Episode 23 1919 A Spanish VIsitor

Borders closed between states, travel restricted, buildings closed, masks required when in public but the footy went on. Might seem familiar today but that was life in 1919 as the Spanish Flu arrived in Australia along with thousands of returning service men and women. All nine VFL teams were playing in 1919, but the Flu was taking its toll on players. Roy Cazaly was out for a few weeks and many players struggled to regain form when returning from illness. St Kilda set a couple of interesting records during the season, firstly not allowing Geelong to score a goal in an entire game, even though it was Geelong’s home game. But not so good for the Saints was their game against South Melbourne losing by 27 goals and allowing South to set the record high score for the VFL including 17 goals in the last quarter! That is still a record over 100 years later. Richmond and Collingwood battled it out for the Grand Final. Who would take home the 1919 VFL Premiership?