Micro Noises 151: Happy New Year!
At last!
With the last day of 2016—aka 31/12—upon us, what better time than now than to have a look at the occurrences of the score 31.12 over the years at footy's top level. And in a nod to our footy-loving friends from the US—where New Year's Eve is represented as 12/31—we'll have a look at the score 12.31 also.
As it turns out, though, there isn't too much to look at. We've trawled through the scores of every match in V/AFL history—as well as those of the SANFL, WAFL and the VFA and its successor, the new VFL—and we have found only two cases of a score of 31.12, and only one of 12.31.
The two cases of 31.12 were both recorded in the V/AFL, the first of those coming in round 18, 1987 when Sydney kicked 31.12.198 to defeat Richmond's 15.17.107. This was the third in a run of three matches at the SCG in which the Swans scored 30 or more goals. They kicked 30.21 against West Coast in round 16 and 36.20 against Essendon in round 17.
13 years later, in the First Qualifying Final of the 2000 season, top side Essendon put fourth-placed North Melbourne to the sword, kicking 31.12 to defeat the Kangaroos by 125 points. No other case of a side kicking 31.12 has been recorded in the V/AFL or in any of the state league competitions.
As for the score 12.31, it hasn't ever been seen in the V/AFL, the SANFL or the WAFL. It's one and only appearance in a significant competition came in 1947, when VFA side Camberwell registered the very inaccurate score. Poor kicking for goal notwithstanding, Camberwell managed to defeat Sandringham by three points having kicked two fewer goals, winning 12.31.103 to 14.16.100.
A new look at 'New Year' scores
As for a 'New Year' score, 1.1 has been recorded three times in V/AFL history, twice by St. Kilda. In the SANFL, it's come up five times, and in the VFA eight times since 1897, when behinds counted towards the final score but also on at least 16 other occasions prior to that, when only goals counted towards a team's total score. In the WAFL, it's never been seen, just as 31.12 and 12.31 haven't. Perhaps they don't like New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in Western Australia.
Interestingly, in the three V/AFL matches in which a side has finished with a score of 1.1, that side has attained that score by half time in the match. In fact in two of the cases, the score was racked up by quarter time. In 1898, Carlton was 1.1.7 at the first break of its match against Fitzroy, trailing the Roys by just 12 points. But the Maroons added 10.11 across the last three quarters, leaving the Blues marooned (pardon the pun) on their quarter-time score.
17 years later, Carlton was on the right side of the ledger as St Kilda got stuck on its quarter-time score of 1.1 while the Blues went on to kick 5.15 and win by 38 points. That match proved to be the last (to date) in any of the major state leagues or associations in which a side finished with a final score of 1.1.
The full story of '1.1' matches is below. Click one the date for further match details.
LEAGUE | SCORE | TEAM | OPPONENT | OPP SCORE | DATE |
VFA | 1.1 | University | Carlton | 9.14 | 24 Jul, 1886 |
VFA | 1.1 | Footscray | Williamstown | 4.5 | 6 Aug, 1887 |
VFA | 1.1 | Williamstown | Ballarat | 12.23 | 3 Sep, 1887 |
VFA | 1.1 | University | St Kilda | 7.11 | 30 Jun, 1888 |
VFA | 1.1 | Melbourne | Carlton | 5.7 | 11 May, 1889 |
VFA | 1.1 | Port Melbourne | Fitzroy | 3.7 | 24 May, 1889 |
VFA | 1.1 | Wiliamstown | South Melbourne | 9.17 | 23 May, 1891 |
VFA | 1.1 | North Melbourne | Carlton | 8.14 | 6 Jun, 1891 |
VFA | 1.1 | Footscray | South Melbourne | 4.11 | 4 Jul 1891 |
VFA | 1.1 | Footscray | South Melbourne | 4.7 | 28 May, 1892 |
VFA | 1.1 | Port Melbourne | South Melbourbe | 4.10 | 13 Aug, 1892 |
VFA | 1.1 | Footscray | Williamstown | 7.3 | 27 Aug, 1892 |
VFA | 1.1 | Carlton | Geelong | 1.13 | 20 Jun, 1896 |
VFA | 1.1 | Richmond | Essendon | 9.9 | 4 Jul, 1896 |
VFA | 1.1 | Richmond | Port Melbourne | 6.15 | 1 Aug, 1896 |
VFA | 1.1 (7) | Brunswick | Port Melbourne | 6.9 (45) | 19 Jun, 1897 |
SANFL | 1.1 (7) | West Torrens | Norwood | 18.18 (126) | 14 Aug, 1897 |
VFA | 1.1 (7) | Brunswick | Williamstown | 8.11 (59) | 14 May, 1898 |
VFL | 1.1 (7) | Carlton | Fitzroy | 12.18 (90) | 3 Sep, 1898 |
VFA | 1.1 (7) | Brunswick | West Melbourne | 14.16 (100) | 6 May, 1899 |
SANFL | 1.1 (7) | West Adelaide | Port Adelaide | 6.5 (41) | 24 June, 1899 |
SANFL | 1.1 (7) | Port Adelaide | North Adelaide | 6.10 (46) | 5 May, 1900 |
VFA | 1.1 (7) | St Kilda | South Melbourne | 7.14 (56) | 8 Jun, 1901 |
VFA | 1.1 (7) | Prahran | Footscray | 10.16 (76) | 8 Aug, 1903 |
SANFL | 1.1 (7) | West Adelaide | Norwood | 15.18 (108) | 9 May, 1903 |
SANFL | 1.1 (7) | Sturt | Norwood | 2.15 (27) | 6 June, 1903 |
VFA | 1.1 (7) | Essendon Town | Footscray | 12.12 (84) | 29 Aug, 1903 |
VFA | 1.1 (7) | Preston | Williamstown | 1o.15 (75) | 2 Sep, 1905 |
VFA | 1.1 (7) | Preston | Williamstown | 18.14 (122) | 14 May, 1910 |
VFA | 1.1 (7) | Preston | North Melbourne | 23.21 (159) | 27 Aug, 1910 |
VFA | 1.1 (7) | St Kilda | Carlton | 5.15 (45) | 19 Jun, 1915 |
1 more thing
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While we're obsessing about the number 1, and given that January is the first match of the year, this seems as good a time as any to continue with our occasional series focussing on a particular number of goals or behinds scored in a match. Having previously looked at the number 12 and number 9, we shift our attention to the number 1 as we head into the new year.
The chart at right displays the number of instances of each score in which either one goal or one behind was registered in the 120 completed V/AFL seasons. As mentioned above, 1.1 has been recorded three times, the same number as 2.1, 4.1 and 5.1. 3.1 is the most common score involving a single behind being scored, having come up eight times, albeit not since 1905. The most common 'single goal' score is 1.7, which has come up 12 times, ahead of 1.4, which has been recorded on nine occasions.
The key to a St Kilda premiership
Looking through the list of scores in which either a single goal or a single behind led us to inadvertently discover the secret to achieving a premiership for the Saints. The chart shows that 4.1 and 5.1 have only been recorded three times in V/AFL history, but only once—in 1966—have both scores been recorded in the one season. 1966 was, of course, the year of St Kilda's one and only flag. So Saints' fans, if you see final scores of 4.1.25 and 5.1.31 come up during the 2017 home and away season, you will know that your premiership drought is about to end at last!
Sidebottom's bottom side achievement
Still on the topic of the new year, Allan Sidebottom—who was born on New Year's Day in 1959—was part of a very unsuccessful team in his first four years at St Kilda, the Saints winning the wooden spoon in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986. But there was one thing Sidebottom made sure he did at least once for the Saints in each of those seasons - the man born on 1/1 scored 1.1 once in 1983, 1985 and 1986 and twice in 1984. As achievements go, that's a good 1 - 1 worth noting at the very least with New Year's Day upon us!
1/1 SIDEBOTTOM'S BOTTOM SIDE 1.1 ACHIEVEMENT
ROUND | RESULT | ALLAN SIDEBOTTOM'S SCORE |
R21, 1983 | St Kilda 13.16.94 v Footscray 16.4.100 | 1.1 |
R8, 1984 | St Kilda 13.11.89 v Footscray 9.17.71 | 1.1 |
R13, 1984 | Sydney 15.11.101 v St Kilda 19.12.126 | 1.1 |
R9, 1985 | St Kilda 20.17.137 v Collingwood 24.18.162 | 1.1 |
R7,1986 | St Kilda 10.14.74 v Fitzroy 12.15.87 | 1.1 |
Postcode of the week
The AFL have passed up a golden opportunity by not fixturing a match on Tuesday, May 2nd next season. Had they done so, we might well have seen a team kick 2.5.17 on 2/5/17, giving us the first ever footy date score on the actual date the match was played. There's still time to change that and Micro Noises hereby calls on the AFL to move either a round 6 or round 7 match next season to the Tuesday in between. Furthermore, we call on the AFL to transfer the location of that match to either Woonona or Russell Vale in New South Wales. This will create the possibility of a team scoring 2.5.17 on 2/5/17 in the postcode 2517. You know it's the right thing to do, Gill - do it now!
Ridiculous footy anagram of the week
And as we continue to celebrate the birthday and achievements of Allan Sidebottom, we look back at his VFL debut, one in which the tall Saint boomed onto the Victorian scene, collecting 15 disposals and 17 hit-outs. How fitting it is then, that ALLAN SIDEBOTTOM is an anagram of TALL SAINT BOOMED.
Micro Noises is Andrew Gigacz's regular, quirky look at all things footy. The name Micro Noises is an anagram of Enrico Misso, who played one game for St Kilda in 1985. He remains the only Enrico and the only Misso to have played footy at the highest level.
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