The 1980's was a glorious era for the Carlton Football Club - yes there were three magnificent Premierships and heroes on every line, but it was also a great era of football. The Blueseum has put together this list of perhaps lesser known matches - Great Home & Away wins of the 1980's - to get the memories flowing....


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Round 1, 1980 - Carlton v Collingwood
No Premiership hangover for the Blues, who overcame a slow Pre-Season to destroy the Pies. Johnston kicked 7.

Carlton were rank underdogs in this grand final replay at Victoria Park. Wayne Johnston was not 100% fit and it appeared as though Carlton were unsure if he would even play , but history showed he did and was 'Best on the Ground". Carlton welcome their new recruits in Val Perovic (from St Kilda who refused to live in Melbourne and against their president's Lindsay Fox wishes and was traded) and Phil Maylin (who had been named as an emergency).

Carlton had won this game by three quarter time and took their foot of the pedal and allowed Collingwood to score 8 goals in the last quarter.

An interesting byline was that footage from this match was used in the David Williamson's movie of "The Club".


Round 3, 1982 v Collingwood
Johnston thrown to the middle, Hunter up forward - the Blues killed them in the third to take the match

Carlton had drawn the first game and lost the second to the Dons and things weren't looking good, how do you get back in form - but play the Pies in a blockbuster. This was the day that Carlton found out that Johnston could play in the centre and Hunter could play as a forward. Through injury Johnston was thrown in to the centre at half time and Hunter who was knocked cold was put up forward with devastating effects. We were a few goals down at half time and kicked 9 in the third with Johnno (the 'Pies nightmare) and Hunter cutting them up and we went on to win by 34 points.


Round 20, 1982 - Carlton v Richmond
Carlton defeated Richmond in the wet to maintain the rivalry in this Grand Final Preview
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After a 6 week period from hell due to form, injury and suspension, Richmond were hell-bent on avenging their lost to the Blues earlier in the season. After that game Francis Burke and Geoff Raines publicly stated that the Tigers just didn't do play well enough and shouldn't have won (go figure) but would turn the tables around in the rematch. Carlton had just been flogged by the Swans in Sydney and fronted up to the MCG with 70,000 fans to watch the the two teams that had won the last 2 GF's.

Everything was set for a Richmond win e.g. current form, home game, wet conditions (we were still considered soft as we were so skillful) etc. But the Blues machine went in to action and it was a physical game with Malthouse or Jess knocking out Glascott and then Buckley knocking out Malthouse later. We were too strong, too quick, too skillful and too bloody good and end up beating them in this season turning game for the Blues.


Round 20, 1983 v Hawthorn
A massive Premiership Quarter saw the Blues take the lead, and the game...

From 32 points behind, Carlton kicked 10 in the third quarter to hit the lead. As Jim Main wrote in Inside Football, the lift came from none other than Wayne Johnston - ''Wayne Johnston's performance in the centre during the third quarter against Hawthorn on Saturday had to be seen to be appreciated. Johnston not only picked up 12 kicks in that quarter but was the driving force behind the Blues getting back into the match. He was here, there, everywhere in an effort to lift his side."


Round 21, 1983 v North
A second successive Premiership Quarter saw the Blues take the lead, and then the game...

From 17 points behind, Carlton kicked 7 in the third quarter to hit the lead. These 'Premiership Quarters' were impressive to watch...


Round 9, 1985 - Carlton v Fitzroy
A 1 point win to keep us in touch with the Final 5

In the days of the final five format, a win-loss of 2-4 at the start of the season was verging on the disastrous. Carlton regrouped with a tough win in Sydney and then met a strong Fitzroy side in a crunch game at VFL Park.

After being behind for most of the day, the Blues surged forward in a last quarter marked by Rod Ashman's ferocious one-percenters in the forward line and a goal from a set shot on the boundary line which sparked a close win.


Round 17, 1985 - Carlton v Essendon
The Bombers were going for 10 in a row, and Carlton pipped them for the first time in 5 years

Since Neale Daniher's famous last quarter in 1981 to pinch the game for Essendon against Carlton, the Blues had not beaten their fierce rivals for almost 5 years. Essendon, a powerhouse team in the mid 1980s, were expected to win comfortably against a Carlton side that was struggling to remain in contention for the finals. Carlton's stars from the early 1980s all stood up and secured a win by almost 9 goals against a team that would decimate Hawthorn in the Grand Final 2 months later.


Round 4, 1987 - Carlton v West Coast
A massive win over the newcomers...

In the first year of significant national expansion, the then VFL introduced West Coast and Brisbane into the competition. West Coast were an unknown quantity but had a fearsome reputation forged through some exceptional State of Origin games in the mid 1980s.

An 8 goal opening quarter, highlighted by 4 goals to Wayne Johnston and 3 to Kernahan, blew Carlton out to an early lead, and a 10 goal final quarter in front of a fanatical home crowd at Princes Park propelled the Blues to an 87 point win.


Round 22, 1987 - Carlton v North Melbourne
Yet another brilliant Carlton v North match, but one of great impact for the year. Kernahan kicked 6.

This was remembered as one of the most significant home and away rounds in the league's history, with the Carlton v North Melbourne and Hawthorn v Geelong games having an immense impact on that year's finals participants.

Memories of North Melbourne's impossible win against Carlton in 1985 came flooding back when the talented Kangaroos side refused to lay down in the last quarter and jeopardised Carlton's top spot finish to the season. Ultimately it was Kernahan's kick after the siren from an acute angle which won the game and gave the Blues a crucial week's break in the finals.

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Round 20, 1988 - Carlton v North Melbourne
It took 36 minutes in the last quarter, but we managed to pip the 'Roos by 4 points

In another high scoring thriller versus North Melbourne, Carlton's tall timber in the forward line kept Carlton in the game all day, with Kernahan and Sartori focal points and an early experiment with Dorotich in the forward pocket paying dividends.

Some may remember this game for the time clock going 36 minutes in the final term - just enough time for Adrian Gleeson to snap a goal off the pack in the last seconds. Fans from the day recall that the feed-out to Gleeson on the day came from none other than Luke O'Sullivan on debut.


Round 11, 1989 - Carlton v Sydney
A return to the winner's list - and of a Legend

After a tumultuous start to the season with coach Robert Walls famously sacked after a loss to the lowly Brisbane Bears, prodigal son Alex Jesaulenko returned to the Blues as coach of a team low on confidence and containing fading stars. In a tough, physical encounter against a Sydney team containing Williams and Healy, the Blues maintained a slender lead for most of the game before holding Sydney in the final quarter.

At a wet and windy SCG, the game was remembered for several on-field incidents. Whilst scrapping for a ball at the bottom of a pack, David Rhys-Jones was struck a blow to the jaw by Greg Williams which left Rhys-Jones dazed and shocked. Jesaulenko showed the courage he expected from his players by leaving David Rhys-Jones on the field for the next 10 minutes, despite a broken jaw.


Three Premierships and a thousand memories later, the Carlton Football Club were a force to be reckoned with in the 1980's. With big wins even in our "down" years, the Blues remained a fierce opponent throughout.


The Blueseum has also compiled a list of Carlton's great Home & Away wins of earlier decades, which can be found via the following links: 1990's | 2000's