Story by Frank O’Brien
70 YEARS AGO THIS GRAND FINAL WEEK
I was in an Op Shop recently, looking for nothing in particular, maybe extra tongs for our Sausage Sizzles when...........I happened across a book entitled “ The Man in White – 100 Years of Umpiring with the VFL and AFL”.
Little did I know that inside the 376 page book was a photo of the full complement of Umpires of the 1949 Grand Final, pictured below. How times have changed....there is no such thing as The Men in White or black for that matter. They now have reinforcements, like triple the number!!! They wear advertising on their coloured clothes... spectators are not allowed inside the arena...i could go on.
The reason for this preamble is to interest you in looking closely at the umpires, particularly the boundary umpire on the right. If you think it resembles our former Club member and stalwart, Brian Downie, you are right. Brian was umpiring his 2nd of 3 consecutive Grand Finals he officiated in. Brian was only 20 at the time and is now the oldest surviving Grand Final Umpire.
For the record, Brian advised that Essendon comfortably beat Carlton that day, thanks to a 6 goal haul from first year player John Coleman which brought up his 100 goals for the season.
Brian sends his regards to Club members and is still hoping for a Demons flag in the not too distant future!!!
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