1923 VFL grand final
# 1923 VFL grand final

The 1923 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Fitzroy Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 20 October 1923. It was the 26th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1923 VFL season. The match, attended by 46,566 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 17 points, marking that club's fifth premiership victory.

The match was scheduled to take place a week earlier but was postponed because the ground had been flooded after heavy rain. As a result, this Grand Final coincided with the Caulfield Cup.

Fitzroy were the reigning premiers, while Essendon had not won a premiership since 1912. Essendon were known at this time as the "Mosquito Fleet" due to their large number of small and pacey players such as Charlie Hardy and George Shorten.

George Rawle made his VFL debut in the Grand Final.

## Score

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Essendon | 3.2 | 4.10 | 6.13 | 8.15 (63) |
| Fitzroy | 3.3 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 6.10 (46) |

## Teams

| Essendon | Fitzroy |
| - | - |

Essendon :

| B: | Vince Irwin | Fred Baring | Clyde Donaldson |
| - | - | - | - |
| HB: | Joe Harrison | Tom Fitzmaurice | Roy Laing |
| C: | Jack Garden | Charlie May | Rowley Watt |
| HF: | Tommy Jenkins | Justin McCarthy | George Shorten |
| F: | Syd Barker (c) | Greg Stockdale | Charlie Hardy |
| Foll: | Norm Beckton | George Rawle | Frank Maher |
| Res: | | |
| Coach: | Syd Barker | Syd Barker | Syd Barker |

Fitzroy :

| B: | Jim Atkinson | Horrie Jenkin | Len Wigraft |
| - | - | - | - |
| HB: | Jim Tarbotton | Stan Molan | Ern Elliot |
| C: | Arch Dickens | Tommy Corrigan | Clarrie Sherry |
| HF: | Percy Parratt | Norm Cockram | Gordon Rattray (c) |
| F: | Les Bryant | Jimmy Freake | Harold Carter |
| Foll: | Gordon McCracken | Goldie Collins | Clive Fergie |
| Res: | | |
| Coach: | Vic Belcher | Vic Belcher | Vic Belcher |

* Umpire – Alec Mutch

## Statistics

### Goalkickers

| Essendon: Maher 2 McCarthy 2 Stockdale 2 Jenkins 1 Shorten 1 | Fitzroy: Freake 4 Carter 1 Rattray 1 |
| - | - |

### Attendance

* MCG crowd – 46,566
