The 1965 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and St Kilda Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 1965. It was the 68th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1965 VFL season. The match, attended by 104,846 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 35 points, marking that club's 12th premiership victory.

1965 VFL Grand Final

St Kilda

Essendon
9.16 (70) 14.21 (105)
1 2 3 4
STK 1.6 (12) 4.8 (32) 5.11 (41) 9.16 (70)
ESS 2.7 (19) 5.10 (40) 10.18 (78) 14.21 (105)
Date25 September 1965
StadiumMelbourne Cricket Ground
Attendance104,846
FavouriteSt Kilda
← 1964 VFL Grand Final 1966 →

St Kilda were minor premiers for the first time in their history and, after beating Collingwood by a point in the semi-final, found themselves competing in just their second-ever grand final and first since 1913, which they lost to Fitzroy. Essendon, on the other hand, last won a premiership three years previously.

The Bombers set up their win in the third quarter, scoring five goals to just one by the Saints. Ted Fordham kicked seven goals for Essendon.

The game was considered lost media for many years. However, the ABC was able to locate an archived copy of the game decades after.[1]

Teams

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St Kilda
 
 
 
 
 
Essendon
St Kilda
B: 1 Rodger Head 6 Bob Murray 18 Kevin Neale
HB: 17 Brian Sierakowski 9 Ian Synman 25 Daryl Griffiths
C: 7 Jim Read 5 Ian Stewart 36 Bruce McMaster-Smith
HF: 15 Ian Cooper 4 Darrel Baldock (c) 17 Ray Cross
F: 8 Alan Morrow 16 Verdun Howell 3 Ross Smith
Foll: 10 Carl Ditterich 20 Des Kennedy 26 Ian Rowland
Res: 14 Bob Morton 24 Kevin Roberts
Coach: Allan Jeans
Essendon
B: 2 Darryl Gerlach 18 Greg Brown 8 Charlie Payne
HB: 32 Barry Davis 10 Ian Shelton 21 Geoff Pryor
C: 28 Alec Epis 1 Jack Clarke 14 Russell Blew
HF: 16 Graeme Johnston 23 Ken Fraser (c) 6 Geoff Gosper
F: 34 Brian Sampson 20 Ted Fordham 4 David Shaw
Foll: 24 Don McKenzie 31 Hugh Mitchell 11 John Birt
Res: 27 Bruce Waite 43 Kevin Egan
Coach: John Coleman

Statistics

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Goalkickers

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Essendon:

  • Fordham 7
  • Gosper 2
  • Sampson 2
  • Birt 1
  • Fraser 1
  • Mitchell 1

St Kilda:

  • Howell 3
  • Baldock 2
  • Rowland 2
  • Roberts 1
  • Smith 1

Attendance

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  • MCG crowd – 104,846

References

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  1. ^ 1965 VFL Grand Final Essendon V St Kilda, 23 August 2018, retrieved 12 May 2022
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See also

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