The 1972 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 7 October 1972. It was the 76th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1972 VFL season. The match, attended 112,393 spectators, was won by Carlton by a margin of 27 points, marking that club's 12th premiership victory.
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At the conclusion of the regular home-and-away season, Carlton had finished first on the ladder with 18 wins, 3 losses and a draw. Richmond had finished second with 18 wins and 4 losses.
In the finals series leading up to the Grand Final, Richmond defeated Collingwood by 44 points in the Qualifying Final before meeting Carlton in the Second Semi Final. This game resulted in a draw, with both teams scoring 8.13 (61). In the Second Semi Final Replay, Richmond won comfortably by 41 points, sending them straight through to the Grand Final. Carlton then beat St Kilda by 16 poionts to match up with Richmond once again in the premiership decider.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlton | 8.4 | 18.6 | 25.9 | 28.9 (177) |
| Richmond | 5.4 | 10.9 | 15.15 | 22.18 (150) |
The Grand Final was turned into a shoot-out. Exactly 50 goals were kicked in the game, with the teams compiling a combined score of 50.27 (327). This was, at the time, the highest scoring game in VFL history, Grand Final or otherwise, and has been bettered only seven times since. Carlton and Richmond held the highest and second highest team Grand Final scores in history (beating the previous record of 21.22 (148) set by Melbourne in 1939); Carlton's score of 28.9 (177) remains the highest in Grand Final history, and Richmond's 23.12 (150) remains the highest losing score in a Grand Final.
Alex Jesaulenko kicked seven goals while Robert Walls (in a best-on-ground performance) and John Nicholls bagged six each for Carlton. Richmond had eleven individual goal-kickers, with Neil Balme kicking five.
Carlton's opening term score of 8.4 (52) and second term score of 10.2 (62) set the records for the best first and second quarter scores in Grand Final history (Hawthorn would later equal the first quarter score in the 1989 VFL Grand Final).
This was the first of two consecutive Grand Finals to be contested between these teams. In the 1973 VFL Grand Final the fortunes were reversed, with Richmond running out winners by a margin of 30 points.
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  | 1972 VFL Grand Final statistics - AFL Tables - Match Stats - Carlton v Richmond - 07-Oct-1972 |
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