ted Holland | 5 | 0 | |
| Teddy Holligan | 18 | 4 | |
| James Horman | 15 | 1 | |
| George Lockwood | 7 | 0 | |
| Teddy Lockwood | 13 | 17 | |
| Don Lord | 2 | 0 | VFL Debut (Round 10) |
| Firth McCallum | 10 | 2 | |
| Tim McKeegan | 12 | 0 | Geelong Debut (Round 6) |
| Jim McShane | 16 | 15 | |
| Joe McShane | 15 | 4 | |
| Bill Moodie | 4 | 6 | Geelong Debut (Round 6) |
| Ernest Newling | 18 | 0 | |
| Jack O'Loughlin | 10 | 1 | |
| George Palmer | 1 | 0 | VFL Debut (Round 10) |
| Jimmy Palmer | 13 | 0 | |
| Joe Powell | 1 | 0 | |
| Teddy Rankin | 18 | 9 | 50th Game (Round 1) |
| George Saxbee | 1 | 0 | VFL Debut (Round 16) |
| Archie Thompson | 8 | 0 | |
| Ike Woods | 5 | 4 | VFL Debut (Round 14) |
| Henry Young | 17 | 7 | |

## Season summary
### Results

Key :
| H | Home game |
| A | Away game |
| SF | Semi-final |
Table of season results :
| Round | Date | Result | Score | Score | Score | Opponent | Score | Score | Score | Ground | Ground | Attendance | Ladder | Report |
| Round | Date | Result | G | B | T | Opponent | G | B | T | Ground | Ground | Attendance | Ladder | Report |
| 1 | 4 May | Won | 2 | 11 | 23 | Melbourne | 3 | 3 | 21 | Corio Oval | H | - | 4th | Report |
| 2 | 9 May | Won | 6 | 12 | 48 | Fitzroy | 5 | 8 | 38 | Brunswick Street Oval | A | - | 2nd | Report |
| 3 | 11 May | Won | 7 | 13 | 55 | Carlton | 3 | 8 | 26 | Princes Park | A | - | 1st | Report |
| 4 | 18 May | Won | 4 | 10 | 34 | Essendon | 4 | 6 | 30 | Corio Oval | H | - | 1st | Report |
| 5 | 25 May | Lost | 3 | 6 | 24 | Collingwood | 4 | 8 | 32 | Corio Oval | H | - | 3rd | Report |
| 6 | 1 June | Won | 11 | 12 | 78 | St Kilda | 2 | 5 | 17 | Junction Oval | A | - | 2nd | Report |
| 7 | 3 June | Won | 9 | 11 | 65 | South Melbourne | 3 | 4 | 22 | Corio Oval | H | - | 2nd | Report |
| 8 | 8 June | Won | 9 | 5 | 59 | Melbourne | 7 | 4 | 46 | Melbourne Cricket Ground | A | - | 2nd | Report |
| 9 | 22 June | Won | 6 | 16 | 52 | Fitzroy | 8 | 3 | 51 | Corio Oval | H | - | 2nd | Report |
| 10 | 29 June | Won | 8 | 15 | 63 | Carlton | 4 | 7 | 31 | Corio Oval | H | - | 1st | Report |
| 11 | 6 July | Lost | 2 | 12 | 24 | Essendon | 6 | 13 | 49 | East Melbourne Cricket Ground | A | - | 1st | Report |
| 12 | 13 July | Won | 12 | 11 | 83 | Collingwood | 6 | 5 | 41 | Victoria Park | A | - | 1st | Report |
| 13 | 20 July | Won | 8 | 7 | 55 | St Kilda | 4 | 5 | 29 | Corio Oval | H | - | 1st | Report |
| 14 | 27 July | Won | 6 | 13 | 49 | South Melbourne | 6 | 9 | 45 | Lake Oval | A | - | 1st | Report |
| 15 | 10 August | Won | 6 | 18 | 54 | Carlton | 3 | 5 | 23 | Princes Park | A | - | 1st | Report |
| 16 | 17 August | Won | 7 | 12 | 54 | South Melbourne | 4 | 6 | 30 | Corio Oval | H | - | 1st | Report |
| 17 | 24 August | Lost | 5 | 3 | 33 | Essendon | 9 | 12 | 66 | Corio Oval | H | - | 1st | Report |
| SF | 31 August | Lost | 3 | 6 | 24 | Collingwood | 6 | 9 | 45 | East Melbourne Cricket Ground | H | 10,000 | — | Report |

### Ladder

* Section A
* Section B
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Geelong | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 712 | 478 | 149.0 | 48 |
| 2 | Collingwood | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 712 | 488 | 145.9 | 40 |
| 3 | Essendon | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 848 | 507 | 167.3 | 36 |
| 4 | Melbourne | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 540 | 507 | 106.5 | 34 |
| 5 | South Melbourne | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 651 | 583 | 111.7 | 28 |
| 6 | Fitzroy | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 693 | 597 | 116.1 | 26 |
| 7 | Carlton | 14 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 396 | 820 | 48.3 | 8 |
| 8 | St Kilda | 14 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 350 | 922 | 38.0 | 4 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Source: AFL Tables
| (P) | Premiers |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Geelong | 17 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 853 | 597 | 142.9 | 56 |
| 2 | Essendon (P) | 17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 1085 | 582 | 186.4 | 48 |
| 3 | Collingwood | 17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 917 | 579 | 158.4 | 48 |
| 4 | Fitzroy | 17 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 877 | 666 | 131.7 | 38 |
| 5 | Melbourne | 17 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 716 | 610 | 117.4 | 38 |
| 6 | South Melbourne | 17 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 727 | 730 | 99.6 | 32 |
| 7 | Carlton | 17 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 476 | 1013 | 47.0 | 8 |
| 8 | St Kilda | 17 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 414 | 1288 | 32.1 | 4 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 44.6 Source: AFL Tables