Collingwood Grand Finals ranked

[Harrysz]

On 30 September 2023, Collingwood won its sixteenth premiership. Since the glorious premiership win of 1958, Collingwood has participated in sixteen grand finals. I have decided to rank those grand finals from worst to best. Those of you who are not interested in this need not read what I write. Those who are interested are welcome to comment and to disagree or agree with my comments. I will refer to the grand finals in descending order every few days.

[RudeBoy]

I've been at everyone since 1966, but can't be bothering ranking them all.
However, the 2 best and worst for me are:

WORST

1970 - the absolute worst, as it caused lifelong PTSD for a generation of Magpie supporters, like me.

1980 - the next worst, as we put on a shit show and were pummelled by the rampaging Tigers.

BEST

1990 - the absolute best was burying the Colliwobbles after 32 yrs. Also, this was the last time we were still a genuine Collingwood club, based at our spiritual home of Vic Park.

2023 - the next best, because of the joyous manner of our game style, and the fact it was probably the greatest GF ever played.

[scoobydoo]

Agree on the best
For me ‘70 & ‘79 were the worst. Shoulda won both.
In ‘80 never going to win.
1977 isn’t far behind (‘70 & ‘79)
And the only reason I can even talk about the worst ones is because of 2023.
Still flying high & watching the replay nightly. Go Pies

[jonmac1954]

1970 was pure hell on the way home from the G on the train (%&^%^&*&^( scum supporters.

1977 was agonizingly close.

I refuse to even grace the Harmes abomination with further mention.

1990 was for us old supporters a gift from god.

2002/3 were the AFL gifting the bears a couple of flags.

2010 was a strange feeling of knowing it was ours a fair way out.

2023 equally strange because I don't believe any team has ever played a season and won a flag under the unique circumstances we did.

Well done Fly and the boys . . . . . onward and upwards.

[Damien]

I don’t think you can look at the 2010 replay in isolation from the draw. We could easily have had our hearts broken again in the first game but for some reason I was super confident in the replay.

[Kingsofclutch]

Can't we rank the best 16 GF wins? this seems a morbid way to celebrate our sweet 16 by going over the 13 times we failed.

ps: is #1 the '58' miracle against the Supermen of the league that would have went on to win 6 flags in a row if we didn't stop them that day? or is it 1930 and creating that unbeatable record? 1990 first ever AFL GF sounds nice too.

[lazzadesilva]

Best 1990. The end of a 32 year old drought was unbelievable to see. I have no shame in admitting that I cried non stop like a baby during the entire last quarter. FWIW, most of the magpie fans around did the same. The celebrations at Vic Park were unforgettable until I couldn’t remember any more

[Kingsofclutch]

Beat Richmond in 3 Grand Finals in a row and then the prelim on the way to your 4th flag in a row, now I get why they hate us so much.

[David]

If you were interested in ranking premiership wins by winning margins (and thus, in theory, from most to least exciting), you’d get:

1903 vs Fitzroy: 2
2023 vs Brisbane: 4
1936 vs South Melbourne: 11
1927 vs Richmond: 12
1953 vs Geelong: 12
1910 vs Carlton: 14
1958 vs Melbourne: 18
1935 vs South Melbourne: 20
1919 vs Richmond: 25
1929 vs Richmond: 29
1930 vs Geelong: 30
1902 vs Essendon: 33
1928 vs Richmond: 33
1917 vs Fitzroy: 35
1990 vs Essendon: 48
2010 vs St Kilda: 56

The 1903 grand final was decided by a kick right on the siren (Fitzroy captain Gerald Brosnan, who hit the post: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/arti ... F189351867). A shame none of us except for Hiss were alive to see that one!

[Harrysz]

The aim of this thread is not to make supporters happy or sad. It's merely to record history, as I have seen and reviewed it.

Generally I give credit to teams which achieved the most with what they had. So, if I were ranking Preliminary Finals I'd put Collingwood's 4 points win against Geelong in 1964, ahead of Collingwood's 41 points win over Geelong in 2010. Both wins were full of merit but the win in 1964 was over the reigning premier who had stars on every line, whereas the 2010 Collingwood side was a super side which would go on and win the premiership.

[LaurieHolden]

Needs a 2023 update but a complete history of the 15 flags prior.


https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/premierships/

[pietillidie]

This is the most joyful flag for me. What a win, finals series and ride since Fly's arrival.

1990 was amazing and also a great ride following Lethal's arrival. But it was such a relief after the drought, and is tempered in the memory by the loss of the great Darren Millane thereafter. 2010 was of course complicated by the replay.

But this was just sheer joy. There's a spirit and happiness about this team, its coach, the club and Pies fans that no era in my lifetime comes close to matching.

I only wish my old man was still here to share the moment, because this was the best flag of all.

[jonmac1954]

This is the most joyful flag for me. What a win, finals series and ride since Fly's arrival.

1990 was amazing and also a great ride following Lethal's arrival. But it was such a relief after the drought, and is tempered in the memory by the loss of the great Darren Millane thereafter. 2010 was of course complicated by the replay.

But this was just sheer joy. There's a spirit and happiness about this team, its coach, the club and Pies fans that no era in my lifetime comes close to matching.

I only wish my old man was still here to share the moment, because this was the best flag of all.

Agreed Pietil.
Dad would be over the moon ( he was actually at the G for the the 4pete) and was always telling me that the club was so much more than all about football - that it was central to the local community and a beacon of hope for all the downtrodden.
He would be proud and relieved that we have finally found our way back to being the club that we were when he was young.

[David]

[jonmac1954]