# 1968 VFL grand final

The 1968 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, 28 September 1968. It was the 71st annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1968 VFL season. The match, attended by a record crowd of 116,828 spectators, was won by Carlton by a margin of 3 points, making it that club's ninth premiership victory, but its first since winning the 1947 VFL Grand Final.
The Blues emerged victorious despite Essendon kicking more goals, the first of only two times that had happened in a VFL/AFL grand final as of 2023. There was a strong wind blowing during the whole game, which did not help it as a spectacle and possibly contributed to Carlton's inaccuracy. Garry Crane starred on the wing for the Blues with 30 possessions.
Essendon came within a point of Carlton at the 20 minute mark of the final term after a goal to Geoff Blethyn. Despite being goal-less in the final quarter, Carlton managed to keep their lead, thanks largely to 20th man Neil Chandler, who took some crucial marks in the dying stages.
Aided by the opening during the year of the ground's new Western Stand, the attendance of 116,828 was the highest at a VFL premiership decider up to that time, breaking the record of 115,902 spectators who witnessed the 1956 VFL Grand Final. The new record was broken at the 1969 VFL Grand Final, and that record was broken in turn at the 1970 VFL Grand Final.

## Teams

| Carlton | Essendon |
Carlton :
| B: | 19 Ian Collins | 20 Wes Lofts | 42 Robert Walls |
| HB: | 21 Barry Gill | 11 John Goold | 3 Kevin Hall |
| C: | 34 Ian Robertson | 17 Brent Crosswell | 6 Garry Crane |
| HF: | 25 Alex Jesaulenko | 12 Bill Bennett | 32 Bryan Quirk |
| F: | 28 Peter Jones | 16 Brian Kekovich | 8 Dennis Munari |
| Foll: | 2 John Nicholls (c) | 1 Sergio Silvagni | 10 Adrian Gallagher |
| Res: | 36 Peter McLean | 47 Neil Chandler | |
| Coach: | Ron Barassi | Ron Barassi | Ron Barassi |
Essendon :
| B: | 17 Darryl Gerlach | 35 Geoff Pryor | 36 Neil Evans |
| HB: | 28 Alec Epis | 22 John Williams | 32 Barry Davis |
| C: | 21 Ken Fletcher | 30 John Ellis | 14 Russell Blew |
| HF: | 19 Robin Close | 10 Alan Noonan | 5 David Shaw |
| F: | 20 Ted Fordham | 11 Geoff Blethyn | 26 Paul Sproule |
| Foll: | 24 Don McKenzie (c) | 7 Charlie Payne | 6 Geoff Gosper |
| Res: | 16 Bruce Lake | 15 Don Gross | |
| Coach: | Jack Clarke | Jack Clarke | Jack Clarke |

## Scorecard

Carlton vs Essendon :
| 2:30PM AEST |||||
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final |
| Carlton | 2.2 (14) | 6.8 (44) | 7.9 (51) | 7.14 (56) |
| Essendon | 2.1 (13) | 5.1 (31) | 6.4 (40) | 8.5 (53) |
| Venue: | Venue: | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne |
| Date and time: | Date and time: | 28 September 1968 | 28 September 1968 | 28 September 1968 |
| Attendance: | Attendance: | 116,828 | 116,828 | 116,828 |
| Umpires: | Umpires: | Jeff Crouch (central) | Jeff Crouch (central) | Jeff Crouch (central) |
| Goal scorers: | Carlton | 4: Kekovich 1: Crane, Crosswell, Quirk | 4: Kekovich 1: Crane, Crosswell, Quirk | 4: Kekovich 1: Crane, Crosswell, Quirk |
| Goal scorers: | Essendon | 4: Blethyn 1: Close, Lake, Noonan, Sproule | 4: Blethyn 1: Close, Lake, Noonan, Sproule | 4: Blethyn 1: Close, Lake, Noonan, Sproule |
| Best: | Carlton | | | |
| Best: | Essendon | | | |
| Reports: | Reports: | nil | nil | nil |
| Injuries: | Injuries: | nil | nil | nil |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Australian Football.com – Carlton v Essendon
* ↑ AFL Tables: Carlton v Essendon
* ↑ Blueseum: Grand Final, 1968
* ↑ "Attendance alterations from 1908" (PDF). Australian Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.