The Collingwood Football Club first fielded a thirds team – the under-19s – in 1951, under the coaching of former player Jack Pimm.
The object of the team was to provide recruits for the senior team, and a number of the first intake went on to play senior VFL football with Collingwood, including the winner of the first best and fairest award, Les Smith (other alumni from that first season include Neville Waller, Bill Jones and Laurie Rymer).
The award was named after former captain and then president, Syd Coventry. Fittingly, Syd Coventry Jnr finished equal third in the best and fairest voting that year.
The award ceased in 1991, when the under-19s competition was disbanded to make way for what became the TAC Cup under-18s competition and is now known as the NAB League.
| YEAR | U19 B&F WINNER | 2nd B&F | 3rd B&F |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Les Smith | Warren McColl | Syd Coventry Jnr / Jim Crabb |
| 1952 | Charlie Kiff | Warren McColl | Kevin Wade |
| 1953 | Don Smith | Ansell Cooper | Bern Walsh |
| 1954 | G. Rae | Bruce Cooke | Brian Renwood |
| 1955 | Len Brearley | Keith Beckwith | Neville Rooney |
| 1956 | Keith Bryan | Peter Hayes | Keith Beckwith |
| 1957 | Ron Waller | Peter Hayes | Keith Beckwith |
| 1958 | Fred Smith | Len Mullenger | Bill Sheridan |
| 1959 | Peter Weidemann | Ian Grant | Bert Chapman |
| 1960 | Fred Smith | Bob Heaton | Ian Grant |
| 1961 | Laurie Hill | Denis Dalton | Ralph Rose |
| 1962 | Terry Gannon | Ted Potter | Paul Wadham |
| 1963 | Peter Boyne | Mason Henry | Alan Quaife |
| 1964 | Graham Coventry | Doug Searl | Noel Vincent |
| 1965 | Ken Henry | Lee Adamson | Greg Andrews |
| 1966 | Dennis Le Gassick | Greg Andrews | Ray Turner |
| 1967 | Bruce Neave | Terry Sinclair | Jeff Clifton |
| 1968 | John Faithful | Dennis Moore | Terry Gooding |
| 1969 | Peter Pettigrew | Wes McGaw | Wayne Bannister |
| 1970 | Henry Coles | Greg Knight | David Benbow |
| 1971 | Danny O'Sullivan | John Johnston | Frank Melton |
| 1972 | Trevor Jerram | John Dellamarta | John Cowley |
| 1973 | John Wise | Stephen Clifford | Terry Cahill |
| 1974 | Terry Cahill | Graeme Bux | Graeme Stevens |
| 1975 | Stephen Yates | Bernie Niclasen | Daryl Butler |
| 1976 | Michael Warren | Daryl Megna | Dennis Peters |
| 1977 | Bernie Niclasen | Garry Parker | Peter Stavropoulos |
| 1978 | Ross Considine | David Twomey | Peter Daicos |
| 1979 | Andrew Smith | David Brine | Peter Banks |
| 1980 | Ian Turl | Mark Lawson | Shane Halas |
| 1981 | Braden Dwight | Ian Nice | Frank Sansonetti |
| 1982 | Braden Dwight | Fatui Ataata | Barry Dwyer |
| 1983 | Ron McKeown | Neville Shaw | Michael Erwin |
| 1984 | Darren Collins | Rohan Mickleson | Glen Hunt |
| 1985 | Darren Boulton | Paul Smith | Athas Hrysoulakis |
| 1986 | Jason Croall / Neil Brindley | Patrick Moore | Gavin Brown |
| 1987 | Stephen Petruccelle | Damian Keating | Arthur Parisis |
| 1988 | Bruce Bennett | Arthur Parisis | Dean Sheriff |
| 1989 | Glenn Sandford | Mark Fraser | Jamie Dobbs |
| 1990 | Lachlan Kellaway | Mark Fraser | Brad Boyd / Jon Hassall |
| 1991 | Brendan Murray | Guy Lees | Darren Fraser / Nick Probert |
