1925 VFL grand final
# 1925 VFL grand final

The 1925 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 10 October 1925. It was the 27th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1925 VFL season. The match, attended by 64,288 spectators, was won by Geelong by a margin of 10 points, marking that club's first VFL premiership victory.

Geelong, competing in their first VFL grand final, had been the best side all season, having lost only two games on their way to the minor premiership and at one stage put together a sequence of 12 successive wins. Collingwood on the other hand had only made the finals on percentage, a spot only cemented when they defeated South Melbourne by 65 points in the final round.

Geelong outscored Collingwood in each of the first three quarters to open up a 25-point lead going into the final term. Collingwood finished strongly but Geelong held on to claim its first VFL premiership. Captain-coach Cliff Rankin starred with five goals.

Tom Fitzmaurice had extra reason to celebrate, as it was his 100th VFL match and his third successive premiership, having won flags in the previous two seasons at Essendon.

## Score

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Geelong | 3.2 | 7.8 | 10.13 | 10.19 (79) |
| Collingwood | 2.5 | 4.9 | 6.12 | 9.15 (69) |

## Teams

| Geelong | Collingwood |
| - | - |

Geelong :

| B: | Les Smith | Keith Johns | Dave Ferguson |
| - | - | - | - |
| HB: | Bill Hudd | Tom Fitzmaurice | Ken Leahy |
| C: | Edward Stevenson | Edward Greeves | Jack Williams |
| HF: | Arthur Rayson | George Todd | Jack Chambers |
| F: | Cliff Rankin (c) | Lloyd Hagger | Syd Hall |
| Foll: | Eric Fleming | Denis Heagney | Jim Warren |
| Res: | | |
| Coach: | Cliff Rankin | Cliff Rankin | Cliff Rankin |

Collingwood :

| B: | George Beasley | Charlie Dibbs | Jim Shanahan |
| - | - | - | - |
| HB: | Charlie Tyson (c) | Bob Makeham | Ernie Wilson |
| C: | Charlie Milburn | Harry Chesswas | Leo Wescott |
| HF: | John Harris | Frank Murphy | Jim Lawn |
| F: | Les Stainsby | Gordon Coventry | Reg Baker |
| Foll: | Syd Coventry | Laurie Murphy | Reynolds Webb |
| Res: | | |
| Coach: | Jock McHale | Jock McHale | Jock McHale |

* Umpire – Jack McMurray Sr.

## Statistics

### Goalkickers

| Geelong: Rankin 5 Chambers 1 Hagger 1 Hall 1 Heagney 1 Stevenson 1 | Collingwood: F. Murphy 2 Stainsby 2 Webb 2 Baker 1 Chesswas 1 Tyson 1 |
| - | - |

## Aftermath

In describing the scenes following Geelong's first VFL premiership and the club's first premiership since 1886 (in the VFA), The Age reported:

   The scene in the Geelong dressing-room was remarkable. The players who had succeeded, where teams for 39 years had failed, seemed to be the coolest men there. They had just come out of a strenuous contest, and were besieged by enthusiastic supporters, but they accepted the plaudits with becoming modesty. Not one of them had been in a premiership team, save Tom Fitzmaurice, who played with Essendon in their last two premierships, and not one of them was alive when Geelong last gained the honours.
