The 1964 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 19 September 1964. It was the 68th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1964 VFL season. The match, attended by 102,469 spectators, was won by Melbourne by a margin of 4 points, marking that club's 12th (and to date, most recent) premiership victory.
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Melbourne were competing in the finals for the 11th consecutive season.
With Melbourne leading by 11 points at the final break the match is remembered for its thrilling last quarter. In the early stages Melbourne had plenty of opportunities to kick goals but could only manage behinds and it was Collingwood's Des Tuddenham who kicked the first goal of the term.
17 minutes into the quarter Collingwood trailed by 9 points but were within a kick when Ray Gabelich kicked goal from a boundary throw in. Gabelich kicked another to put them in front soon afterwards, a goal that is now regarded as one of the most famous in grand final history. He had received the ball near centre half forward and due to Melbourne having spent the previous minutes in their own forwardline and Collingwood moving the ball upfield quickly, there were no defenders ahead of Gabelich. A 109kg ruckman, Gabelich ran towards the goal, bounced the ball four times, nearly losing it on each occasion, and with Melbourne players gaining on him put it through the big sticks.
Collingwood were now 3 points up and time on was nearing. After the restart Melbourne's Barry Bourke kicked the ball into their 50 and it was marked by rover Hassa Mann. He was directly in front and only 20 metres out but his shot for goal came off the side of his boot and he could only manage a behind. Melbourne had another chance to win the game however when they kicked the ball towards the goalsquare. A big pack of players went for the ball but it spilled to the ground where Melbourne defender Neil Crompton gathered the ball and kicked a goal. It was his only goal of the season and he had only been forward because he'd followed his opponent up field.
Just over 5 minutes remained and Collingwood had the ball in their forward line during the final minutes.Collingwood's Ian Graham had a chance to goal with a difficult snap from the boundary but missed. Melbourne held on against intense pressure from Collingwood until the siren sounded leaving Melbourne winners by 4 points.
| Collingwood | |||
| B: | Ron Reeves | Ted Potter | Trevor Steer |
| HB: | Laurie Hill | John Mahon | Duncan Wright |
| C: | Ricky Watt | John Henderson | Bert Chapman |
| HF: | Des Tuddenham | Kevin McLean | David Norman |
| F: | Terry Waters | Ian Graham | Denis Dalton |
| Foll: | Ray Gabelich (c) | Kevin Rose | Mick Bone |
| Reserve(s): | Max Urquhart | Ken Turner | |
| Coach: | Bob Rose | ||
Umpire - Ron Brophy
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | 2.6 | 5.7 | 7.10 | 8.16 | 8.16 (64) |
| Collingwood | 2.5 | 5.9 | 5.11 | 8.12 | 8.12 (60) |
Melbourne:
Collingwood:
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   | Fullpointsfooty article on the Grand Final - Gabbo's Run In Vain |
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