Since their first game in 1867, Carlton have beaten St Kilda 74% of the time. This includes 5 finals wins out of 5.
Yep – 74%. Carlton have scored 4,145 goals MORE than St Kilda in their matches.
19,570 goals to 15,425.
It all stems from the early decades of the VFL/AFL competition. Or, well, most decades of the competition really.
In their first 6 seasons, St Kilda won 2 games. Check out all of St Kilda’s match results.
Apart from a few years of winning about 50% of their games, they continued to win games in the single figures for years.
Over the following decades, St Kilda swapped between 40 to 50% win rates, and winning 1 or 2 matches a year. Finals years were usually followed by years languishing at the bottom of the table, being beaten by Carlton, Collingwood, and Essendon.
They couldn’t catch a break. Even in their healthier years, St Kilda were still losing to Carlton and the other big clubs by wide margins.
Who were St Kilda beating back in those single-digit win years? Modern day powerhouse clubs like… University and South Melbourne.
The 1940’s and 50’s were the doldrums for St Kilda. Then came the heady days of the 1960’s under Allan Jeans.
The club was born anew. Their greatest champions emerged. But the Blues still had the wood on the Saints.
St Kilda refused to spiral back down from the middle of the table to the bottom. They did the unthinkable: they consistently placed higher up in the ladder, culminating in beating Collingwood in the 1966 Grand Final… by one point.
St Kilda continued to make a few finals appearances for years to come, but got beaten back from the cup every time.
Then came the 80’s. Kids sang songs in the schoolyard about how terrible St Kilda were at playing Australian football.
The 90’s saw new teams enter the league. The AFL was born, a truly* national league.
New teams! Teams that the Saints could beat! St Kilda heroes like Winmar, Lockett, Hall, and Harvey emerged.
But Carlton remained a 50/50 prospect at best.
At the start of Carlton’s down years in the early 2000’s, St Kilda were still easy-beats against Carlton.
From 2003 St Kilda suddenly left Carlton in the dust, making finals and even Grand Final appearances. Winning more games than any other side, before sinking again for years, beaten even by Carlton.
This year? in Round 16? We see the two clubs as top 8 teams facing off, only a couple of wins separating them. It will be a match for the ages, and a chance for the Saints to claw their way over the body of their nemesis, the Carlton football club.
This is the sort of match that you don’t want to miss. You don’t need to wait until the week of the match to secure Carlton v St Kilda tickets or an AFL Corporate Box, get in early now.
With both teams sitting in the top 8 at the moment we could see a rematch in September and if they do make sure you book your AFL Finals tickets.
