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 in Melbourne on 28 September 1968. It was the 72nd 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, marking that club's tenth premiership victory and first since winning the 1947 VFL Grand Final.

The Blues emerged victorious despite Essendon kicking more goals. There was a strong wind gust throughout the game which kept Carlton inaccurate. Garry Crane starred on the wing for the Blues with 30 possessions.

Essendon came to within a point of Carlton in the 20 minute mark of the final term after a goal to Geoff Blethyn. Despite a goalless last quarter, Carlton managed to keep their lead, thanks largely to 20th man Neil Chandler, who took some crucial marks in the dying stages.

The game's attendance of 116,828 at the time represented the most spectators to have witnessed a premiership decider in VFL Grand Final history, breaking the record of 115,803 spectators who witnessed the 1956 VFL Grand Final. The record was subsequently broken again in the 1969 VFL Grand Final and 1970 VFL Grand Final.

Contents

Teams

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
Reserve(s): 36 Peter McLean 47 Neil Chandler
Coach: 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: 10 Ted Fordham 11 Geoff Blethyn 26 Paul Sproule
Foll: 24 Don McKenzie (c) 7 Charlie Payne 6 Geoff Gosper
Reserve(s): 16 Bruce Lake 15 Don Gross
Coach: 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: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Date and time: 28 September 1968
Attendance: 116,828
Umpires:
Goal scorers: Carlton 4: Kekovich
1: Crane, Crosswell, Quirk
Essendon 4: Blethyn
1: Close, Lake, Noonan, Sproule
Best: Carlton
Essendon
Reports: nil
Injuries: nil

External links

See also