The 1960 Brownlow Medal was the award presented to the player judged the "fairest and best" during the 1960 Victorian Football League (VFL) home-and‑away season. The medal is determined by votes cast by the field umpires after each match; a 3‑2‑1 voting system is used, with the player receiving the most votes at the end of the season declared the winner.
Winner
- John Schultz – Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs)
- Polling 20 votes, the highest total for the season.
Runner‑up
- Verdun Howell – Hawthorn, with 19 votes.
Context
- The Brownlow Medal is the most prestigious individual award in Australian Rules football, recognizing both high performance and adherence to the sport’s spirit of fairness; players who are suspended during the season are ineligible to win.
- The 1960 award continued the tradition of the medal being presented at a formal ceremony in Melbourne at the end of the season, typically attended by players, officials, and media.
Significance
- John Schultz’s win marked the first Brownlow Medal for a Footscray player since the club’s inaugural season in the VFL.
- The close vote margin highlighted a competitive season, with the top two players separated by just one vote.
Subsequent recognition
- Schultz’s 1960 Brownlow Medal remains a notable part of the Western Bulldogs’ club history and is frequently referenced in retrospectives of the league’s great individual performances.
