1963 VFL grand final

1963 VFL Grand Final
Geelong Hawthorn 15.19 (109) 8.12 (60)
1 2 3 4 GEE 3.3 (21) 7.10 (52) 9.13 (67) 15.19 (109) HAW 3.6 (24) 5.6 (36) 8.9 (57) 8.12 (60)
Date	5 October 1963
Stadium	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Attendance	101,209
← 1962 VFL Grand Final 1964 →

The 1963 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 5 October 1963. It was the 66th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1963 VFL season. The match, attended by 101,209 spectators, was won by Geelong by a margin of 49 points, marking that club's sixth premiership victory.

Background

Main article: 1963 VFL season

See also: 1963 VFL finals series

Hawthorn were minor premiers as a result of their superior percentage, as both clubs had finished the home and away season with 13 wins and a draw.

Geelong was contesting its eighth VFL Grand final and chasing its sixth premiership, having previously contested in 1953 and last won in 1952. The Hawks were contesting their second VFL Grand final, having beaten Footscray to win their maiden premiership in 1961. For the Cats, this was the third consecutive game they were playing against Hawthorn, having met at Glenferrie Oval in the final round of the home-and-away season, then in the Second Semi-final two weeks later.

After the Cats' important win at Glenferrie, coach Bob Davis, when asked by a reporter what he thought of Hawthorn, called them "the roughest, dirtiest side that [he] had ever seen" and that "Any time they want to play football, we'll give them a hiding". Davis later admitted he didn't care what he said at the time, and Hawthorn coach John Kennedy Sr. took offence at Davis' comments about dirty play, stating that while his team certainly played a vigorous brand of football, he never asked players to deliberately "fix up" opposition players.

Teams

Geelong

Hawthorn

Geelong B: Ian Scott Roy West John Watts HB: John Devine Peter Walker Stewart Lord C: Hugh Routley Alistair Lord John Brown HF: Gordon Hynes Fred Wooller (c) John Sharrock F: John Yeates Doug Wade Colin Rice Foll: Graham Farmer Paul Vinar Bill Goggin Res: Ken Goodland Tony Polinelli Coach: Bob Davis

Hawthorn B: David Parkin Phil Hay Graham Cooper HB: Sted Hay Garry Young Cam McPherson C: John Fisher Ron Nalder Colin Youren HF: Graham Arthur (c) Kevin Coverdale Ian Mort F: Rodney Olsson John Peck David Albiston Foll: Ken Beck Allan Woodley Ian Law Res: Peter Lyon Kevin Connell Coach: John Kennedy

Umpire – Jeff Crouch

Scorecard

	1963 VFL Grand Final
Saturday, 5 October 2:50pm	Hawthorn	def. by	Geelong	MCG (crowd: 101,209)	Report
	3.6 (24) 5.6 (36) 8.9 (57)  8.12 (60)	Q1 Q2 Q3  Final	3.3 (21) 7.10 (52) 9.13 (67)  15.19 (109)	Umpires: Crouch Television broadcast: Seven Network
Peck 3 Woodley, Law, Coverdale, Mort, Fisher 1		Goals	3 Wooller, Hynes 2 Yeates, Goggin, Rice, A Lord 1 Wade
Arthur, Nalder, Coverdale, Mort, Young, Youren, P Hay, Law, Fisher		Best	Farmer, Devine, Scott, Goggin, Walker, West, Watts, Hynes
Gate takings £31,216

Bibliography

• Atkinson, Graeme; Atkinson, Brant (2009). The Complete Book of AFL Finals (4th ed.). Scoresby, Victoria: The Five Mile Press. ISBN 9781742112756.
• Hawke, Steve (2014). Polly Farmer (2nd ed.). Richmond, Victoria: The Slattery Media Group. ISBN 9780992363154.
• Ross, John, ed. (1996). 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported. Ringwood, Victoria: Viking. ISBN 0-670-86814-0.

See also

• 1963 VFL season
• "1963 VFL Grand Final Souvenir Edition". The Football Record. Vol. 52, no. 33. Victorian Football League. 5 October 1963 – via State Library of Victoria.