This week, we take a trip back to 1936.
After 11 seasons in the VFL without a win against Richmond, North Melbourne defied the odds to claim victory in front of its home crowd at Arden Street.
The excerpt below is taken from The Football Record before the game.
7,000 loyal supporters (a gate which netted the club £100) were there to celebrate, in a remarkable match that saw 18 goals kicked with the wind, and just two against it.
After trailing by 17-points at three-quarter time, North Melbourne led by Horrie Farmer’s three goals, came back to win by eight against Richmond.
Such was the inexperience of the team, not a single player had 100 games to their name. On the other hand, Richmond had eight and boasted almost three times the experience.
Collaboratively, the North players had just a 25 per cent career winning record and went on to finish just one spot off the bottom.
But nothing could take away from the joy of beating one of the league’s powerhouses in Richmond, who lost its last six to go from a 10-2 record to eventually miss the finals.
Below is the match report featured in the following week’s Football Record.
Coincidentally, Farmer had set a club record (six goals) for the opposition just three years earlier in his VFL debut, against North.
The hero on the day, he played just six more matches in his career before returning to Warragul.
North Melbourne 1.1.7 6.5.41 7.5.47 11.7.73
Richmond 4.2.26 5.4.34 9.10.64 9.11.65
Goals
North Melbourne: Horrie Farmer 3, Frank Crapper 2, Ted Ellis 2, Dave Burke 1, Dudley Cassidy 1, Ron McLeod 1, Len Smith 1
Richmond: Jack Titus 5, Martin Bolger 1, Bert Foster 1, Gerry Hayes 1, Kevin O'Neill 1
Crowd: 7,000 at Arden Street
