Brisbane Grand Final has been nearly four decades in the making, with the first match played at the Gabba in 1981

Football at the highest level was first played at the Gabba in 1981 and involved two legends of the game in Leigh Matthews and Kevin Sheedy. They tell Mark Robinson why Brisbane deserved to host the game’s greatest event.

Lethal and Sheeds helped bring footy to the Gabba for the first time.

Almost 40 years ago the then VFL made its first sojourn to the Woolloongabba, a Test cricket ground ringed by a grassed, disused greyhound track.

Essendon played Hawthorn in front of 20,351 fans on June 28, 1981.

Lou Richards, Peter Landy and Bob Skilton were commentating.

Hawk legend Leigh Matthews was 30-years-old and Kevin Sheedy was in his first year as coach at Essendon.

Who would have thought then that the ’Gabba would host the 2020 AFL Grand Final.

The first Grand Final out of Victoria. The first Grand Final played under lights.

“This has been a season like no other,’’ AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said yesterday.

And it will be a Grand Final like no other.

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A frontier state welcomed football in 1981 and, as Australian rules burst out of its traditional homelands, what followed was the birth of the Brisbane Bears at Carrara, then the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba followed by the Gold Coast Suns.

Forever the frontiersman and the Davy Crockett of AFL, Sheedy remembers that 1981 game fondly.

“We played Hawthorn,’’ he said, “and Ronnie Andrews got reported for striking Dipper or Michael Tuck, I think.

“I reckon we had just won the night premiership and all I wanted to do was beat Hawthorn.

“People probably said this is just a game in Queensland, it’s a bit of a farce, VFL will never go to Queensland and look what’s happened.

“People have no idea … this was start of the AFL 40 years ago by a couple of clubs going out and looking for alternate options.’’

Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy with Phil Carman in 1981.

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It’s true. Wednesday’s momentous day arguably was born on that day in 1981.

“We went everywhere to play and we were there first,’’ Sheedy said.

“The oval was pear-shaped and I remember the mayor was the gardener, he was the groundsman.

“We’ve certainly come a long way.

“We’ve invested in the northern states, first Sydney and then in Brisbane and they’ve been able to look after the game this year so, tick for that box.’’

Matthews, who was three seasons off retirement at the Hawks, said yesterday he didn’t really remember the game.

June 28, 1981?

“Nothing,’’ Matthews said.

The Gabba? The Grand Final announcement? You?

“What happened in 1981?’’

The first game at the Gabba.

“Oh, when we played Essendon. Yeah, I remember that. And they won. What was the score?’’

Told 22.19 (151) to 20.13 (133), Matthews said: “Not much defensive pressure in that era.

It’s a different sport.’’

Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews takes training at the Gabba during the 2004 season.

Matthews coached the Lions to three flags and still calls Brisbane home.

“That first game doesn’t mean much at all, but the progression is when the Bears came up in 1987, really,’’ Matthews said.

“That was the start, when a team was first based here.

“This year is about where is the most convenient place and this is the most convenient place in 2020.’’

It wasn’t lost on Matthews on Wednesday when the local Courier Mail newspaper had the Grand Final on the front and back pages.

“When it’s the front and back page of the paper you know it’s a big AFL story,’’ he said.

He’s not sure Australian rules and the invasion of this year’s Grand Final will go a long way to toppling rugby league.

“It can’t do any harm, it’s got to be positive, and I’m not trying to be negative, but it’s a one-off event, like how they take State of Origin around the country.

“But it is a big event.’’

Football’s worst-kept secret was revealed by McLachlan on Wednesday, surrounded by palm tress and media in shorts.

It was a historic announcement, but nothing like what it will be on October 24 when the game is played.

The AFL rewarded Queensland for its duty of care to the game.

The criteria for selecting Brisbane, he said, was based around health, safety and best environment, the integrity of competition, the fans and the legacy and what that could do for the game in the north.

It was a fair decision in most people’s opinions: Those who look after the game will be looked after.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with the 2020 premiership Cup at the Gabba.

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The state of Queensland, led by Queen A — Annastacia Palaszczuk — should be proud of their contribution and chuffed at the AFL for acknowledging it.

If McLachlan had chosen Western Australia, which was third choice behind the Gabba and Adelaide Oval, the AFL would have been accused of placing money ahead of goodwill.

McLachlan made the correct decision.

He said WA’s strict border protocols played a major role in bypassing the west, but you have

to wonder if the continual chipping from the WA government over recent months

also failed to enthuse the AFL.

The AFL is alpha male in the national sporting world and doesn’t like to be chipped by anyone.

In the end, McLachlan said, the Queensland government helped the AFL and that’s “probably the overriding factor’’.

Queen A received it as if it were a royal treasure, a silver cup sprung from a frontier game 40 years ago.

Originally published as Brisbane Grand Final has been nearly four decades in the making, with the first match played at the Gabba in 1981