Research Match fixing

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killer said:
I think you can point to particular teams around the 1890 to 1920
as persistently turning up in these "rumours"
port Melbourne east Fremantle maybe south Melbourne
also factor in (gun) mercenary players moving state to state often not payed by the club itself
maybe a sponsor or supporter
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What you have to remember is there were 3 Fremantle sides being north, south and east Fremantle and players would swap regularly between the sides.
 
interesting that you say that,
East Fremantle tend to have the tougher image than south ( don't think north was around very long)
there was a joke (was it a joke?) around them recruiting from the Fremantle gaol


i'f you got a copy of that 1906 report could you send me a copy?
 
killer said:
interesting that you say that,
East Fremantle tend to have the tougher image than south ( don't think north was around very long)
there was a joke (was it a joke?) around them recruiting from the Fremantle gaol


i'f you got a copy of that 1906 report could you send me a copy?
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I'll try to find the reference for you. Actually North Fremantle still survives in the Amateur leagues but as a league club finished up coincidentally about the time the major gambling scandals finished, although for vastly different reasons, they lost nearly three quarters of a team in World War 1 and were unable to compete further as a team.
 

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killer said:
interesting that you say that,
East Fremantle tend to have the tougher image than south ( don't think north was around very long)
there was a joke (was it a joke?) around them recruiting from the Fremantle gaol


i'f you got a copy of that 1906 report could you send me a copy?
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A lot of these sources you do not get on Trove but here goes.

Player Toohey of North Fremantle wanted a transfer because he was accused of playing dead ( Morning Herald 26 May 1906).

There were charges laid against J Shea of Boulder City for attemping to bribe an umpire ( Western Argus 2 July 1907).

There was an allegation against South Fremantle that G Stotter and 2 other officials from SF offered inducements to EF players to play stiff(Evening Mail of 10 August 1910). These were denied by Stotter.
In 1910 there was a protest by Bridgtown against Greenbushes that they had played a player named Burns ( who 2 years before had played under the name Bignell for Subiaco). West Australian 28 July 1910.

Now the full story of the 1906 suspension for matchfixing involving Hardisty etc can be found in the Sporting Life of 1 December 1906. and the Sporting Life of 3 November 1906. There is also a good reference in the Empire of 20 June 1908.

My notes indicate that the bookie involved Davis was banned for life in December 1906 and the bookie involved said that far more serious charges could be made if East Fremantle punished the bookie.

The actual report of the hearing is set out in the Sporting Life of 3 November 1906. My notes of the report are that Hardisty said that he had bet on the game and got 5 to 4. Further when the money was handed over, 3 SF players, Kelly, Mayne and Stotter were nearby. The 3 EF players were offered the money whilst at training at the Perth baths. Baxter and Lee then said they wanted 25 pounds and to leave out Hardisty and the ex Essendon player Tom Wilson advised them to keep the money and the EF players took the money and bet it so they would win 27 pounds if they won and 27 pounds if they won.

Tom Wilson later responded at the last meeting of EF ( Sporting Life 10 November 1906).

It was all very sordid.

Then player Tobin of North Fremantle was banned for life in 1905 for asserting a West Perth Player Williams offered him a bribe ( 28 April 1905 The Mail).

In 1914 there was an attempt by a Perth supporter to bribe South Fremantle (Western Worker 17 July 1914).

Further there was an allegation that the Midland Junction win over Subiaco was rigged( 27 August 1915 Western Worker).

Further a Perth Ruckman was offered 25 pounds not to play by a Perth supporter ( 2 July 1904 the Democrat).

That Sporting Life report is the rawest.
 
Graham Atkinson confuses the Tobin / Williams incident in his (3AW)
book with the wrong year and the wrong clubs

there's that many bribery allegations in old time WA football....


"In applying for a transfer from South Fremantle to South Melbourne, Woods is reported to have stated that his reason for leaving this State was because the game was not played on its merits here. The Victorian League is to be approached And asked to obtain a statement from Woods, and if he admits having made the assertion the West Australian League will have the matter investigated."
Saturday 11 May 1907 West Australian



http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/39112543?
article on North Fremantle Football club

Western Mail Thursday 26 April 1951
 
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I've heard in India a bookie will pay a bowler to bowl a no ball in say over 3, ball 4. The bowler will indicate he intends to bowl a no ball by tying up his shoelaces before he bowls the ball... Rival bookies worked out what was going on so they would pay the umpire NOT to call the no ball in over 3 ball 4!

I have no idea if that's true or not, either way it's a pretty crazy situation where not only the end result but in game events are being dictated by money.

It's a huge problem that affects all sports. Hopefully modern day AFL is not impacted like cricket is (a big name seems to get caught every so often) or has been.

Stanley_Park said:
Lots of dirty deals done back in the day. Players weren't paid properly, or at all, back then, so were vulnerable to 'offers' too good to refuse- and life was hard, damn hard back then. I don't blame any player back then for succumbing to temptation. It is hard to find out exactly what happened in these cases as bookmakers rarely if ever issued receipts for bribing players.

There were stories going around that the 1926 Ashes series in England was thrown by the Australians for money as well, so it wasn't a 'football only' thing.
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Dunger I would draw your attention to this article in The Guardian (UK)

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...want-lou-vincent-prosecuted-over-match-fixing

Lawyers acting for former New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns are pushing for Lou Vincent to be prosecuted by British police for match fixing. Vincent, a former international team-mate of Cairns, was fined and banned from cricket for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board after admitting accepting money to fix matches while playing for Sussex in 2011. He also confessed to fixing as a Lancashire player in 2008. However, the Metropolitan Police Service has not pressed criminal charges against Vincent.

Cairns’ lawyer Rhory Robertson said in a statement reported by The Telegraph that Vincent’s activities were referred to MPS on July 2 “with a view to his prosecution”. Robertson point out that three Pakistan cricketers and Mervyn Westfield, an Essex fast bowler, have been jailed for corruption offences in recent years.
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http://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...want-lou-vincent-prosecuted-over-match-fixing

I would not take seriously any result in any level of cricket higher then 'A' grade club cricket- anything senior to that is liable to have been tainted by betting.

Cricket's problem is that there is a massive market for betting in India and Pakistan but those countries persist in making betting illegal and thus in the hands of organised crime.

There's also been reports that state level soccer has had some problems with fixes as well, see

http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...eague-players-to-plead-guilty-to-match-fixing

I do not know what is driving match fixing in Victorian soccer. I will speculate that betting is behind it.

I grew up believing that cricket was a 'clean' game but first Shane Warne and Mark Waugh shook my faith in it and then Hansie Cronje totally blew it away.

Is AFL susceptible to attempts by players or outsiders to 'fix' results? You can bet your bottom dollar it is. There's always a player with a gambling problem or whatever that can be 'got at'- bookmakers will start off with requests for 'information', and then take it from there. Each AFL team has a list of 40 or so young men, not all of whom are of sound mind and character. It takes vigilance and integrity from the game's administrators and leaders to keep it honest. When you see the odds flashed on the screen at the MCG and Docklands stadium it doesn't fill me with confidence.

I don't think the game is 'crooked' but I do think it is vulnerable.
 
Probably side tracking the thread but did anyone else think the Pakistani loss to australia in the one day game was possibly fixed
 
royals1922 said:
Probably side tracking the thread but did anyone else think the Pakistani loss to australia in the one day game was possibly fixed
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Yes I certainly did. They have a history of losing the close ones, rather emphatically.
 
from the 1971 SANFL yearbook (page 31)

"South Adelaide and State ruckman Peter Darley caused a sensation when he alleged
that he was offered a bribe before the match against Woodville in the last minor round series.
He lodged a complaint with the SA National football league the following week. South
Adelaide coach Jim Deane was told of the alleged bribe before the game, and, members of the South team
were told at half time. A special sub committee of the league heard evidence and tabled a report at
a normal SANFL meeting. In February it found that there was no evidence of a bribe."

any info on this?
 
killer said:
didn't think there was much interest in football in Pakistain
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Interesting parallels to how you would do it in footy. Playing dead, giving away needless 50s to allow a goal to be scored. Different means same result.
 

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allegations of stimulants 1984

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136917568

and Jack Sheedy 1954

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/75861438



Summery of the last 2 pages

1890 South Melbourne v Carlton (bookies) (playing Dead)
1890 Nth Melbourne (Bookies) (playing dead)
1893 Ports football club (1 player)
1902 Richmond (1 player) v Footscray
1905 Perth v East Fremantle (GF)
1906 East Fremantle (3 players) v South Fremantle (supported bribe)
1906 Nth Fremantle (1 player playing dead) v West Perth
1907 Mersey V Burnie (playing dead)
1908 Latrobe (1 player)
1908 University v Richmond
1910 North Melbourne (1 player) Brunswick (1 player)
1910 South Fremantle v East Fremantle (playing dead)
1910 allegation about Bunbury league game
1910 Bridgetown v Greenbushes
1910 Carlton (4 players) v South Melbourne
1911 Brunswick (3 players) Bribe)
1912 Tasmanian players investigated for playing dead
1913 Numurkah (2 players) (playing dead)
1913 Sturt (2 players playing dead) v West
1914 Perth v South Fremantle (Perth supporter attempting bribe)
1915 Midland Junction V Subiaco (rigged)
1915 Solomon (1 player) (playing dead)
1919 East Fremantle V East Perth (bookies)
1922 Port Melbourne (4 players reported attempt to bribe) v Footscray
1924 Essendon v Richmond
1924 Essendon v Footscray
1925 Fitzroy (player doped thru chewing gum) v Carlton
1938 Richmond (player reported bribe) v South Melbourne
1963 Nth Melbourne V St Kilda ( playing dead)
1968 Geelong V St Kilda (Playing Dead)
1969 South Adelaide v Woodville (player reported bribe)
1995 Carlton v St Kilda (playing dead)
 
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updated list
added 6 examples from the Port Melbourne book Kicking into the Wind
and Kill for Collingwood , and some others off trove


Accusations of match fixing, bribes, and
playing dead in Australian Football

1882 Neely and Robertson of Hotham accused of being bribed v Carlton
1889 Norwood v Port Adelaide (attempt to bribe umpire £1O to let the Norwood win)
1889 Williamstown (allegations of players playing dead - Williamson Henderson )
1890 allegation of stiff play Fitzroy v S. Tasmania
1890 South Melbourne v Carlton (suspected that bookies told S.M players to play dead)
1891 Norwood v Port Adelaide (one or two Norwoods not playing to their merits)
1892 Port Melbourne captain O'Mera accused of backing the opposition (South Melbourne)
1892 Rovers v West Perth (rumors Rovers intended not to win)
1893 Ports football club (1 player accused of playing stiff. player hit accuser )
1893 Fremantle V West Perth 'the most diabolical swindle ever perpetrated' (Davis, Martin, Plunkett,)
1894 City v Launceston (City captain Edwards said to be playing stiff)
1895 Rovers erased the names of 2 of their players who were not playing right (WA)
1895 Collingwood v Nth Melbourne (Collingwood's McInerney bribed to play dead)
1895 Railway v City attempted bribe of umpire by Willing and Gregg of Railway club
1896 2 Unions players offered £90 to disappear before game with Civil (Goldfields)
1896 Fremantle (players report attempt by club member to influence game against Imperials )
1898 Coolgardie V Kalgoorlie "a disgrace to all who took part in it."
1898 Boulder City v Hannons playing stiff
1900 Port Melbourne v Williamstown (P.M players backing the opposition Hickey and Knox sacked)
1902 Port Melbourne v Williamstown (P.M players Hutchinson and Hardiman playing dead)
1902 Collingwood v Fitzroy (Collingwood's Rowell suspected of playing dead)
1902 Mersey V Devonport (inducement made to Devonport players to throw match)
1902 Richmond v Footscray ( Taylor attempts to bribe 2 Footscray players (£1)
1903 Ida H v Laverton ("Laverton in the bag") (Tas)
1903 Mines Rovers believed some of the players bought over by Warriors (Lethbridge)
1903 3 Boulder City players bribed v Warriors (WA) Sloan, Hailwood, and O'Connor
1903 Umpire approached before Mines v Boulder match to win match for Boulder City
1904 Perth ruckman offered £25 not to play
1904 notes and gold seen in Perth rooms after Perth v East Fremantle final
1904 Railways V East Fremantle (some Railways players "sold out")
1905 Vimany, Cox and Walsh of City bribed £4 v Launceston
1905 Tobin of Nth Fremantle banned for life over allegation of bribe (accused trainer)
1905 East Fremantle v West Perth grand final (questions of gambling influence on result)
1905 reported that Kalgoorlie Club tried to fix up a match with Boulder City
1905 Kalgoorlie player offered bribe to assist other side v Mines Rovers
1906 East Fremantle (3 players) v South Fremantle (supporter bribe) Haristy, Baxter, and lee
1906 Nth Fremantle (Toohey playing dead?) v West Perth
1906 Williamstown suspected of playing dead by supporters v Footscray
1907 J Shea of Boulder City investigated for bribe on an umpire v Railways (WA)
1907 attempt to square 5 Oatlands players by a Sorrell supporter
1907 Mersey V Burnie
1908 Latrobe (Mahoney brothers expelled for playing stiff ) v Mersey
1908 South Melbourne V St Kilda (investigated)
1908 University v St Kilda (St Kilda players investigated for squaring)
1908 Smelter v Mechanics - (Queenstown Tas) game not played to its merits by either team
1909 Prahran (4 players sacked for not playing to ability Rourke ,Haighbloom, Bennion, Julian )
1910 North Melbourne (Hopkins £10 to play stiff disqualified ) v Brunswick (Kyne disqualified )
1910 South Fremantle v East Fremantle (SF's Stotter playing dead)
1910 South Bunbury v Railways (Blyth, Kruger, Kemp charged with playing stiff for S.B)
1910 Port Melbourne (sudden loss of form from round 8 to 13) PM sacked Knox, Hill, and Haighbloom
1910 Melbourne v South Melbourne (Melbourne players approached) Pearce, Brereton
1910 Fitzroy players approached to lose game v South Melbourne (Holden and Milne)
1910 Carlton v South Melbourne (Lang, Fraser, Marchbank, Gillespie )
1911 Collingwood v Essendon (Collingwood's Baxter suspected of playing stiff)
1911 Brunswick v Essendon A (3 Brunswick players offered Bribe £60)
1912 Matson accused of playing stiff by teammate Nth Fremantle (Corkhill)
1912 Star Central v Mt Barker (alleged that S.C officials attempted bribe M.B players )
1912 Tasmanian players investigated for playing dead
1912 South Fremantle v Nth Fremantle (Burns and Brown of South playing dead)
1913 Allegations of stiff play at South Melbourne FC meeting
1913 Numurkah (2 players) (playing dead)
1913 Sturt (Sturt's Renfrey and Heinrich accusing each other playing dead) v West
1914 Perth v South Fremantle (Perth supporter attempting bribe)
1915 Midland Junction V Subiaco (said to be rigged)
1915 Solomon (Solomon player Merriton asked opposition player to playing dead)
1919 East Fremantle V East Perth
1919 Muckatah v Drumanure (attempt to bribe umpire £10)
1920 Burnie v Wynyard (attempt to bribe umpire)
1922 Port Melbourne (4 players reported attempt to bribe) v Footscray (Vern Banbury)
1922 Foundry and Campbell's Creek (umpire approached with a bribe)
1923 East Perth v West Perth 2 players report attempt to bribe to play crook
1924 Essendon v Richmond
1924 Essendon v Footscray
1924 Echuca-South Bendigo (attempt to bribe umpire)
1925 Fitzroy (player doped thru chewing gum) v Carlton
1926 Collingwood (performance of Captain Tyson and Shanahan and in grand final)
1926 Attempt to bribe umpire by Mansfield official to let Mansfield win
1926 City player (Lewis) reported attempt to bribe v Launceston £20
1928 Collingwood v Carlton (2 Collingwood players bribed £50 each )
1928 Umpire Mutch accepts bribe in country game
1929 attempt to bribe Bill Cubbins St Kilda V Carlton £30
1931 Umpire reports attempt to bribe by a trainer Footscray v Melbourne
1933 Mayne v Windsor umpire allegedly offered financial inducement to "lean" to Mayne
1936 Geelong West v Ford Motor works (umpire reports attempt to bribe)
1938 Richmond v South Melbourne (Titus reported bribe £50)
1938 Carlton (player reported?) bribe
1947 Melbourne V Footscray (attempt to bribe 2 Footscray players not to play)
1947 Newtown v Eastern Suburbs (bribe offered to 2 Newtown players - a bundle of £5 notes)
1950 attempt to bribe umpire of a Carnival game
1954 Kilmore supporter reported to have offered referee a bribe
1955 Perth v East Fremantle (concerns about umpiring)
1963 Nth Melbourne V St Kilda ( playing dead)
1968 Geelong V St Kilda (Playing Dead)
1969 South Adelaide v Woodville (Darley reported bribe)
1971 Port Melbourne v Williamstown ($1,000 Attempt to get FF Cook to play dead)
1995 Carlton v St Kilda (playing dead)


Perils
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/75863131
 
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Present Not Past said:
If you wanted to fix a match in AFL you would target the umpires rather than the players. There's so many rule interpretations that can be manipulated to ensure a result without anyone noticing or investigating.
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I wonder what that would cost.
 
Present Not Past said:
If you wanted to fix a match in AFL you would target the umpires rather than the players. There's so many rule interpretations that can be manipulated to ensure a result without anyone noticing or investigating.
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forty years ago you would talk to Bob Hawke. The silver budgie could do just about anything.
 
Is there anything to the suspicion noted above about the Carlton vs. St Kilda game of 1995 other than it being simply a big upset?

It's worth noting that St Kilda also beat both Geelong (2nd) and Richmond (3rd) that year.
 
killer said:
updated list
added 6 examples from the Port Melbourne book Kicking into the Wind
and Kill for Collingwood , and some others off trove


Accusations of match fixing, bribes, and
playing dead in Australian Football

1882 Neely and Robertson of Hotham accused of being bribed v Carlton
1889 Norwood v Port Adelaide (attempt to bribe umpire £1O to let the Norwood win)
1889 Williamstown (allegations of players playing dead - Williamson Henderson )
1890 allegation of stiff play Fitzroy v S. Tasmania
1890 South Melbourne v Carlton (suspected that bookies told S.M players to play dead)
1891 Norwood v Port Adelaide (one or two Norwoods not playing to their merits)
1892 Port Melbourne captain O'Mera accused of backing the opposition (South Melbourne)
1892 Rovers v West Perth (rumors Rovers intended not to win)
1893 Ports football club (1 player accused of playing stiff. player hit accuser )
1893 Fremantle V West Perth 'the most diabolical swindle ever perpetrated' (Davis, Martin, Plunkett,)
1894 City v Launceston (City captain Edwards said to be playing stiff)
1895 Rovers erased the names of 2 of their players who were not playing right (WA)
1895 Collingwood v Nth Melbourne (Collingwood's McInerney bribed to play dead)
1895 Railway v City attempted bribe of umpire by Willing and Gregg of Railway club
1896 2 Unions players offered £90 to disappear before game with Civil (Goldfields)
1896 Fremantle (players report attempt by club member to influence game against Imperials )
1898 Coolgardie V Kalgoorlie "a disgrace to all who took part in it."
1898 Boulder City v Hannons playing stiff
1900 Port Melbourne v Williamstown (P.M players backing the opposition Hickey and Knox sacked)
1902 Port Melbourne v Williamstown (P.M players Hutchinson and Hardiman playing dead)
1902 Collingwood v Fitzroy (Collingwood's Rowell suspected of playing dead)
1902 Mersey V Devonport (inducement made to Devonport players to throw match)
1902 Richmond v Footscray ( Taylor attempts to bribe 2 Footscray players (£1)
1903 Ida H v Laverton ("Laverton in the bag") (Tas)
1903 Mines Rovers believed some of the players bought over by Warriors (Lethbridge)
1903 3 Boulder City players bribed v Warriors (WA) Sloan, Hailwood, and O'Connor
1903 Umpire approached before Mines v Boulder match to win match for Boulder City
1904 Perth ruckman offered £25 not to play
1904 notes and gold seen in Perth rooms after Perth v East Fremantle final
1904 Railways V East Fremantle (some Railways players "sold out")
1905 Vimany, Cox and Walsh of City bribed £4 v Launceston
1905 Tobin of Nth Fremantle banned for life over allegation of bribe (accused trainer)
1905 East Fremantle v West Perth grand final (questions of gambling influence on result)
1905 reported that Kalgoorlie Club tried to fix up a match with Boulder City
1905 Kalgoorlie player offered bribe to assist other side v Mines Rovers
1906 East Fremantle (3 players) v South Fremantle (supporter bribe) Haristy, Baxter, and lee
1906 Nth Fremantle (Toohey playing dead?) v West Perth
1906 Williamstown suspected of playing dead by supporters v Footscray
1907 J Shea of Boulder City investigated for bribe on an umpire v Railways (WA)
1907 attempt to square 5 Oatlands players by a Sorrell supporter
1907 Mersey V Burnie
1908 Latrobe (Mahoney brothers expelled for playing stiff ) v Mersey
1908 South Melbourne V St Kilda (investigated)
1908 University v St Kilda (St Kilda players investigated for squaring)
1908 Smelter v Mechanics - (Queenstown Tas) game not played to its merits by either team
1909 Prahran (4 players sacked for not playing to ability Rourke ,Haighbloom, Bennion, Julian )
1910 North Melbourne (Hopkins £10 to play stiff disqualified ) v Brunswick (Kyne disqualified )
1910 South Fremantle v East Fremantle (SF's Stotter playing dead)
1910 South Bunbury v Railways (Blyth, Kruger, Kemp charged with playing stiff for S.B)
1910 Port Melbourne (sudden loss of form from round 8 to 13) PM sacked Knox, Hill, and Haighbloom
1910 Melbourne v South Melbourne (Melbourne players approached) Pearce, Brereton
1910 Fitzroy players approached to lose game v South Melbourne (Holden and Milne)
1910 Carlton v South Melbourne (Lang, Fraser, Marchbank, Gillespie )
1911 Collingwood v Essendon (Collingwood's Baxter suspected of playing stiff)
1911 Brunswick v Essendon A (3 Brunswick players offered Bribe £60)
1912 Matson accused of playing stiff by teammate Nth Fremantle (Corkhill)
1912 Star Central v Mt Barker (alleged that S.C officials attempted bribe M.B players )
1912 Tasmanian players investigated for playing dead
1912 South Fremantle v Nth Fremantle (Burns and Brown of South playing dead)
1913 Allegations of stiff play at South Melbourne FC meeting
1913 Numurkah (2 players) (playing dead)
1913 Sturt (Sturt's Renfrey and Heinrich accusing each other playing dead) v West
1914 Perth v South Fremantle (Perth supporter attempting bribe)
1915 Midland Junction V Subiaco (said to be rigged)
1915 Solomon (Solomon player Merriton asked opposition player to playing dead)
1919 East Fremantle V East Perth
1919 Muckatah v Drumanure (attempt to bribe umpire £10)
1920 Burnie v Wynyard (attempt to bribe umpire)
1922 Port Melbourne (4 players reported attempt to bribe) v Footscray (Vern Banbury)
1922 Foundry and Campbell's Creek (umpire approached with a bribe)
1923 East Perth v West Perth 2 players report attempt to bribe to play crook
1924 Essendon v Richmond
1924 Essendon v Footscray
1924 Echuca-South Bendigo (attempt to bribe umpire)
1925 Fitzroy (player doped thru chewing gum) v Carlton
1926 Collingwood (performance of Captain Tyson and Shanahan and in grand final)
1926 Attempt to bribe umpire by Mansfield official to let Mansfield win
1926 City player (Lewis) reported attempt to bribe v Launceston £20
1928 Collingwood v Carlton (2 Collingwood players bribed £50 each )
1928 Umpire Mutch accepts bribe in country game
1929 attempt to bribe Bill Cubbins St Kilda V Carlton £30
1931 Umpire reports attempt to bribe by a trainer Footscray v Melbourne
1933 Mayne v Windsor umpire allegedly offered financial inducement to "lean" to Mayne
1936 Geelong West v Ford Motor works (umpire reports attempt to bribe)
1938 Richmond v South Melbourne (Titus reported bribe £50)
1938 Carlton (player reported?) bribe
1947 Melbourne V Footscray (attempt to bribe 2 Footscray players not to play)
1947 Newtown v Eastern Suburbs (bribe offered to 2 Newtown players - a bundle of £5 notes)
1950 attempt to bribe umpire of a Carnival game
1954 Kilmore supporter reported to have offered referee a bribe
1955 Perth v East Fremantle (concerns about umpiring)
1963 Nth Melbourne V St Kilda ( playing dead)
1968 Geelong V St Kilda (Playing Dead)
1969 South Adelaide v Woodville (Darley reported bribe)
1971 Port Melbourne v Williamstown ($1,000 Attempt to get FF Cook to play dead)
1995 Carlton v St Kilda (playing dead)
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Interesting thread, Killer.
One notable absentee from the above list is:

1902 - Essendon legend Albert Thurgood accused of playing dead in their challenge final loss to Collingwood.

To put things in perspective, Thurgood had been a crucial part of Essendon's VFA flags in 1892-93-94, then headed west and helped Fremantle win the 1895-96 flags (and led the WAFA goalkicking in 1895-96-97). Returns to Victoria and, after being forced to sit out 1898, leads the Essendon goalkicking in 1900, was the key player in their 1901 Grand Final victory, and leads their goalkicking again in 1902.

Understandably, he seems to have been absolutely insulted by the allegations - demanding a clearance to Collingwood, and when that was refused, retiring from league football in disgust. As a footnote, he was eventually coaxed back to the 'Dons in 1906 before injury ended his comeback.

---------------------

Some more background on three others from your list:

1913 - Sturt (Renfrey)

As with Thurgood, an apparent case of a champion being smeared by unfounded allegations. Renfrey was vice-captain of NSW at the 1908 National Carnival, then moved from Broken Hill to Adelaide, eventually captaining Sturt in 1910-13 (including their first Grand Final appearance) and captaining South Australia in 1911 and 1912 (including the carnival title in 1911).

In June 1913 five teammates accused him of playing stiff in an upset loss to West Adelaide and he was sacked by the committee without any consultation. Renfrey disputed the allegations and called for a meeting of the players and the committee, which ended with a unanimous vote of confidence in him, leading to his reinstatement. In the following match a dispute broke out between Renfrey and his teammate Heinrichs (some newspaper reports say Renfrey accused Heinrichs during the match of playing stiff and repeated the comments again at halftime, resulting in an altercation between them after the game).

With Heinrichs threatening to quit the club and the locker room becoming divided, Renfrey resigned. Despite the initial controversy the SAFA stood by Renfrey, naming him as captain of the state team even though he was fighting for reinstatement at Sturt. After stepping down from Sturt he also withdrew from the state side and retired as a player, later moving into coaching in 1914.

--------------------------

1922 - Port Melbourne vs Footscray

Four players from Port Melbourne, including captain Gus Dobrigh, advised the club they had been offered large sums of money to "play dead" in the final. [The Argus 25-9-1922] The four players rejected the offer and were part of the premiership team that overcame Footscray by 2 points.

A subsequent VFA investigation charged three people with attempted bribery: George Sayer (Footscray's President), Matthew O'Donoghue (a member of the Footscray team who was alleged to have made his offer on-field during the Grand Final), and Vern Barnbury (a former Footscray player). Sayer and O'Donoghue were later cleared but Barnbury was found guilty and banned from the VFA for life. [The Mercury 28-10-1922]

---------------------------

1924 - Footscray vs Essendon

In the off-season that followed the match Footscray, along with fellow VFA clubs Hawthorn and North Melbourne, gained entry to an expanded VFL competition. The role of their upset victory against Essendon in that decision remains uncertain but such a victory certainly could not have hurt their cause.

In 1935 allegations were made by Tom Fitzmaurice and Charlie Hardy that some of their Essendon teammates took bribes to 'play dead' in the 1924 match. [Sporting Globe 1 & 3-6-1935] However, these allegations were never investigated by the League or the Association and barely rated a mention in other newspapers at the time so the legitimacy of such claims will never be proven.

Further analysis of the match and the bribery allegations can be found here: The 1924 Championship Game - Did the Dons Play Dead?
 
Doss said:
Is there anything to the suspicion noted above about the Carlton vs. St Kilda game of 1995 other than it being simply a big upset?
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That early in the season you wouldn't think so - Carlton's back-to-back losses to lowly St Kilda and Sydney that year seem to be a case of a minor speed bump in an otherwise amazing season.

However, the other modern game that has always seemed suspicious was the Fitzroy-West Coast boilover in the final round of the 1991 H&A season.

West Coast entered the game with a 19-2 record (% of 167.2) and top spot well and truly locked-in (they were 3 games clear of 2nd-placed Hawthorn).
In contrast, Fitzroy entered the game in last place with a 3-18 record (% of 64.8).

The Lions entered halftime lucky to be only 27 points down and with just 1 goal to their name. Third quarter Fitzroy piled on 6.5 to 0.3 to lead by 12 at the final break. The final quarter was a shootout with Fitzroy kicking 7.1 and the Eagles 7.3 - end result was a win to Fitzroy by 10 points.

Before you say "oh, the Eagles must've done a Freo and only sent half their team over" consider that this was a near full-strength team. Their only outs from the previous week were Karl Langdon, Chris Lewis and Don Pyke (replaced by David Hart, Andrew Lockyer and Robbie West).

To be fair, they had nothing to play for and would've copped an absolute spray from Malthouse at 3/4 time for taking their foot off the gas (which would explain their 7 goals in the final quarter).

History tells us this game was the first signs of a dominant team losing form at the worst time of year rather than a team winning big with the bookies. The Eagles dropped their home final the following week to Hawthorn, cruised past an insipid Melbourne, snuck past a determined Geelong, then got walloped by the Hawks in the Grand Final.

(BTW - quick tip of the hat to afltables.com for the match stats in this post).
 
killer said:
Thomas Baxter 1908 Long Gully v Eaglehawk
(hows he playing for Long Gully if he's supposed to be a Collingwood player?)

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/227839096

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10168537
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It's very interesting to see that Baxter had Daykin as a teammate at Long Gully. Richard Daykin played for Collingwood (1908, 1910) and came from South Bendigo, so I imagine it's the same person. Baxter and Daykin were involved in an incident (at Collingwood in 1910) that must be classed as one of the most controversial in the league's history. Thomas Baxter had a habit of getting into (and then out of) trouble!

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Richard_Daykin

After the premiership win, Daykin was suspended for 12 months after confessing to his involvement in a second half melee with Carlton player Jack Baquie. Originally, based on umpire Jack Elder's testimony, it was Collingwood's Tom Baxter who was given the 12-month ban, but Daykin signed a declaration which stated that it was he, and not Baxter, that had struck Baquie. The VFL accepted the declaration and as Daykin had retired after the Grand Final win, no Collingwood player was suspended for the incident. This incident is said to be central to, or even the specific origin of, the long-standing rivalry which still exists between the clubs.

Baxter was also accused of "playing dead" after the 1911 Grand Final:- https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Tom_Baxter_(Australian_footballer)

A rover, he performed well in 1911 and his 31 goals was enough to top Collingwood's goal-kicking. He finished the year in Collingwood's losing Grand Final team. His performance attracted controversy, with a widespread rumour hinting that he was bribed to play "dead". Baxter twice kicked into the man on the mark in the vital last quarter, as well as missing three easy chances to score a goal. Baxter asked the Collingwood committee to hold an inquiry, saying in his own defence that he had scored Collingwood's only goal of the last quarter, and was one of the few players to gain possession of the ball. The committee cleared Baxter of any wrongdoing, but he was cleared to St Kilda for the 1912 season.
 
http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/richard-daykin/

Few players can ever have been involved in a more bizarre postscript to a Grand Final than Richard Daykin was in 1910.

Daykin had played well in that year’s Premiership decider against Carlton. He kicked one goal, set up another for Dick Lee with a clever short pass and was influential in the Magpies’ 14-point win. The game is still remembered as one of the wildest grand finals ever played, and Daykin was involved early when he retaliated against a Carlton player who had struck ‘Lofty’ Hughes.

In the last quarter, an altercation between Collingwood’s Tom Baxter and Carlton’s Jack Bacquie sparked an all-in melee. Baxter and Bacquie were each suspended for a season (two others copped 18 month suspensions), but the biggest sensation came at the Tribunal hearing when Daykin claimed it was he, and not Baxter, who’d been involved in the stoush with Bacquie. Most observers, including the umpire, dismissed Daykin’s claims but the VFL eventually – remarkably – accepted his version of events, removing Baxter’s suspension and letting Daykin off because of his noble action in coming forward.

But Daykin’s actions possibly weren’t as “honourable” as they appeared. Daykin had already pretty much decided to travel to Western Australia in 1911 (one of his brothers had been planning a trip for 1910 and delayed it), so he knew he wouldn’t be playing VFL in 1911 in any circumstance. And he and Tom Baxter – the man who got off because of Daykin’s evidence – were good mates from their days together in Bendigo. So there’s every chance Daykin’s letter to the VFL was nothing more than a ruse to help a mate. If so, it was a long shot that paid off.

It’s not well known that Baxter and Daykin had also been embroiled in controversy two years earlier, when both had been playing with Long Gully in the Bendigo Football Association. Baxter, Daykin and one other player were accused by their own club of ‘playing dead’ during a game against Eaglehawk, and the Association initially found Baxter guilty and suspended him for life. But the finding was overturned on appeal and both Baxter and Daykin were able to continue playing.

By this stage both Baxter and Daykin had already started their Collingwood careers. This was a time when Bendigo allowed its players to play with VFL or VFA clubs at weekends, in addition to their mid-week local obligations.
 
Sam Newman had something interesting to say on the last Footy Show. in a very casual way he spoke of how he and 1 or 2 other players "played dead" to fix and lose a game for money, specifically for petrol money as he was young back then and that was something they supposedly did to get by. later Taylor Walker brought it up, something like "least i never got bribed to lose a match" but Sam hit him with the realities of those days. i think in actual reality we got a dose of Newman talking about match fixing on live TV like we've probably never seen before.
 

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