Earliest Known Australian Rules Footage | 1909 VFL Grand Final (Carlton vs South Melbourne)

This silent footage from the 1909 VFL Grand Final is the earliest surviving film of an Australian Rules football match. It is a reminder that it didn’t take long for early adopters of cinematic technology to recognise the crowd‑pleasing power of a footy match – a relationship that continues more than a century later. The game was a tough, low‑scoring contest between Carlton and South Melbourne (the Blues and the Bloods), played on Saturday 2 October 1909 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. More than 37,000 spectators filled the stands as South Melbourne chased their first premiership in the Victorian Football League, while Carlton pursued a historic fourth consecutive flag. Despite being held goalless in the final quarter, South Melbourne resisted a desperate Carlton surge to win by two points, 4 14 38 to 4 12 36. Running for just over ten minutes, the surviving footage offers a remarkable glimpse into long‑forgotten aspects of the game: place kicks, ‘slap’ passes, numberless guernseys, and the extraordinary scenes of players being chaired from the field by spectators after the match. These relics of an earlier era of Australian football were fortuitously captured by film exhibitor Charles Cozens Spencer, preserving a version of the game that feels both strange and immediately familiar. Explore more Australian Rules history via the National Film and Sound Archive: https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/cu... From the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Collection Title: VFL Grand Final. 1909: Carlton vs South Melbourne Year: 1909 Cinematographer: Charles Cozens Spencer NFSA ID: K4KF7Q1M #australianrulesfootball #aflhistory #vflhistory #vflgrandfinal #1909football #southmelbourne #carltonfootballclub #mcghistory #vintagefootball #archivalfootage #silentfilm #earlycinema #australianfilmhistory #sportsbroadcasting #nfsa