The 1950s for St Kilda was the classic tale of two halves. The first five years saw the Saints’ poor post-war form carry into the new decade, while the second – despite no September appearances – gave rise to a steadily improving side which featured three successive Brownlow medallists.
While the start to the 1950 season promised more regular success with the club’s maiden 100-point victory, the following seasons did little to repay the faith. The red, white and black expanded its notorious wooden spoon collection after uninspiring performances in 1952, 1954 and 1955, anchoring St Kilda’s perceived reputation as perennial cellar-dwellers with fleeting moments of triumph.
The appointment of Alan Killigrew as senior coach in 1956 served as the beginnings of a criminally overdue turning point for the Saints. Famously declaring that “nobody will laugh at St Kilda”, Killigrew undertook one of the most ruthless and substantial list turnovers in VFL history.
His astounding clean-out resulted in 17 Saints who played in 1955 never donning the tri-colours again, while 11 untried players were called up for the club’s first match of 1956. The tough love approach and Killigrew’s insistence for the St Kilda faithful to get behind the boys wrenched the club off the lower rungs of the ladder, but never into legitimate finals contention.
The Saints managed to snare the VFL Consolation Night Series Premiership – a ‘finals’ series for the sides who failed to make the top-four – in 1958, adding to the lonely Patriotic Cup from 1940.
Although the on-field results did little to reflect it, the Saints boasted some of the best players in the league, who were recognised for their efforts across the competition. St Kilda picked up three consecutive Brownlow Medals from 1957-1959 through Brian Gleeson, Neil Roberts – after switching from half-forward to centre-half back – and Verdun Howell, while Bill Young snared the Coleman Medal in 1956.
Gleeson’s sudden knee injury and forced retirement in 1958 thrust a young Alan Morrow into the spotlight, whose profound impact would be etched into club folklore almost a decade later. But the 1950s birthed a champion of another kind, and one whose legacy would be immortalised into St Kilda’s history forever.
The great Allan Jeans.
