1897 VFL finals series

The format that was originally announced in October 1896 was that after fourteen weeks of home-and-away matches, a finals series would be played as a simple four-team knock-out tournament amongst the top four clubs, and the gate takings from the semi-finals would be donated to charity.

However, when inclement weather on that weekend forced the postponement of the charity round, the league used this opportunity to abandon this finals system and develop a new one.

[7] This decision was later reversed after Geelong, who had won the minor premiership, lodged an official complaint with the league stating that this arrangement would be unfair to the club and its supporters.

The league agreed with this assessment, and when the finals system was determined on August 17, Geelong was scheduled to host its match in the first week.

Geelong finished the stronger team to defeat Melbourne, with a goal by Eddy James near the end winning the game for them.

In the low-scoring encounter, Melbourne hit the post three times, and a goal by Essendon player Norman Waugh was disallowed after the bell.

Geelong's brilliant first-quarter burst meant Collingwood's chances of making it back into the match were near impossible.

The 1897 premiers, Essendon .
Players (from left): Stuckey (c), Sykes, Waugh, Kearney, Officer, Anderson, Collins, Gavin, Campbell, Cochrane, Cleghorn, Vautin, Wright, Kinnear, Forbes, Croft, O'Loughlin, Barry, Martin, Groves.
Charles Coles played 13 games and kicked 17 goals in the 1897 season, [ 1 ] and was instrumental in helping Geelong finish on top of the ladder after the home and away season.
Tod Collins kicked 2 goals and was named in Essendon 's best players in this 1st round match against Geelong .
Melbourne 's Jack Leith kicked four goals in the first-round match against Collingwood , the equal-highest individual effort for the series.
Charlie Pannam , the first player to reach 100 VFL games, kicked a goal in Collingwood 's second-round match against Essendon .
Peter Burns , pictured here in a South Melbourne guernsey, was widely regarded as one of the finest players in the late 1800s. [ 11 ] Burns was named in Geelong 's best players in all three of their finals series matches.
Fred McGinis was one of Melbourne 's star midfielders in the late 1890s. He was best on ground for Melbourne in this match against Essendon .
Controversial rover Dick Condon kicked two goals and was best on ground for Collingwood in this match against Geelong .
The first premiership-winning captain, Essendon 's George Stuckey .
Geelong 's first VFL 100-gamer, [ 15 ] Teddy Rankin , featured in the best players in two of the three round robin matches.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground , pictured here in 1878, hosted 8,000 fans to watch the second-round match between Essendon and Collingwood .