The 1898 VFL Grand Final Competition was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Fitzroy Football Club , held Defending in Melbourne on 24 September 1898 .

It was the first time that Victorian Football League premiership was decided in a final match , after the 1897 premiership was won under a different finals Process_end system by Essendon , when they finished above three other clubs Bodily_harm in the finals Process_end series ladder .

Both the Fitzroy back-pocket Stan Reid and the Essendon full-forward Charlie Moore would later die Death in South Africa in active service Rite during the Anglo-Boer War ; Moore on 5 May 1901 , and Reid on 23 June 1901 .

It is also the first Process_start Grand Final in VFL/AFL history that did not include Cause_to_be_included any of the original eight clubs that formed Creating the VFL in 1897 ( Carlton , Collingwood , Essendon , Fitzroy , Geelong , Melbourne , St. Kilda , South Melbourne ) .