It was the 39th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1937 VFL season.

The match, attended by a then-record crowd of 88,540 spectators, was won by Geelong by a margin of 32 points, marking that club's third premiership victory and first since winning the 1931 VFL Grand Final.

[2] Collingwood captain Harry Collier won the toss and the Magpies kicked with a slight breeze.

The Magpies raced to an early three-goal lead before Geelong cut the deficit to five points at the main break.

In his match report for The Argus, former Melbourne star and Brownlow medallist Ivor Warne-Smith was particularly effusive about the fair nature of the spectacle: It was all clean, open football that was a delight to watch and by giving such an exhibition of manly, fair play Geelong and Collingwood have set an example of the way to play the game which should be followed by other teams for all time.