Western Oval memories

[SupercededMan]

Where the Training facility is now. Forward pocket Barkley Street end.

Same here. Sometimes, a few years earlier, my Great Aunt took me and my cousin to the footy by tram to the Western Oval, and we sat in the Whitten Stand. My Nan, her S-I-L, would fill a thermos with hotdogs, and they would be piping hot for us to eat. And then, at the end of the game, we could run onto the ground to get autographs.

My autograph book has Whitten Snr, Jillard, Darcy Snr, Bissett, and quite a few others from the 60s.

We could also go into the change rooms afterward. I can smell the Dencorub like it was yesterday.

 

[Brian Perrin]

I have vivid memories of being on the members wing (always standing on the terrace with my old man) at a game where we were down by 3 or 4 goals to I think the Hawks at 3/4 time and Bluey - then coaching - approached the umpires waving what I swear was a phone book claiming he had a list of all the mistakes they had made.

The crowd fired up and we duly stole the game

Can’t for the life of me find the details of the actual game - decent dream sequence at worst


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[SupercededMan]

I have vivid memories of being on the members wing (always standing on the terrace with my old man) at a game where we were down by 3 or 4 goals to I think the Hawks at 3/4 time and Bluey - then coaching - approached the umpires waving what I swear was a phone book claiming he had a list of all the mistakes they had made.

The crowd fired up and we duly stole the game

Can’t for the life of me find the details of the actual game - decent dream sequence at worst


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

1982, I think. I was on bivouac (camping) with the Air Force somewhere, and when news of the win came to us, a senior ranking colleague of mine, and me, sang the club song at the evening camp fire, pissed as we were. I was all of 21 years old at the time. Memories.

We were the kicking boys for opposition teams, with maybe three or four wins for the year. Absolute horrible year. I was based in Sale (Gipplsland) at the time, and rode my motorbike to games at VFL park, the only games I was able to get to.

I still have the cloth membership card for that year, which was punched by the gate staff as we entered. That card lists South Melbourne as one of the 12 clubs, before they were shipped off to Sydney the next year (I think).

 

[Optimistic Dog]

I remember sleeping in the rooms overnight lining up for finals tickets cannot remember what year but remember having a kick on the oval at 2 in the morning using the light from Geelong road to help see the ball.

 

[mcgleereturns]

I remember sleeping in the rooms overnight lining up for finals tickets cannot remember what year but remember having a kick on the oval at 2 in the morning using the light from Geelong road to help see the ball.

Had to be 85. I was there as well. It was a great set up for the all nighters that year.


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[Turtleman3]

We would stand between the Whitten and Gent stands. After the game we would head to the Royal and one of us would go across the road for the fish and chips and bring them back to the pub. Every. Home. Game. The same ritual. I do miss it.

 

[D Mitchell]

1965 Team Night Series GF

Back Row – Ivan Marsh, Dallas Patterson, Ken Duff, Murray Zeuschner, Kevin Stevens, Bryan Pleitner, Gary Peters, John Bradley
Middle Row – Peter Shanahan, Don McKenzie, Alan Hunter, Rod O’Connor, David Darcy, Noel Fincher, Ron McGowan, Alan Mannix, Algy Vosilaitis
Front Row – Kevin Jackman, Graham Ion, Ted Whitten, Jim Miller (President), John Schultz, John Jillard, Graeme Chalmers, Rod Barr

 

[D Mitchell]

I'm a little bit shakey on some of the details now, but I went to a game at the Western Oval back in around 1970 where something rather surprising happened.
A mate and I (just kids) arrived just after the ressies game ended and took up our usual spot, standing a few back from the fence to the right of the main stand. I noticed a tall young man nearby in the crowd, mainly because he was wearing a really long coat that hung nearly to the ground.
In due course the Bulldogs ran out through the streamers to the applause of the crowd and started what passed for the usual warmup in those days; a half lap of the ground, a couple of sprints and a few handballs.
As the playing group got near us the guy in the coat took it off and handed it to his mate, revealing a full Footscray outfit, boots and all. He walked up to the fence, jumped over and joined the players without any fuss at all. Took part in the sprints and even got a handball in. I was gobsmacked because I'd seen exactly what he had done, but I don't think many other people (including the players) realised what was going on. The guy who handballed to him (I think it was Peter Welsh) looked a bit quizzical but otherwise there wasn't much of a reaction and he certainly didn't look out of place.
Mr Footscray then calmly ran back to our spot, jumped the fence and retrieved his coat and calmly disappeared.
More front than Myers.

Good yarn that. A cousin of mine told me a similar story about a SANFL game where a mob of young blokes did the same thing but from next to the players race, all ran out, the crowd started cheering. Then the real team ran out. You'd cop a $12,000.00 fine these days.

 

[Chicago1]

Out of the blue I just remembered that I sat next to 1961 Grand Final Footscray Fullback Bernie Lee and his wife(if I remember correctly) while flying to the states for Christmas back in possibly 1977 or perhaps to Fiji on a flight I took in 1976. I had no idea who he was at the time. We must have talked about footy when he revealed himself to be a past player. He's 84 now.

 

[O Grobbecker]

I miss the cold, windy, rainy winter afternoons

 

[footscray1973]

I miss the cold, windy, rainy winter afternoons

Come to Ballarat, we have plenty to share atm!

Btw, The Argus 12 Dec 1947


(Sadly, the real Otto, who was pres when we won the flag, and whose wife unfurled the flag at the first home game in 1955, passed away in 1961 at the age of only 58. )

 

[GetDimmaBack]

e

Bit of a random question this:

Did anyone ever go into the away team dressing room in the Whitten Stand? If yes, what were they like - I take it quite small and pretty crap.

I played with the Fourths in the late 60s - yes, I'm that old - and we used the away rooms on training nights. Very small, a bit dank and very limited bath/shower facility.
The club didn't have a lot of money in those days so I doubt they were ever renovated. Would have been torture for senior away teams from 1980 onwards!

Fortunately we got to use the home rooms when we played at WO (we were the curtain raiser to the 3rds). Luxury!

 

[Leon]

e


I played with the Fourths in the late 60s - yes, I'm that old - and we used the away rooms on training nights. Very small, a bit dank and very limited bath/shower facility.
The club didn't have a lot of money in those days so I doubt they were ever renovated. Would have been torture for senior away teams from 1980 onwards!

Fortunately we got to use the home rooms when we played at WO (we were the curtain raiser to the 3rds). Luxury!

Thanks Dimma

On more than a few occasions I was able to get into our rooms after a match - they let fans in so we could sing the song with them after a win - and could see that our rooms (for the 80’s and 90’s) were quite good and spacious.

I knew the away rooms had to be pretty small given how big ours were, and also heard stories from a few that the away rooms weren’t great ie limited hot water and too small.