Opinion Why are you a North Melbourne fan?

[Carlos Herrrnandez]

First game watched was North Melbourne v Melbourne in a Fosters Cup game in 1991, said I'd go for the winner...

Really should've bought a tatts lotto ticket that night as well.


Imagine supporting the Dees! Shudder...

 

[Hearts to hearts]

Moved to Melbourne in 1988, never interested in the game until then. Took a few years - and a new workplace in 1993 - to make me realize you had to choose a team. Tossed up between North Melbourne (first place the company put me up when I moved down here), St Kilda (closest team to my first Melbourne home) and the Dogs (by then I was living in Flemington). Colours tipped me North's way - my local RU team that I saw regularly wore blue and white - and I could still walk to Arden St from my place. And the move to the new coach and young captain made it feel like the right time to join in.

Why I'm a fan NOW is much simpler. I have been blessed to enjoy years of success and, in a different way, to be part of some times of struggle and fear and fighting back. It's part of me. It's watching my team with my sons. It's for life.

 

[GarnerSmash]

Family.

Cousins moved to Aus in 1977, got tix to the grand final and have been following North ever since. My boat arrived in '87 and went to a Friday night game at the G against the Bloos early in the season. Very impressive scenes for a little tacker. Been going ever since.

 

[Only Forwards]

Great Grandfather
Grandfather (and namesake)
Mother
Me
Son

No choice really.

 

[ArjenTheGreat]

5th generation supporter.

Grew up at the club and i was "officially" the first North supporter with the #18 on the back in 1991.... My dad was a doctor at the club for 16+ years, his first game was the '77 grand final replay as the regular doctor had booked an overseas trip and back then you didn't cancel.

Used to have players sleeping on the couch as a kid, often would pick players up on the way to games, mainly the injured ones like Crock, Duck, Schwatta, Ben Buckley etc in the late 80's early 90's.

I love this ****ing club.

 

[Gumble Frankieton]

The old man spent a year playing for North's reserves in about '63. He went back to playing/coaching local footy but stayed a proud North man 'til the end. Grew up listening to him talk about the year at Coburg and then the rise of North in the '70s etc. My memories of the club are from the early '80s onward. The whole family is North, nothing else would have been tolerated!

 

[Moose Malloy]

Never knew any other way. My grandfather grew up in North Melbourne and loved the club to bits... passed that on to all his kids and it's flowed through to almost all of the grandkids and great-grandkids. In my case, via my mum. The previous allegiances of anyone who married into the family have generally been obliterated.

My grandfather died when I was just a little tacker, so I never got a chance to talk to him about how he got started. He was born in '22, so he would have seen pretty much all of our VFL years... would love to have had the chance to ask him how that '75 flag felt. I can only imagine.

I thoroughly enjoyed the formative experience of being the only North kid in my grade in primary school. Not as much as I enjoyed being the only North kid in my year at high school through... geez the 90s went alright.

 

[Daniltchenko You Beauty]

Dad is an Essendon supporter. It took me until age 5 to realise I didn't want to be one of them.

 

[Dickie Greenleaf]

Dad is an Essendon supporter. It took me until age 5 to realise I didn't want to be one of them.

My dear old Dad was a Bloods supporter, so I adopted George Constazas motto: Opposite.

 

[Nate7]

A close connection to my family was the NM doctor for a while. He and his wife came bearing all sorts of NM merch & "season passes" signed off by Allen Aylett (I think - memory is slightly hazy) - all to my birth.
Mum and dad being from NSW kept asking people, "what's a sherrin?"

I wonder if ArjenTheGreat is actually a child of that former Dr.

Anyway never had any choice and never needed one, the only decision was made.
Was a huge John Longmire fan from the beginning.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Growing up, None of my direct family (Mum+Dad) were interested in football. Neither of them actually barrack for a side. The old man (despite growing up in essendon and going to school with the Madden brothers) has never been to a game of AFL football. I've tried to drag him along but he is very stubborn.

Anyway many of my first memories as a child were running around in the background with my older cousin during the early 1990's. He would be saying to me "Okay you be Wayne Schwass or Anthony Stevens....I'll be Wayne Carey"...we'd kick the footy round for hours and he'd be screaming all these names at me. Anyway during the 1994 season, My cousin christened me with AFL footy, friday night at G. Can't remember who it was against but I remember Carey kicking 4 goals and taking a number of towering marks. I was hooked, been a passionate north man ever since.

 

[roobear]

I was 6yo living in country Vic and I got a bad report for PE. Dad thought that he'd help by getting me into the yard after school and kick the footy with me each day. Apparently I really took to it, but then came the concept of picking a team to follow. Dad was/is a St.Kilda man but living in the sticks he never went and wasn't that passionate about them. So I looked at the VFL ladder, midway through 1978, and North was on top and St.Kilda were last. I then found out that North were reigning premiers so I was sold. Dad wasn't too pleased but thought I'd get over it, but then Mum went out and bought me a North jumper with Malcolm Blight's No15 on the back and it was game over...completely committed to North. I later found out that Dad was horrified about the jumper and he and Mum had a bit of an argument over it. When we moved back to the city in '83, Dad kept on taking me down to Moorabbin to watch the Saints and hopefully get me to change, but they were bloody awful then and North, well they finished top again that year. So Dad gave up and I've been a North addict ever since.

Oh, and my PE marks got better but my sporting ability remained average.

this is unbelievable.
I was 6yo and living in country Vic in 1978
My dad followed the Saints, but didn't care too much about footy
I was never very good at sport.
The only real difference between my story and MMs is that I had been a Carlton supporter most of my life, and then started changing teams based on peer group pressure. After we lost the 78 GF all the other idiots I was copying became Hawthorn fans, but I just knew that wasn't possible for me. I was North for life. Oh, and my first jumper was Garry Dempsey's 24, but it was pretty much a coin toss between that and the 15.

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

Great Grandfather
Grandfather (and namesake)
Mother
Me
Son

No choice really.

If our families cross bred we would have royal blue and white babies.

 

[WA ROO]

Barry Cable

 

[EchucaRoogirl]

When I was about 12 which was in about 1990 all my family are Hawthorn and Dad was the only North Supporter and he said if I wanted to go to the footy I had no choice but to go for North; My first game was against Richmond and John Longmire kicked 12 goals then 2 weeks after 14 goals against Melbourne. North have brought me so many good memories from the 90's having Carey, Archer, Stevens, Shwass, Longmire and alot of other great players we were known as the team of the 90's to now having Zieball, Wells, swallow and other good players who will take us into the future

 

[muttley45]

lived in housing commission flats canning st,went to boundary rd state school,sold heralds and sporting globes outside ma flynns pub on corner of boundary rd and canning st,bit of a no brainer really

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

Good old Ma Flynn.

A true North icon.

 

[Higgins2Waite]

My parents are die hard West Coast supporters but I never liked the team (the players who came to my school for footy clinics where w*nkers also). I started watching properly in 1993 and loved watching Brett Allison and Antony Stevens play. At training i'd always run around with 33 on the back trying to snap goals any chance I could (except for one year when my mum stuffed up my jumper by putting '3' too far across the back, so i had to settle for being anthony rock!)
How could you not fall in love with that team in the 90's, so many great players. Seeing Allison put 7 past Geelong in an elimination final in 1996 was one of the best for me!

 

[Higgins2Waite]

Also thought it was cool to have the same initials as North Melbourne

 

[LB2Snake]

Came across to Melbourne from Adelaide in early 70's. Think about how big Gary Ablett Snr was here in his prime then times that by 10 and you've got Malcolm Blight in Adelaide. My mum and I saw it as a no brainer, been the best decision of my life.
We've been blessed with some of the greatest footballers in the history of the game to have worn blue and white. What a footy club.
On a side note, I actually find it hilarious the little bit of a sympathy look people can give you when you say you follow North, I quickly respond with " You flipping kidn? How many flags have you seen in your lifetime? I've seen 4! Well????"

 

[astrovic]

Malcolm Blight

 

[mufassa]

My parents moved to Vic from interstate in 1977. They watched their first Grand Final and decided to support the team that won. The Roos defeated the Pies after having the draw the week before. Winner winner chicken dinner.

 

[roo beleaver]

My grandfather made my mum and her two sisters follow north. He would line them up and ask them who they barrack for and they had to say north Melbourne without hesitation. Once, apparently my aunty said Essendon so he made her spend the night at the neighbors house!
All three are staunch north supporters. I was born in to being a north supporter, blessed I spose. My daughter has been a member since she was born and I have another due in feb that will be a member too.

 

[nicko74]

Being from WA, I barrack for East Freo in the WAFL(Blue and White) like the mighty ROOS! Every Sunday I think it was I used to sit down and watch The Winners(hosted by Drew Morphett) with my brother.As soon as I saw the BLUE and WHITE team, I was sold! We had some handy WA players at the time as well(Krakouer brothers, Glendinning). Also my junior footy team wore Blue and White vertical stripes, there was no getting away from it!! My mum is a passionate NM supporter as well. And my Brother in law and little niece, who have both passed away were both staunch NM! As well as all that..... I just ****IN LOVE NM!!!!

 

[Only Forwards]

My grandfather made my mum and her two sisters follow north. He would line them up and ask them who they barrack for and they had to say north Melbourne without hesitation. Once, apparently my aunty said Essendon so he made her spend the night at the neighbors house!
All three are staunch north supporters. I was born in to being a north supporter, blessed I spose. My daughter has been a member since she was born and I have another due in feb that will be a member too.

It is interesting how serious being NMFC could be*

My mum tells stories of people not being able to speak to my great grand father while the footy was on the radio (they had retired and moved to the country at this stage). People would be banished from the house for talking.


* still is