1955 - SEASON REVIEW

1955 and the Football Club—they looked the goods. Could they pull off the seemingly impossible? The Seagulls were winning regularly and the town was starting to buzz. Local support was growing quickly as attendances increased. The main topic of conversation around the town was about football and the team’s prospects. Russell Grambeau led his star-studded team on a string of victories with their only conqueror being the old bogey team Mordialloc, who were able to chalk up two victories over them in the season proper, the second being by a miserly three points.

Finishing clearly on top of the ladder, the locals were a little relieved to see the end of Mordialloc at the conclusion of the first week of the finals and they settled down to the massive task confronting them—to win Chelsea’s first premiership at the top level.
They had the coach. Russell was an imposing ruckman who combined beautifully with local giant Kevin Phillips. Their centreline was magnificent with the brilliant Alan Jones in the pivot, speedster Reggie Backman on one side and Billy Armstrong demonstrating his silky skills on the other wing. Down the spine there was real talent with an outstanding spoiler in Bill Baker at full back and Don Gall, skilful and tight, playing with a great pair of hands at half-back. A young John Coughlan was a tough and fiery player who was capable of doing enormous damage from centre-half forward and the spearhead, Ron Price, had kicked plenty of goals during the season and was in top form.

The players supporting this framework were also highly skilled with the likes of Lou Owens demonstrating his ability to kick with precision using either foot. Best and Fairest winner Dick Gough was playing on a back-flank and 1953 Best and Fairest Bill Woodhead was unable to gain selection in the starting eighteen. He was 19th man. The names go on and on and one could write glowingly about any of these individuals. But suffice to say, the performances continued to impress as the Seagulls mounted their challenge.

But the true assessment of the quality of this team was made by the most knowledgeable of local football authorities, ‘Dumpy’ Smith. When asked how they would go against the highly rated 1962 premiership team, he replied with, “the 55ers would win, even if they had to play in gum-boots!”


KEY PERSONNEL

PRESIDENT
Tom Payne

VICE PRESIDENT
George White

SECRETARY
Claude Dowse

ASSISTANT SECRETARY


TREASURER
Ted Chinn

COMMITTEE
Vic Carodet, Clive Collins, Dick Dawson, Monty Dowse, Den Fellows, Dick Finn, Bill Hunter, Arthur Payne, John Townsend

COACH
Russell Grambeau

CAPTAIN
Russell Grambeau

BEST & FAIREST 
Dick Gough

GOAL KICKING
Ron Price

TRAINERS
Alf Gray, Charlie Ball, Alec Sharp

SEASON OVERVIEW

SENIORS

Team W L B Points %
Chelsea 14 2 2 64 203 Dandenong 14 2 2 64 163 Black Rock 14 3 1 60 174
Mordialloc 13 4 1 56 182
Mentone 11 5 2 52 180 Caulfield 11 5 2 52 107 McKinnon 9 8 1 40 121 Parkdale 5 12 1 24 60 Edi/Asp 4 13 1 20 67 Clayton 4 13 1 20 61.8 Cheltenham 4 13 1 20 61.8 Camden 3 14 1 16 50 Highett 3 14 1 16 42
GRAND FINAL
Chelsea 10- 17 -77 def  Dandenong 7 - 12 -54

F. D. L
BEST & FAIREST

R Goodes	Parkdale	24
G Ashman	Mordialloc	17
J Brierty	Black Rock	16
Russell Grambeau	Chelsea	16
G March	Camden	14
C Johnston	Highett	13
D Coates	McKinnon	13

 

   

GRAND FINAL SELECTED TEAMS

CHELSEA V DANDENONG

BACKS: R Park W Baker R Baker
P Morris D Gay R Byron
HALF-BACKS: P Dullard D Gall D Gough
A Thomas A Greenshields B Waters

CENTRES: R Backman A Jones W Armstrong
R Fountain A Baxter J Purcell

HALF-FORWARDS: L Owens J Coughlan W Botten
J Harrison J Campbell J Reid

FORWARDS: R Grambeau R Price N Baker
K Johnson J French J Baptist  

RUCKS: K Phillips T Gray J Harmes
W Campbell B Perkins P Morris

INTERCHANGE:   W Woodhead F Parsons
F O'Halloran J McCoy

EMERGENCIES: B Tobin A Davis
S Wintle P Rasmussen D Johns

UMPIRE: Huntington

GRAND FINAL

CHELSEA	2.5	5.9	7.11	10.17	77 pts
DANDENONG	0.0	4.3	6.11	7.12	54 pts

BEST PLAYERS

CHELSEA:A Jones, R Backman, P Dullard, D Gough, R Grambeau, W Baker.
DANDENONG:J French, S Perkins, J Campbell, A Thomas.

GOAL KICKERS

CHELSEA:Price 5, Grambeau, Harmes, N Baker, Gray, Jones.
DANDENONG:Thomas 4, Greenshields, Byron, Campbell.

SECONDS

Team W L B D Points %
Dandenong 15 1 2 68 Mordialloc 14 3 1 60 Mentone 13 3 2 56
McKinnon 13 4 1 56
Black Rock 11 6 1 48 Parkdale 10 7 1 44 Camden 10 7 1 44 Chelsea 7 9 2 36 Edi/Asp 5 11 1 1 26 Caulfield 4 12 2 24 Clayton 3 14 1 16 Cheltenham 3 14 2 20 Highett 0 16 1 1 6
GRAND FINAL
Dandenong 9 - 15 - 69 def  Mordialloc 8 - 10 - 58

F. D. L.
BEST & FAIREST

J Hamilton	Edi/Asp	26
A Thyne	McKinnon	23
W Josephs	Black Rock	21
C Bassett	Dandenong	20

  

 

SEASON OVERVIEW

THIRDS

Team W L B Points %
Mentone 13 1 1 56 396 Mordialloc 12 2 1 52 404 Chelsea 10 3 2 48 385 Dandenong 11 3 1 48 240 Black Rock 11 3 1 48 220
Cheltenham 6 7 2 32 159 Highett 5 9 1 24 138 McKinnon 5 9 1 24 100 Edi/Asp 4 10 1 20 93 Camden 3 13 1 16 46 Caulfield 2 12 1 12 46 Parkdale 1 13 1 8 8 Clayton 0 14 1 4 7
GRAND FINAL
Chelsea 9 - 7 - 61 def Mordialloc 7 - 9 - 51

F. D. L.
BEST & FAIREST

P O'Toole	Highett	27
J Barber	Edi/Asp	26
B Halfpenny	McKinnon	25
M Johnson	Chelsea	22

    

FIRST SEMI FINAL

CHELSEA				10.8	68 pts
DANDENONG				3.12	30 pts

BEST PLAYERS

CHELSEA:No details.
DANDENONG:No details.

GOAL KICKERS

CHELSEA:No details.
DANDENONG:No details.

PRELIMINARY FINAL

CHELSEA				10.7	67 pts
MENTONE				9.6	60 pts

BEST PLAYERS

CHELSEA:No details.
MENTRONE:No details.

GOAL KICKERS

CHELSEA:No details.
MENTONE:No details.

GRAND FINAL

CHELSEA				9.7	61 pts
MORDIALLOC				7.9	51 pts

BEST PLAYERS

CHELSEA:No details.
MORDIALLOC:No details.

GOAL KICKERS

CHELSEA:No details.
MORDIALLOC:No details.

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