# 1954 Footscray Football Club season

The 1954 Footscray season was the club's 29th since they began competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1925. After falling short in the Preliminary final the previous season, the Bulldogs finally won through to their first Grand Final, and beat Melbourne to claim their first VFL premiership, making them the first of the teams admitted to the VFL in 1925 to do so.

## Home-and-Away Season Summary and Results

The Bulldogs went into the 1954 VFL season as premiership contenders. However, the season did not start well with losses St Kilda and Richmond, both of which finished in the bottom four the previous season. In the following two matches, against South Melbourne and Carlton, the club returned to form with Jack Collins booting eight and nine goals respectively to help propel the Bulldogs to victory. In Round 7 against Hawthorn at Glenferrie Oval, Footscray, led by Don Ross after Ted Whitten injured his shoulder, came from 23 points down at the last break to kick seven goals and win by nine points. With Richmond upsetting Collingwood at Victoria Park that same day, the Bulldogs went to the top of the ladder, where they would stay until Round 11, when they lost to Collingwood by ten points in a top-of-the-ladder clash at Victoria Park. Footscray slipped to fourth in Round 16 when, at Arden Street Oval against North Melbourne, they looked set for a win, being 13 points up with five minutes remaining, before the home side rallied to snatch a draw with a behind on the siren. With two rounds remaining and seven teams still in contention for a finals berth, the pressure was on the Bulldogs when they met second-placed Essendon at Windy Hill. In a performance that set them up for their premiership success, Footscray won the match with a decisive five-goal-to-none third quarter to run out 19-point winners. Whitten was judged best on ground and Collins kicked six goals, while Essendon were clearly missing full-forward John Coleman, who had gone down with a career-ending knee injury earlier in the season.
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | L | W | L | D | W | W |
| Position | 9 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
1954 Home & Away Season :
| Round | Date | Venue | Team | Home | Away | Result (Margin) | Pos. |
| Pos. ||
| 1 | Saturday 17 April | Western Oval | St Kilda | 7.11 (53) | 9.10 (64) | Lost (11 points) | 9th |
| 2 | Saturday 24 April | Punt Road Oval | Richmond | 12.19 (91) | 9.19 (73) | Lost (18 points) | 11th |
| 3 | Saturday 1 May | Western Oval | South Melbourne | 17.14 (116) | 3.11 (29) | Won (87 points) | 7th |
| 4 | Saturday 8 May | Princes Park | Carlton | 17.21 (123) | 20.14 (134) | Won (11 points) | 5th |
| 5 | Saturday 15 May | Western Oval | North Melbourne | 11.7 (73) | 5.5 (35) | Won (38 points) | 3rd |
| 6 | Saturday 22 May | Western Oval | Essendon | 12.8 (80) | 4.7 (31) | Won (49 points) | 2nd |
| 7 | Saturday 29 May | Glenferrie Oval | Hawthorn | 10.9 (69) | 11.12 (78) | Won (9 points) | 1st |
| 8 | Saturday 5 June | Western Oval | Fitzroy | 13.9 (87) | 10.14 (74) | Won (13 points) | 1st |
| 9 | Monday 14 June | Kardinia Park | Geelong | 9.13 (67) | 8.15 (63) | Lost (4 points) | 1st |
| 10 | Saturday 26 June | Western Oval | Melbourne | 10.13 (73) | 8.9 (57) | Won (16 points) | 1st |
| 11 | Saturday 3 July | Victoria Park | Collingwood | 12.10 (82) | 10.12 (72) | Lost (10 points) | 2nd |
| 12 | Saturday 10 July | Junction Oval | St Kilda | 9.8 (62) | 13.14 (92) | Won (30 points) | 2nd |
| 13 | Saturday 24 July | Western Oval | Richmond | 6.9 (45) | 6.13 (49) | Lost (4 points) | 2nd |
| 14 | Saturday 31 July | Lake Oval | South Melbourne | 6.5 (41) | 11.12 (78) | Won (37 points) | 2nd |
| 15 | Saturday 7 August | Western Oval | Carlton | 6.7 (43) | 8.12 (60) | Lost (17 points) | 3rd |
| 16 | Saturday 14 August | Arden Street Oval | North Melbourne | 9.14 (68) | 9.14 (68) | Drawn | 4th |
| 17 | Saturday 21 August | Windy Hill | Essendon | 7.17 (59) | 11.12 (78) | Won (19 points) | 2nd |
| 18 | Saturday 28 August | Western Oval | Hawthorn | 17.15 (117) | 5.4 (34) | Won (83 points) | 2nd |
1954 VFL Finals Series :
| Round | Date | Venue | Team | Home | Away | Result (Margin) |
| Result (Margin) ||
| SF2 | Saturday 11 September | Melbourne Cricket Ground | Geelong | 8.14 (62) | 11.19 (85) | Won (23 points) |
| GF | Saturday 25 September | Melbourne Cricket Ground | Melbourne | 15.12 (102) | 7.9 (51) | Won (51 points) |

## 1954 Finals Series

Captain-coach Charlie Sutton, who had been struggling since injuring his left knee against Carlton, was declared fit by the selectors to play against Geelong in the Semi Final after getting through a training session, but pulled out at the last minute on advice of the club doctor. Lionel Ryan, who had been dropped to accommodate Sutton, was reinstated to the team, and defender Wally Donald took charge of the team on the field.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground was undergoing renovation work to be ready for the 1956 Summer Olympics, and the demolition of the public stand left a gap for the breeze to affect the game. Geelong kicked with the wind in the first quarter, and in the early going it looked like the pace and class which had taken them to the last three Grand Finals would again do the job. The Bulldogs began to work their way into the match, led by their defence – the finest in the League – which managed to restrict Geelong to four goals whilst themselves kicking three against the wind, goals that would be crucial in deciding the outcome.

## Ladder

| (P) | Premiers |
| | Qualified for finals |
| # | Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts |
| 1 | Geelong | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1630 | 1225 | 133.1 | 52 |
| 2 | Footscray (P) | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1423 | 1095 | 130.0 | 46 |
| 3 | North Melbourne | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1355 | 1361 | 99.6 | 46 |
| 4 | Melbourne | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1504 | 1239 | 121.4 | 44 |
| 5 | Richmond | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1503 | 1310 | 114.7 | 40 |
| 6 | Essendon | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1471 | 1364 | 107.8 | 40 |
| 7 | Collingwood | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1312 | 1301 | 100.8 | 40 |
| 8 | Carlton | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1382 | 1391 | 99.4 | 32 |
| 9 | Hawthorn | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 1177 | 1337 | 88.0 | 32 |
| 10 | South Melbourne | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 1209 | 1482 | 81.6 | 24 |
| 11 | Fitzroy | 18 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 1174 | 1604 | 73.2 | 18 |
| 12 | St Kilda | 18 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 1149 | 1580 | 72.7 | 18 |
Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for Average score: 75.4 Source: AFL Tables