The first VFL matches played on the 25 April occurred in 1914 exactly 12 months prior to The First Division storming ashore at Gallipoli:
- Geelong drew with Essendon
- Fitzroy defeated Melbourne
- Collingwood drew with Carlton
- South Melbourne defeated University
- St.Kilda defeated Richmond
From 1915-1960 Victorian legislation prohibited the playing of sport on ANZAC day. Only in 1953 and 1959 did 25 April fall on a Saturday within the football season thus requiring a gap in the fixture. By a change in the legislation in 1960 new terms permitted the playing of sport on ANZAC day after 2.00PM. The first matches played were:
- Fitzroy (19.17) defeated Carlton (19.10) at Brunswick Street
- St.Kilda (5.18) were defeated by Melbourne (10.12) at Junction Oval.
These matches had been part of 1960 Round 2, which was scheduled to be played on April 23 but had to be postponed because of heavy rain the previous two days.
Between 1960 and 2023 there have been 132 Anzac day matches for premiership points.
Since 1995 Essendon and Collingwood have played an annual match whose focus is commemorating Australian serviceman and ANZAC Day. The fixture has become a highlight of the season and a prestige appointment for umpires
See ANZAC Day clash in Wikipedia for more information.
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ANZAC Day umpire appointments 1960-2023
Field umpire | Total Matches | Coll / Ess |
---|---|---|
David Ackland | 1 | |
Brett Allen | 6 | 4 |
Ian Artso | 1 | |
Michael Avon | 3 | 1 |
Murray Bird | 1 | |
Don Blew | 1 | |
Eric Brewer | 1 | |
Jim Brewer | 1 | |
Jamie Broadbent | 1 | |
Nick Brown | 1 | |
Ron Brophy | 2 | |
Tony Bryant | 3 | |
Peter Cameron | 7 | |
Shane Carbines | 2 | |
Peter Carey | 4 | |
Ray Chamberlain | 5 | 3 |
Jim Chapman | 2 | |
Ian Clayton | 2 | |
Andrew Coates | 3 | 2 |
Ian Coates | 1 | |
Jeff Crouch | 2 | |
Jeff Dalgleish | 4 | |
Curtis Deboy | 1 | 1 |
Bill Deller | 5 | |
Chris Donlon | 3 | 1 |
Gavin Dore | 2 | |
Mike Dye | 1 | |
Jack Elder | 1 | |
Martin Ellis | 1 | |
Luke Farmer | 2 | 1 |
Graeme Fellowes | 1 | |
Rob Findlay | 3 | 3 |
Stan Fisher | 2 | |
Craig Fleer | 1 | |
Nick Foot | 3 | 1 |
Gary Forster | 1 | |
Trevor Garrett | 1 | |
Barry Gaudion | 1 | |
Hayden Gavine | 3 | 2 |
Darren Goldspink | 6 | 5 |
Roly Grant | 1 | |
Stefan Grun | 1 | |
David Harris | 1 | |
Shane Harris | 1 | |
John Harvey | 6 | 3 |
Leigh Haussen | 1 | |
Sam Hay | 3 | 1 |
Matthew Head | 2 | |
Bill Hedger | 1 | |
Craig Hendrie | 1 | |
Mike Henry | 1 | |
Harold Hodgson | 2 | |
Brian Hood | 1 | |
Brendan Hosking | 3 | 2 |
John Howorth | 1 | |
Peter Howe | 4 | |
David Howlett | 2 | |
Graham Huggins | 1 | |
Derek Humphery-Smith | 1 | |
Jack Irving | 1 | |
Glenn James | 2 | |
Mathew James | 5 | 3 |
Scott Jeffery | 4 | 2 |
Don Jolley | 1 | |
Alex Kamm | 1 | |
Chris Kamolins | 3 | 1 |
Hayden Kennedy | 4 | 1 |
Charles lane | 1 | |
Steve Luckman | 1 | |
Andrew Malcolm | 1 | |
Colin Mance | 1 | |
Dean Margetts | 3 | 1 |
Peter Matheson | 1 | |
Steve McBurney | 3 | 2 |
Shane McDonald | 2 | |
Shane McInerney | 4 | 3 |
Mark McKenzie | 3 | 1 |
Anton McKernan | 1 | |
Scott McLaren | 8 | 2 |
Edward McSherry | 1 | |
Simon Meredith | 4 | 2 |
Chris Mitchell | 4 | |
Jacob Mollison | 4 | 2 |
John Morgan | 3 | |
Geoff Morrow | 1 | |
Mark Nash | 1 | |
Neville Nash | 4 | |
Matthew Nicholls | 5 | 2 |
Arthur Norden | 1 | |
Matt Norden | 2 | 1 |
Bob Nunn | 1 | |
Rob O'Gorman | 1 | 1 |
Troy Pannell | 2 | 1 |
Tim Pfieffer | 1 | 1 |
Geoff Polites | 1 | |
Justin Power | 1 | 1 |
Ken Quinn | 1 | |
Paul Rebeschini | 1 | |
Denis Rich | 3 | 1 |
Ian Robinson | 5 | |
Brett Rosebury | 6 | 4 |
Corin Rowe | 1 | 1 |
Colin Rowston | 1 | |
John Russo | 3 | |
Ben Ryan | 1 | |
Shaun Ryan | 5 | 4 |
Rowan Sawers | 8 | 1 |
Justin Schmitt | 3 | 1 |
Vince Sercia | 1 | 1 |
Bryan Sheehan | 3 | |
Ray Sleeth | 2 | |
Kevin Smith | 5 | |
Michael Sneddon | 1 | |
Andrew Stephens | 1 | |
Matt Stevic | 5 | 4 |
John Sutcliffe | 4 | |
Grant Vernon | 4 | 1 |
Michael Vozzo | 4 | 4 |
Stuart Wenn | 3 | 1 |
Alex Whetton | 1 | |
Richard Williams | 1 | |
Nathan Williamson | 1 | 1 |
Derek Woodcock | 2 | 1 |
Brian Woodhead | 1 |
Boundary U | Total Matches | Coll/Ess |
---|---|---|
Gordon Andrews | 1 | |
Jordan Andrews | 1 | 1 |
Graham Baker | 1 | |
Bob Barker | 1 | |
Ross Barr | 3 | |
Adam Bastick | 1 | |
Michael Bell | 3 | 3 |
Matthew Bellizia | 1 | 1 |
Justin Bennison | 3 | 3 |
Graham Bergroth | 1 | |
John Bigelow | 2 | |
Simon Blight | 1 | 1 |
Callum Brown | 2 | |
Paul Budge | 4 | |
Chris Bull | 2 | |
Ian Burrows | 7 | 4 |
Graham Carbery | 1 | |
Gerald Carland | 2 | |
Barry Carmichael | 1 | |
Stephen Cato | 3 | |
Amin Chehade | 2 | |
Jace Collingridge | 2 | |
Arthur Cook | 1 | |
Allan Cook | 2 | 2 |
Adam Coote | 4 | 2 |
Pat Cran | 1 | 1 |
Jonathan Creasey | 1 | |
Damien Cusack | 3 | 2 |
Fred Dainty | 1 | |
Brett Dalgleish | 4 | |
Bill Davies | 1 | |
Aaron Deckys | 1 | |
Justin Delaney | 2 | |
Pat Dineen | 2 | |
Nathan Doig | 6 | |
Steve Donohue | 1 | |
Mike Donsen | 3 | |
Shane Doran | 1 | |
Herbert Elliott | 1 | |
Ryan England | 1 | |
Chris Esler | 2 | 1 |
Kieran Ferguson | 1 | |
Dan Field-Read | 1 | |
Des Fitzgerald | 5 | |
Ross Fitzgerald | 1 | |
Ron Fitzgerald | 3 | |
James Fleming | 1 | 1 |
Mark Foster | 4 | 4 |
Neil Foster | 1 | |
Howard Fox | 1 | |
Ray Frost | 2 | |
Josh Furman | 1 | 1 |
Jack Geggie | 4 | |
Ray Gibb | 1 | |
Robert Gibson | 1 | |
Jamie Giles | 4 | |
Henry Goding | 1 | |
Dan Gooch | 3 | |
Tim Gooch | 2 | |
Chris Gordon | 6 | 4 |
Gary Grant | 5 | |
Cliff Green | 5 | |
Ian Green | 1 | 1 |
Bob Gulliver | 3 | |
Rob Haala | 5 | 5 |
Alan Hammond | 2 | |
Darryl Hammond | 1 | |
Michael Hane | 1 | |
Greg Harding | 2 | 1 |
Basil Harris | 2 | |
Walter Harvey | 1 | |
David Hebblethwaite | 1 | |
Richard Heptinstall | 1 | |
John Hicks | 3 | |
Mark Hill | 1 | |
Graeme Hunichen | 3 | |
Scott Hutton | 2 | 1 |
Ken Innes | 1 | |
Shane Jansen | 6 | 5 |
Matthew Jenkinson | 2 | 1 |
Nathan Jessup | 1 | |
Sydney Johnston | 1 | |
Shane Jones | 3 | 1 |
John Kennedy | 1 | |
Herb Kent | 2 | |
Richard Kidd | 3 | |
Matthew Konetschka | 2 | 1 |
Andrew Kovess | 2 | |
Drew Kowalski | 1 | 1 |
Gerard Large | 1 | 1 |
Geoff Lee | 2 | |
Mitch Le Fevre | 3 | 2 |
Richard Leslie | 1 | 1 |
Sam Leslie | 2 | 2 |
Tim Lougoon | 2 | 1 |
Bernie Lowden | 3 | |
Ben Macdonald | 1 | 1 |
Chris Macdonald | 3 | 3 |
Damien Main | 1 | 1 |
Michael Marantelli | 2 | 2 |
Harold March | 2 | |
Hadin Martin | 1 | |
Josh Mather | 4 | |
Dean Maxwell | 2 | 1 |
Adam McDonald | 1 | 1 |
Peter McDonald | 3 | 1 |
Bruce McLellan | 2 | |
Troy McNamara | 1 | 1 |
John McNiff | 1 | |
Gordon McQueen | 1 | |
Kevin Mitchell | 3 | |
Ken Mitchell | 1 | |
Peter Monaghan | 1 | |
Jason Moore | 2 | 1 |
John Morris | 6 | 4 |
Tim Morrison | 2 | 1 |
Chris Morrison | 1 | 1 |
Gordon Muir | 1 | 1 |
Adrian Murphy | 1 | |
William Naismith | 1 | |
Paul Nicholls | 3 | |
John O'Leary | 2 | |
Mal Owen | 5 | 1 |
George Pampacos | 3 | |
Leigh Paterson | 4 | |
William Payne | 1 | |
Matthew Payton | 1 | 1 |
Andrew Pearson | 1 | |
Doug Perry | 1 | |
Laurie Pope | 1 | |
Ray Prosser | 4 | |
Lachlan Rayner | 2 | 2 |
Chris Roberts | 4 | 3 |
Adrian Ryan | 4 | |
Ashley Sandison | 1 | |
Peter Saultry | 2 | |
Michael Saunders | 2 | 1 |
Graeme Scherger | 1 | |
James Scully | 2 | 1 |
Randall Sheppard | 1 | |
Glenn Sinclair | 2 | 2 |
Greg Smith | 4 | |
Jason Smith | 1 | |
Stephen Smith | 1 | 1 |
Chris Sporton | 4 | |
Sam Stagg | 1 | |
Matt Starr | 1 | |
Bruce Stewart | 1 | |
Gerard Sullivan | 1 | |
Phil Sutton | 5 | |
Bill Sutton | 3 | |
Rod Tanner | 1 | |
Robert Taylor | 1 | |
Graham Taylor | 1 | |
Shane Thiele | 2 | 1 |
Neville Thomas | 1 | |
Mark Thomson | 4 | |
Matthew Tomkins | 2 | 2 |
Pat Tongue | 2 | 1 |
Bill Treloar | 1 | |
Matthew Vitiritti | 2 | 2 |
Cam Ward | 1 | |
Andrew Wheeler | 1 | |
Ian Wheeler | 1 | |
Geoff Willcox | 3 | |
Murray Williams | 4 | |
Darren Wilson | 2 | |
John Wilson | 1 | 1 |
Frank Wiinston | 1 | |
Bryan Wood | 2 | |
David Wood | 1 | 1 |
Ross Wright | 2 | |
Alan Zanich | 4 |
Goal Umpire | Total Matches | Coll/Ess |
---|---|---|
Kevin Andrews | 2 | |
Terry Antoniou | 1 | |
Chris Appleton | 4 | 2 |
Eric Armstrong | 2 | |
Dick Auhl | 1 | |
Steve Axon | 1 | |
Kevin Barker | 4 | |
Bob Barker | 2 | |
Les Barratt | 4 | |
Jim Barwick | 3 | |
Joe Bell | 3 | |
Dylan Benwell | 1 | 1 |
Gary Best | 2 | |
Graeme Billing | 1 | |
Anthony Black | 2 | 2 |
Eric Brewer | 1 | |
Con Buckley | 1 | |
Ron Buisman | 1 | |
Steve Butler | 1 | |
Mark Bywater | 1 | |
Roly Caird | 2 | |
Mark Canning | 3 | 3 |
Peter Challen | 1 | |
Craig Clark | 6 | 3 |
Alan Cole | 2 | |
Alf Collis | 1 | |
Leo Corrieri | 1 | |
Michael Craig | 1 | 1 |
Keith Cree | 3 | |
Andrew Curtis | 1 | |
Don Dalgleish | 1 | |
Graham Danne | 6 | |
Matt Dervan | 2 | 2 |
Percy Devine | 1 | |
David Dixon | 6 | 4 |
Luke Edwards | 2 | |
Dale Edwick | 4 | |
Mark Ensbey | 2 | 1 |
Ray Fargie | 1 | |
Barry Farrow | 3 | |
Roy Ferguson | 2 | |
David Flegg | 6 | 3 |
Charles Foletta | 1 | |
Harold Forsythe | 2 | |
Fred Franks | 1 | |
Gerald Gaffney | 2 | |
Alf Galea | 1 | 1 |
Bob Gilham | 3 | |
Peter Gonis | 2 | 1 |
Doug Gourlay | 1 | |
Alan Grant | 3 | |
Bryan Grant | 1 | |
Michael Hammond | 1 | |
Mark Harrison | 2 | 2 |
Rob Hendrie | 1 | |
Wayne Hendrie | 1 | |
Peter Honeyman | 1 | |
Colin Hood | 3 | 3 |
Daniel Hoskin | 1 | |
Graham Hunt | 2 | |
Peter Jeffers | 1 | |
Ted Johnson | 6 | |
Brian Jones | 1 | |
Leigh Keen | 5 | |
Peter Kelly | 1 | |
Brodie Kenny-Bell | 1 | |
Doug Langham | 1 | |
Jack Lee | 1 | |
Frank Leverett | 1 | |
Walter Lindsey | 1 | |
Max Lingwood-Smith | 1 | |
Bernie Lowden | 1 | |
Fred Lucas | 1 | |
Bill Ludlow | 2 | |
Greg Macdonald | 2 | |
Jim Mahoney | 3 | |
John Marrapodi | 1 | |
Cos Martino | 1 | |
Angus McKenzie-Wills | 1 | 1 |
Noel McLennan | 2 | |
Michael Minahan | 1 | |
David Mitchell | 1 | |
Steve Murphy | 1 | |
Peter Nastasi | 2 | 1 |
Mike Nicolai | 1 | |
Matthew Norton | 1 | |
Jim Orr | 1 | |
Barry Page | 2 | |
Laurie Page | 3 | 2 |
Michael Palm | 1 | 1 |
Dan Parsons | 2 | |
Keith Pawley | 1 | |
Reg Pawley | 2 | |
Ante Perkovic | 1 | |
Steve Piperno | 2 | 1 |
Mark Powell | 2 | 2 |
Brian Pratt | 7 | |
Bill Pryde | 2 | |
Mark Pulham | 1 | |
Dale Puren | 1 | |
Doug Purss | 3 | |
Frank Raiti | 3 | 1 |
Michael Roache | 2 | |
Les Robinson | 2 | |
Chelsea Roffey | 3 | 2 |
Brett Rogers | 3 | 1 |
Tom Rossiter | 2 | |
Mostyn Rutter | 1 | |
Dick Sankey | 4 | |
Ray Schwensen | 3 | |
Roger Selwood | 2 | |
David Shawcross | 1 | |
Fred Sigmont | 1 | |
Jack Simmonds | 1 | |
Andrew Sinclair | 1 | |
Terry Suitryk | 1 | |
James Smith | 1 | |
Paul Smith | 2 | |
Mike Spear | 3 | |
Steve Stevens | 2 | |
Alex Stewart | 2 | |
Steve Stirling | 3 | 2 |
Peter Stokes | 1 | |
Bob Taggart | 1 | |
Peter Taylor | 1 | |
Keith Traplin | 4 | |
Jason Venkataya | 1 | 1 |
Sergio Villagra | 1 | |
Luke Walker | 4 | 4 |
Sam Walsh | 1 | 1 |
Phil Watson | 1 | |
Alf White | 1 | |
David Whitling | 1 | |
Graeme Williams | 4 | |
Stephen Williams | 5 | 3 |
Dan Wilson | 3 | 3 |
Adam Wojcik | 4 | 3 |
Les Wright | 1 |