1947

Round: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 Semi Final | The Grand Final Fixture by Round

1947 Summary

Ern Henfry would be named Captain of Carlton for the 1947 season, despite only having played 2 games for the club in 1944. Henfry had played before World War II for the Perth Football Club in Western Australia, and had played his two games for the Blues while on leave as a serviceman. At the end of the war, Carlton arranged for Henfry's employment to be transferred to Melbourne, but the Perth Football Club refused to release him, and Henfry sat out the entire 1946 season. Lining up for the Blues as Captain, he would lead the club to a premiership in his first year as Captain. Three players were promoted onto the senior list, Bill Redmond, Max Howell and Alan Streeter (pictured).

On the field, the club would bounce back after missing the finals in 1946. Carlton and Essendon would be the two major powers of the 1947 season, which was fitting as they had won the past two premierships (Essendon in 1946 and Carlton in 1945. The Blues would play with great consistency during the home and away season, losing only four times in the nineteen round season. Measures of this consistency included winning 6 consecutive games twice in the year (rounds 3 to 8 and rounds 10 to 15) and never losing two games in a row. Carlton reached the top of the ladder in round 5 and would maintain this position until the end of the regular season, finishing one game clear of Essendon who were in second.

As the two most dominant sides of the season, the Blues and Bombers would meet in the second Semi Final with both sides having a double chance and the winner a direct route to the Grand Final. The sides had been evenly matched during the season, each winning one of the two games played between the clubs. In the Semi Final, Essendon got away to an early lead, shutting Carlton down to lead 3.8 to 0.1 at the first break. The Blues would kick 7 goals to 3 in the second quarter to trail by only a point at half-time and the Bombers failed to make good use of the scoring end in the third term, leading by only 9 points at the final break. Carlton kicked 5 goals to 1 in the final term to run over the Bomber and win by 16 points (14.15 99 to 11.17 83).

Essendon beat Fitzroy in the Preliminary Final to again face Carlton in the Grand Final. In front of 85,815 people at the MCG, the Blues would win a cliffhanger by one point, despite having 9 less scoring shots. The accuracy of the club lead to it not kicking a behind in the first half, going into the break with 8 goals straight. By three quarter time the Bombers were up by 11 points from 11 more scoring shots, but the Blues kicked 3 last quarter goals to 1 to take the game and the flag.

1947 was also a first for the club, with Bert Deacon winning Carlton's first Brownlow Medal - winning the Brownlow in a Premiership Year being something close to the utmost pinnacle in this great game.

Ladder

Pos	Team	Wins	Draws	Losses	Points	For	Against	%
1	Carlton	15	0	4	60	261.267.1833	188.240.1368	134
2	Essendon	14	0	5	56	263.298.1876	214.244.1528	122.8
3	Fitzroy	13	0	6	52	244.272.1736	190.230.1370	126.7
4	Richmond	12	0	7	48	243.268.1726	222.250.1582	109.1
5	Collingwood	11	1	7	46	239.304.1738	219.232.1546	112.4
6	Melbourne	11	0	8	44	250.242.1742	208.240.1488	117.1
7	Geelong	11	0	8	44	253.243.1761	235.295.1705	103.3
8	Sth Melbourne	8	1	10	34	225.252.1602	228.284.1652	97
9	Footscray	8	1	10	34	231.260.1646	250.213.1713	96.1
10	Nth Melbourne	4	0	15	16	191.244.1390	250.289.1789	77.7
11	Hawthorn	4	0	15	16	206.220.1456	269.293.1907	76.4
12	St Kilda	1	1	17	6	164.237.1221	297.297.2079	58.7

People of 1947

Captain: Ern Henfry Coach: Percy Bentley Best and Fairest: Bert Deacon and Ern Henfry (Tied) Leading Goalkicker: Ken Baxter (42) Brownlow Medallist: Bert Deacon

Milestones

Debuts: Bill Redmond, Les Carr, Jack S Cooper, Bob Kelsey, Fred Stafford, Alan Sorrell, Allan Greenshields Brownlow Medal: Bert Deacon

Carlton played Melbourne at the Kensington Oval Adelaide, Wednesday October 08

Public Holiday in Adelaide. Crowd; 5,000 Fund raising for the Burnside Memorial Hospital Appeal. The Blues appeared to be suffering a premiership hangover, especially in the second quarter. Umpire; K. L. Alpin Carlton lost by 40 points Carl; 3.2 4.7 7.11 10.16.76 Melb; 4.4 13.5 15.8 17.14.116 Goals; Baird 4.2, Howell 2.0, Conley 1.3, Turner 1.2, Hands 1.1, Redmond 1.1, Davies 0.3, Cooper 0.1, rushed 0.3. Best; Howell, Hands, Henfrey, Bennett, Baird, Davies, Boys. Bert Deacon also mentioned.

Round: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 Semi Final | The Grand Final Playing List | Debuts | Brownlow Votes Big Stories: Minor Premiers | Premiership Droughts | Premierships | Great Finals wins over the Bombers | Brownlow Medallists | Deacon's Brownlow 60 years on | Fred Stafford remembers THE goal 1946 | 1948

Gallery

• 
  1947 - Bert Deacon wins Carlton's first Brownlow Medal.100 Years of Australian Rules Football.
• 
  1947 Brownlow Medalist - Bert Deacon.
• 
  1947 - Ern Henfrey.
• 
  1947 2nd Semi Vs Essendon.
• 
  1947 2nd Semi Vs Essendon.
• 
  1947 - Bert Deacon: Brownlow Medalist.
• 
  1947 Brownlow Medalist - Bert Deacon.
• 
  1947 2nd Semi Final Vs Essendon.
• 
  1947 2nd Semi Vs Essendon - Match Details.
• 
  1947 Rd 3 - Henfry & Howell cartoon.
• 
  Carlton Premiership Team 1947
• 
  1947 Grand Final Record
• 
  1947 Grand Final - Ern Henfry bursts through the Blues banner.jpgImage courtesy of Carlton Football Club.
• 
  1947 Grand Final Ern Henfry Is Chaired Off The MCG
• 
  1947 Herb Turner Rnd 4 v Footscray 1947 Rnd 4 v Footscray Herb Turner Age May 12
• 
  1947 Second Semi v Essendon 1947 Second Semi v Essendon Fred Stafford This is image is sometimes incorrectly labelled as from the G.F. Image: Trove; Argus September 15 p38
• 
  1947 Bob Atkinson 1947 Bob Atkinson Image; Sporting Globe May 07
• 
  2017 Carlton's 1947 Premiership Flag Returns To The Club.In March 2017, Carlton’s 1947 Premiership flag was returned to the club after going missing for some 25 years. It had lain undiscovered in a garden shed all that time, after being picked up in a laneway near Princes Park in 1990. Image courtesy of Carlton Media.
• 
  1947 Carlton Team"1947 Carlton Team From the back of the 1949 CFC Kia-Ora Sports Parade prog. Image: sportmem ebay
• 
  1947 Carlton training 1947 Carlton training Argus March 12 p17
• 
  1947 Coach Percy Bentley and Pres. K. G. Luke meet new players. 1947 Coach Percy Bentley and President K. G. Luke meet new players. Trove; Argus March 12 p17
• 
  1947 Membership ticket opened 1947 Membership ticket opened Carnegie collectables
• 
  1947 Bob Chitty (Ned Kelly) 1947 Bob Chitty Trove; Weekly Times November 05 p3
• 
  1947 Brownlow Medal winner Bert Deacon 1947 Brownlow Medal winner Bert Deacon Trove; Age September 04 p14
• 
  1947 Bert Deacon - Brownlow 1947 Bert Deacon - Brownlow Trove; Argus September 04
• 
  1947 Grand Final Wells' cartoon1947 Grand Final Wells' cartoon
• 
  1947 Grand Final - Ern Henfry 1947 Grand Final Ern Henfry Age September 30
• 
  1947 Training Staff 1947 Training Staff CFC image/Gillet family
• 
  1947 Melbourne Sports Depot advert. Goal posts superimposed."1947 Melbourne Sports Depot advert. Goal posts have been superimposed on the photo. Could be from Round 1 1946 at the Lake Oval Possibly No.18 Albert Sanger, No.22 Jim Jones Trove; Herald May 02 (p3)
• 
  1947 Bert Deacon 1947 Bert Deacon Well's caricature Trove; Herald September 12 (16)
• 
  1947 Semi Final - young Carlton barrackers 1947 Semi Final young Carlton barrackers Trove; Herald September 13 (p18)
• 
  1947 Carlton team and officials in Adelaide October1947 Carlton team and officials in Adelaide Trove; News SA October 04 p18
• 
  1947 - Carlton thirds lose 1st Semi Final.
• 
  1947 - Carlton to play Melbourne in a charity match in Adelaide.
• 
  1947 - Carlton v Melbourne Charity Match in Adelaide.
• 
  1947 - Melbourne d Carlton in Charity Match in Adelaide.
• 
  1947 Rd 18 - Carlton d Nth Melb. (Footy Record).
• 
  1947 Carlton fans Grand Final 1947 Carlton fans Grand Final Trove; The Sun New -Pic. September 29 p18
• 
  1947 Grand Final MCG panorama 1947 Grand Final MCG panorama Trove; The Sun News- Pictorial September 29 (p18, 23)
• 
  R5 Cartoon
• 
  Round9 1947
• 
  Round9 1947a
• 
  R10 Cartoon
• 
  1947 Jack Howell
• 
  1947 Rd 5 Carlton Defeat Reigning Premiers Essendon.