Back to Western Bulldogs/Footscray Part 1
As recently crowned champions of Victoria Footscray's debut in the state's elite competition was eagerly anticipated. Unfortunately, a combination of injuries to key players, and the enforced removal of the flick pass from the its armoury, seriously undermined the team's effectiveness. With just 4 wins for the season from 17 games the Bulldogs (see footnote 12) finished 11th, ahead only of fellow newcomers Hawthorn.
|
Matters were soon to get even worse, however, as the allegations of bribery which had been made in the wake of the 1922 VFA grand final against Port Melbourne came back to haunt the club. The chief focus for these allegations was Footscray's president, George Sayer, "a curious mixture of self-made industrialist and gambling king" (see footnote 13), who was in a sense synonymous with the club. When rumours began to circulate of Sayer's involvement in bribes being offered to Essendon players prior to the 1924 championship clash it was, in effect, the good name of the Footscray Football Club that was being besmirched. Irate at what they saw as petty victimisation, the club's members rallied behind their president, who was comfortably re-elected at the 1926 Annual General Meeting, only for the league to refuse to accept him. With the threat of compulsory disaffiliation looming, Sayer chose to do the honourable thing, and resign "for the good of the team" (see footnote 14). In truth, George Sayer's resignation proved to be anything but beneficial to Footscray. Whatever the truth about the allegations of bribery and corruption, Sayer had been personally responsible for providing the club with the financial resources and, indirectly, the recruits which had enabled it to perform so successfully since the end of World War One. His departure set the club back years. |
|
That said, the Western Oval did provide a home to a fair number of high quality players during the 1920s and '30s, notably:
the deceptively graceless looking Alan
Hopkins (151 games), who was voted player of the series after representing
the VFL at the 1930 Adelaide carnival, and would later be awarded a
retrospective Brownlow Medal
for the same year
triple best and fairest winner
(1927, 1930 and 1932), Ivan McAlpine (112 games) - pictured above, right
(with name mis-spelt)
rugged and versatile big man, Alby
Morrison (224 games)
smooth moving ruckman Norm Ware
(200 games), who carried on playing until 1946, and won a then club record
five best and fairest awards as well as the 1941 Brownlow
Medal
Of these, only Morrison and Ware were still around when Footscray finally broke through for its first VFL finals appearance in 1938. After winning 13 out of 18 home and away games to finish 3rd on the ladder the Bulldogs fronted up to Collingwood in the 1st semi final before a crowd of 67,566 at the MCG. The side remained in contention until well into the 3rd term, but extreme nervousness caused the players to miss numerous goal scoring opportunities. Footscray ended up managing nine more scoring shots than the opposition, but still lost by 41 points. "It was just like a whirlwind," remembered 'Scray rover Jim Thoms more than half a century later, "the ball was going that quickly from one end to the other. I hardly knew what was happening." (See footnote 15)
Footscray suffered a similar case of the jitters four years later on its next finals appearance, the 1942 1st semi final against South Melbourne, which the southerners won by 27 points, 13.13 (91) to 7.22 (64). Subsequent 1st semi final defeats in 1944 against Essendon, 1946 against Melbourne, 1948 (Collingwood) and 1951 (Essendon) all too readily gave rise to the myth of Footscray being incapable of performing well under pressure.
Footscray's 1941 Brownlow Medallist, Norm Ware.
In actuality, Footscray in the 1950s was gradually assembling its greatest array of talent ever, and an inability to perform under pressure was certainly never an issue for players like Herb Henderson, Jack Collins, Charlie Sutton or Ted Whitten. Henderson, an agile, well balanced player who took the field in a Footscray jumper on 130 occasions, was one of the finest full backs in league history. Collins, the VFL's top goalkicker in 1954 and 1957, was arguably Footscray's greatest ever full forward (see footnote 16). As for Charlie Sutton, although best remembered as a highly accomplished back pocket player, he was capable of playing almost anywhere, and indeed jointly topped the club's goal kicking list (albeit with only 23 majors) in 1951. Whitten, of course, was simply incomparable:
Fans talk about the 'complete footballer' and although I believe this creature to be mythical, Whitten went very close to football perfection...... (He) could play in almost any position and often made the centre half forward position - the most difficult of them all - look relatively easy.
Whitten could dominate in the air, control the ball on the ground, flick out superb hand or foot passes and the move down field to play at centre half back to stop the opposition in its tracks. Very few footballers have successfully played in these two key positions.
Besides, Whitten was genuinely tough. I still get an ache above the eyes when I think of Whitten tearing through a pack with murderous intent. And pity help the rival who decked one of EJ's team mates. (See footnote 17)
And:
My......memories of EJ are of a brilliant footballer who would shake the ball in mid air after he had taken a mark. It was his way of saying "this is mine". It was an almost arrogant action and must have infuriated rivals.
I also recall that he invariably wore a crisp white bandage on one wrist. I learned later that he played for much of his career with a broken scaphoid bone, the bane of many a footballer.
Whitten had brilliant skills and the old clips of him in action reveal a footballer blessed with natural talent. He would win possession, shoot out a handpass, and then run to shepherd a team mate. His work rate was phenomenal in an era of mark and prop football. (See footnote 18)
Finally, and quintessentially:
Nobody has really had a hiding until they've had one from Ted Whitten. (See footnote 19)
In 1953 the Bulldogs finally emerged as a credible VFL force. In the 1st semi final against Essendon that season they opened in a flurry of passion and endeavour to have 3.7 on the board to their opponents' 1.0 by quarter time. Thereafter, the Dons fought back hard, but Footscray played with grit, resolve and considerable doggedness to hold out for an 8 point win, 6.13 (49) to 5.11 (41).
|
The great 'EJ'. |
A fortnight later in the preliminary final Geelong proved to have the Bulldogs' measure but, to borrow the parlance of a later era, 'the finals monkey was now off their back', and 1954 would see it well and truly obliterated. The 1954 VFL home and away season was extremely closely contested. Footscray managed just 11 wins and a draw from 18 matches, and yet managed to qualify for the finals in 2nd place, one and a half games behind Geelong, and comfortably ahead of North Melbourne on percentage. Footscray had lost narrowly to the Cats in the teams' only minor round meeting, but bounced back emphatically in the 2nd semi final to record an 11.19 (85) to 8.14 (62) win after the teams had been all square at the last change. To call the result a shock would be a major understatement: the Cats were regarded as easily the most accomplished side of the era, and were widely expected to secure their third flag in four years. When the Cats bowed out of the finals race to Melbourne the following week, Footscray was automatically - one might almost say miraculously - installed as the new premiership favourite. In blazing sunshine, before of a crowd of 80,897, some of whom sat inside the perimeter fencing, Footscray began the grand final tentatively, allowing Melbourne to register the opening goal of the game after 11 minutes. As if this was the spark needed to get them going, the Bulldogs immediately upped the tempo, and a couple of quick goals from full forward Jack Collins saw them edge in front. With both sides going in hard there were a number of heavy body clashes, notably Footscray captain-coach Charlie Sutton's flooring of Demons hero Ron Barassi, and the longer the quarter went on the more the Bulldogs seemed to be in control. This superiority was rubber-stamped in the most emphatic fashion during the time on period when goals to Kerr, Stevens and Collins extended Footscray's lead to 29 points at the 1st change. |
The 2nd term was Melbourne's best of the match as they attempted to undermine the Bulldogs' systematic teamwork with vigorous use of the body and, on occasion, outright intimidation. However, despite conceding 3 goals to 2 for the quarter, Footscray stood firm, and their "dressing room generated a tremendous air of confidence during the half time break" (see footnote 20). A couple of early 3rd quarter goals from Collins and Sutton pushed the margin out to 6 goals, a lead the Bulldogs maintained until the final change. The last quarter saw Footscray maintaining control to add 3.3 to 1.2 and win with beguiling ease, 15.12 (102) to 7.9 (51). Full forward Jack Collins' 7 goals equalled the grand final record (see footnote 21), while rover John Kerr, ruckman-defender Dave Bryden, centreman Don Ross, and the irrepressible Ted Whitten were among Footscray's better players in what was an even team display. According to Hugh Buggy, who estimated that 70,000 of the 80,000-plus spectators at the ground were rooting for the Bulldogs, the grand final victors "won in the rucks, they won in the air, and they outroved Melbourne" (see footnote 22).
With seventeen of its premiership twenty working in manual occupations, Footscray's image as a blue collar, working class club was confirmed, and if anything this only served to accentuate the widespread acclaim given to the side from virtually all quarters. (A detailed report of the 1954 VFL grand final can be found here.)
Among the Bulldog faithful themselves, of course, the reaction to the team's achievement was predictable:
......Footscray went mad with joy. Bands played, train whistles blew, cars honked and men, women and children cried with delight.
Bursting rockets in red, white and blue intermittently lit up the Footscray sky. Traffic jammed the Footscray streets and police were forced to cordon off the Town Hall area in Napier St. where about 6,000 ecstatic fans surged to pay homage to the victors. And, on the Footscray Oval, a group of revellers lit a fire and warmed their hands over the roasting effigy of a demon.
Charlie Sutton was the King of Footscray. The chant roared on through the evening..."We want Charlie; we want Charlie."
After a team dinner at the Mayfair Hotel, Footscray Mayor, Fred Peart, introduced the players to the clamoring fans outside the Town Hall.
And so the night was in full swing. Indeed, for many, the celebrations raged on for days. Some still tell you of the most beautiful hangover they've ever had. (See footnote 23)
|
John Schultz, who played 188 games for the Bulldogs, gained All Australian selection in 1961, and won a Brownlow medal and a record equalling 5 club best and fairest awards. |
Sadly, Footscray's supporters
would not be the only ones with premiership hangovers; in 1955, the team failed
to contest the finals (albeit with a better win-loss record than in 1954!), and
although it recovered to finish 3rd in 1956 the comprehensive nature of its
preliminary final loss to Collingwood emphasised that it could no longer be
described as a realistic premiership threat.
Charlie Sutton, who had secured the role of Footscray captain-coach in 1951, retired as a player at the end of the 1956 season, but was re-appointed as coach. However, midway through the 1957 season he was suddenly and peremptorily deposed. Apparently, "there was criticism of his training methods, his reluctance to move players and his attention to business interests that allegedly interfered with his role as coach" (see footnote 24). The man chosen to replace Sutton was 'Mr. Football' himself, but if the committee believed that by appointing Whitten they were procuring an automatic ticket back to pre-eminence they were to be seriously disappointed. The Bulldogs finished 6th in 1957, largely as a result of the solid start to the season they had enjoyed under Sutton, but 1958 brought a nosedive into oblivion, with just 3 wins for the year earning the side its first ever VFL wooden spoon. |
Whitten's response was astute, meticulously planned and radical, and it went within an ace of securing the ultimate pay-off. By fundamentally altering the way that Footscray played the game he transformed 1958's team of ramshackle no-hopers into 1961's premiership contenders. During the 1959 season, Whitten's Bulldogs began using the flick pass, a type of hand pass which involved striking the ball with the open palm rather than a clenched fist. Speedier and easier to execute than a conventional handball, the flick pass enabled Footscray's players to move the ball faster and more accurately than any opposition team. However, it quickly attracted the ire of opposing coaches, who felt that its use contravened the spirit, if not the letter, of the game's laws. Midway through a 1961 season in which the Bulldogs had taken their much maligned skill to a new level of efficiency, the constant, high profile criticism of coaches like Norm Smith of Melbourne led to a much more rigorous interpretation of the handball laws by VFL umpires (see footnote 25). At a stroke, Footscray's 'secret weapon' was rendered impotent, but the side showed great courage and determination to continue to perform well, ultimately securing 4th spot on the ladder after a hard fought last round victory over Geelong.
The press, however, remained to be convinced, dubbing Whitten's charges 'the under-doggies' in advance of their 1st semi final encounter with St Kilda. However, Footscray played superbly, its eventual 9 point win being rendered deceptively close by a couple of late Saints goals which came after the result had effectively been sealed.
Given Norm Smith's role in undermining the Bulldogs' efficiency and effectiveness, Footscray's preliminary final meeting with Melbourne carried a certain amount of feeling, with the 'under-doggies' again scotching the experts' expectations with a comfortable 13.7 (85) to 8.10 (58) win.
The 1961 VFL grand final between Footscray and Hawthorn produced a close contest for two quarters, with the Bulldogs leading by 8 points at the main break. However, after half time, 'Kennedy's commandos', renowned as the fittest side in the league, ran away with the game, adding 10.7 to 2.4 to win by 43 points. Ruckman John Schultz, back pocket Charlie Evans, follower Ted Whitten (14 kicks, 8 handballs and 3 goals), centre half back John Hoiles, and half forward flanker John Quarrell were best for the losers. Footscray centreman Bob Spargo, who had probably been the Bulldogs' best player overall in the two preceding finals, had to be moved off a rampant Brendan Edwards, who with 36 kicks for the day was far and away the most influential player on view, and a key reason for Hawthorn's win. Despite this, Spargo's 23 kicks and 2 handballs made him, statistically at least, Footscray's most productive player.
|
Champion ruckman, Gary Dempsey, who played 214 games for Footscray between 1967 and 1978, and 123 for North Melbourne from 1979 to 1984. |
After starting the 1962 season well with a 12.8 (80) to 6.11 (47) defeat of their 1961 conquerors, Hawthorn, the Bulldogs endured an inconsistent year which finally yielded 11 wins from 18 matches, and 5th position on the ladder. If this was disappointing, there was worse to come: Footscray did not again enjoy involvement in the September action until 1974, by which time the heroes of 1961 had been completely replaced by a new generation of hopefuls (see footnote 26). Prominent among these was ruckman Gary Dempsey, who won five club best and fairest awards in a row between 1973 and 1977, and a record six in total, not to mention the 1975 Brownlow Medal. "Tall and extremely well built, he was expert in giving his small men first use of the ball." (See footnote 27) Among the other Footscray stars of this era were key position forwards Laurie Sandilands, who captained the side between 1974 and 1976, and Kelvin Templeton, who in 1978 became the first Footscray player to notch a century of goals in a season, while centreman peter Featherby, rovers Geoff Jennings and Ray Huppatz, and the explosively talented but inconsistent Bernie Quinlan were others to make their mark at the Western Oval during the 1970s. Unfortunately, however, none of these players were capable of seeing the Bulldogs over the line against Collingwood or Geelong in the elimination finals of 1974 and 1976 respectively, which proved to be the team's only finals appearances of the decade (see footnote 28). The 1980s would scarcely prove to be any better, and indeed would test both the loyalty and the nerves of the club's supporters to the limit. |
Where now?
or
or
12. Footscray began to be informally referred to as 'the Bulldogs' in 1921, with the name gradually acquiring greater popularity as the decade went on. Return to Main Text
13. Unleashed: a History of the Footscray Football Club by John Lack, Chris McConville, Michael Small and Damien Wright, page 99. Return to Main Text
14. Ibid, page 100. Return to Main Text
15. Ibid, page 133. From an interview conducted in 1995. Return to Main Text
16. The club's official 'Team of the Century' places him in a forward pocket, with Simon Beasley at full forward. Return to Main Text
17. Former South Melbourne rover Bob Skilton, quoted in EJ - Ted Whitten with Jim Main and Friends, page 139. Return to Main Text
18. Former Richmond champion Kevin Bartlett, ibid, page 171. Return to Main Text
19. St Kilda's Neil Roberts, quoted in Football's 50 Greatest by Greg Hobbs and Scott Palmer, page 7. Not surprisingly, Ted Whitten was selected in the number 1 position, ahead of Graham Farmer, John Coleman, Dick Reynolds and Haydn Bunton senior. Return to Main Text
20. The Complete Book of VFL Finals by Graeme Atkinson, page 176. Return to Main Text
21. Near the end of the match he gave away the chance of an 8th goal when, after marking within scoring range, he spotted team mate Brian Gilmore in space nearer to goal, and passed to him. Almost as soon as Gilmore had marked the ball the siren sounded to end the game; eschewing the opportunity to rub further salt into the Demons' wounds, he tossed the ball away and ran off to join his celebrating team mates. Return to Main Text
22. From an 'Argus' match report by Hugh Buggy, reproduced in full in The Bulldog Book: Sons of the 'Scray 1883-1983 by Greg Hobbs, page 16. Return to Main Text
23. Ibid, page 8. Return to Main Text
24. Lack, McConville, Small and Wright, op cit, page 202. Return to Main Text
25. The ANFC finally introduced a formal and official ban on the flick pass in 1965, introducing the phrase 'with a clenched fist' into the definition given in the game's laws as to how the ball should be struck when executing a hand pass. Return to Main Text
26. Ted Whitten's retirement midway through a 1970 season which he began as captain-coach of the Bulldogs was especially poignant. In front of 19,610 spectators at the Western Oval, 'EJ' played the last of his 321 League games. At three quarter time, with Footscray leading Hawthorn by just 2 points, 11.10 (76) to 11.8 (74), Whitten delivered an impassioned address to his charges: "It's got to be a do or die effort," he told them. "It's got to be a determined effort. You've got to show me all the guts and determination you've got in your body. You've got to inspire me with this last quarter finish. You've been in front all day and you've got to stay there." On a ground that was a virtual quagmire, the 2 teams then played out a tough, slogging final 25 minutes during which only 5 behinds were scored, 3 of them to Footscray. Amidst a tumultuous outpouring of emotion, the celebrations and reminiscences, which collectively sowed the seeds of a legend, could begin. Return to Main Text
27. The Encyclopedia of League Footballers by Jim Main and Russell Holmesby, page 96. Return to Main Text
28. The VFL introduced a 'final five' in 1972, whereby 4th played 5th in the elimination final, and 2nd played 3rd in the qualifying final, during the opening weekend of the major round. Return to Main Text
