We’ve entered the twenties again, but what happened in football the first time around?
There was no Adelaide Crows, the SANFL was the SAFL and Norwood was dominating locally. Here’s what was happening last time the ‘roaring twenties’ came around.
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Welcome to the roaring twenties!
Yet, the last time they rolled around, things were very different.
There was no AFL, the Adelaide Crows hadn’t been founded, nor had Central District, Glenelg or Woodville in the SANFL.
We’ve gone back and looked at what football looked like at the beginning and during of the 1920s.
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VFL (now AFL)
Start of the 1920s
The Victorian Football League was a nine-team competition, following the demise of University in 1914.
The participating clubs were Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, Richmond, South Melbourne and St Kilda.
Collingwood entered the new decade as the reigning premier after it defeated Richmond by 25 points in the 1919 decider.
During the 1920s
The twenties was a massive decade for Australian football, with the introduction of the Brownlow Medal in 1924 as well as the addition of Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Footscray to the VFL in 1925.
Collingwood would go onto win four premierships in a row, which remains a VFL/AFL record, while Essendon claimed the final premiership which was not decided by a grand final - winning in 1924 under a round robin system.
Richmond won two premierships, including its first in 1920, Fitzroy secured its seventh, Essendon won two, including the round robin flag, Geelong took out its maiden flag in 1925, while Melbourne won its second, beating Collingwood in 1926.
Geelong’s Edward ‘Carji’ Greeves won the first ever Brownlow Medal, while St Kilda’s Colin Watson, Melbourne’s Ivor Warne-Smith twice, Collingwood’s Syd Coventry and Albert Collier all in the years following.
The ‘Leading Goalkicker Medal’ (now known as the Coleman Medal), was dominated by Collingwood’s Gordon Coventry, who became the first ever player to kick a century of goals in 1929, slotting 118.
He repeated the achievement the next year with 105.
SAFL (now SANFL)
The South Australian Football League was a seven-team competition with North Adelaide, Norwood, Port Adelaide, South Adelaide, Sturt, West Adelaide and West Torrens competing.
Sturt entered the decade as the defending champions, after a come-from-behind victory over North Adelaide in the 1919 grand final.
During the 1920s
The twenties was the decade of Norwood as it claimed four premierships to end up with its 18th ever flag.
Port Adelaide won two flags, taking its total to 10, while North Adelaide (1920), West Torrens (1924 and first ever), Sturt (1926) and West Adelaide (1927) also won premierships.
The SAFL became the SANFL ahead of the 1927 season.
There was a historic four-way tie for the Magarey Medal in 1921, with West Torrens’ John karney, Port Adelaide’s Charlie Adams, South Adelaide’s Dan Moriarty and Norwood’s Wat Scott tied with five votes each.
Sturt’s Viv Richardson, Moriarty, West Adelaide’s Robert Barnes, Sturt’s Horrie Riley, Scott, Norwood’s Alick Lill, Port Adelaide’s Peter Bampton, West Adelaide’s Bruce McGregor twice, Glenelg’s Jim Handby and West Adelaide’s Robert Snell all won Magareys.
Norwood’s Roy Bent dominated the leading goal-kicker award, winning it in 1921 and from 1924 to 1926.