Hello again Magpie Faithful members – and welcome to our end-of-year review, where we try to keep you updated with everything going on in the world of Magpie history.

It was obviously a disappointing end to the season, but at least we managed to show that the meteoric rise of 2018 was no fluke. We just have to find a way to go two steps better now in 2020.

Remember to stay in touch with us via [email protected] and also keep spreading the word, by encouraging your friends and Magpie mates to join our little group here. 

Have a great Xmas, and see you in the new year – when we have some very exciting things in the pipeline!

Carna Woods!

Michael Roberts
Collingwood Historian

Pendles' 300th

From a historical perspective, the biggest event of 2019 was our skipper becoming just the third player in Collingwood history to play 300 games with the club. He finished the year on 301 games, with a career tally of disposals just under 8000 – the ninth highest tally of all time. Obviously he'll need to stay fit and healthy but, if he does, then any number of other records could fall his way in the years ahead. Next cab off the rank will be the club's games record of 313, currently held by Tony Shaw, that could fall next year. Fingers crossed he gets there – we love seeing new marks being set!

Other 2019 highlights

  • Brodie Grundy became the first ruckman to win back-to-back Copeland Trophies since Peter Moore in 1979-80. Before him, Len Thompson did it twice (1967-68 and 1972-73), while Murray Weideman, Phonse Kyne and Albert Collier are other big men to have saluted in successive years.
  • Speaking of Grundy, this year he became the first player in VFL/AFL history to have 25 disposals, two goals and 50 hitouts in a match (against Footscray).
  • Scott Pendlebury finished runner-up in the Copeland, giving him an extraordinary career record of 11 top-three finishes – the best ever at Collingwood and the fourth highest for any club best & fairest winners. He also passed Dane Swan as our highest ever Brownlow Medal vote-winner (194, ninth highest across all clubs). The man is a freak. Read more about his achievements here.
  • Our sensational one-point win over West Coast in July was just our 30th such margin in more than 2500 VFL/AFL games. It was the third time we've done it against the Eagles, the others coming in 1992 and 2002. And it was our fifth this decade, having already won by similar margins against Melbourne (2010), Essendon (2012, Jarryd Blair), Richmond (2016, "Is it Grundy?... It's Grundy!"), and Sydney (2017).
  • When Rhyce Shaw was appointed North Melbourne's senior coach this year he became the 28th former Collingwood player to have been appointed full-time coach of another VFL/AFL team. The list includes big names like Syd Coventry (Footscray), Alby Pannam (Richmond), Bob Rose (Footscray), Kevin Rose (Fitzroy), Des Tuddenham (Essendon) and Mark Williams (Port Adelaide). The first one to do so was the brilliant but controversial Dick Condon, who coached Richmond in 1908.
  • Our scoreless last quarter v Geelong in the Qualifying Final was the first time we've gone scoreless in the last quarter of a winning final since the 1928 drawn semi-final against Melbourne. It was also our first scoreless final term in any game since 2006.
  • Our VFLW team produced a landmark bit of history by becoming the first of our women's football teams to bring home silverware when they won the VFLW Premiership over the Western Bulldogs in September. Great work girls! Read the story here 

Looking for 2010 memorabilia

Next year we'll be celebrating the 10thanniversary of our 2010 Premiership – and we'll be marking the occasion with a special display in the foyer. So if you have any interesting or unusual mementoes from that year that you'd be willing to loan us for all of 2020, please get in touch with us at [email protected]

New display cabinet in foyer

We were able to add another display cabinet to the foyer area late in the year, celebrating all those teams that have been 'connected' to Collingwood over the years, from Collingwood Juniors and the reserves and under-19s through to the current day women's football and netball teams. The short-lived Collingwood Warriors soccer club even cracks it for inclusion! Have a look next time you're at the Holden Centre.

Big thanks to Club 42, who donated this "Collingwood Family' cabinet.

If you'd like to support the Archives' work by donating a cabinet, please contact me at [email protected]

Hafey's Heroes function

Thanks to all those who turned out in July for a great night celebrating the Hafey's Heroes years. Rick Barham, Kevin Morris, Ray Byrne and Peter McCormack were on-stage guests and had us all in fits of laughter with their memories of that crazy era. Special thanks to Maureen Hafey, who made a brief appearance on stage and wowed everyone. The Hafey's Heroes display will remain in the foyer until the end of the year.

This year's donations

While Murray Swinton's scrapbooks, which we highlighted in our last newsletter, were the largest of the donations we received this year, we were also gifted many other wonderful items. And we'd like to thank the following, who all generously gave items to become part of the club's collection: Di Lemmon (some wonderful old player postcards from the 1960s!), Julie Watkins (scrapbooks and a 1950s cup, saucer and plate), Ronald Kite (a 1977 Grand Final cardigan), Danny McGoldrick (Yakka tracksuit top), Michael Mackey (Yakka training top), Diana Johnstone (cheer squad and general memorabilia), Melissa and Alan Miller (bottles of port), Ray McQuillen (magazines), Jo Luciani  (a wonderful polystyrene boater hat from the 60s!), Jan Truscott (a Darren Millane guernsey from 1988) and Margaret & Peter Clasohm (Peter Daicos testimonial print). And a special thank you to the legendary Joffa, who donated the first and most famous of his gold jackets – the one that started the whole tradition. Thanks Joffa!

Thanks to all our donors. If you have anything you'd like to add to the club's collection, just contact us at [email protected]

Archives volunteers needed

There are times when we need extra volunteer help at the Collingwood Archives – with things like the physical movement of items, general record-keeping, or research. We also need people with IT/web/computer/podcasting expertise. If any of that interests you, then let us know at [email protected]