SANFL Childhood memories

[FattyLumpkin]

The scoreboards were just fantastic. Race results, but best of all, the 1/4 by 1/4 scores. The collective roar of the crowd when an upset was on the cards. Started with a murmur at 1/4 time, a louder exclaimation at the long break, then always the roar when the underdog was up. "Which way was the wind blowing?", "injuries?", "could they hold on?" - all important questions that would eventually be answered via the chinese whisper system originating from some bloke with the tranny.

The budgets - always full of info for a young lad. Recall being taught the system of a 1 for goals & a . for behinds, then finally being entrusted by dad to fill in the budget come game time. Just loved reading the 5, 10 & 25 years ago history page - always hoping for time to speed up so I could read about Woodville in the 25 Years ago section. Was alway fascinated when some old guy comentating or reporting footy was mentioned in this column - did this mean he had actually played the game and was half decent??

The banter in the crowd. Always seemed good natured and always some card in the crowd who had the punters doubled up in laughter. Maybe the years have dulled the memory, but during the 60's I cannot recall a foul mouth requiring the call of "Language" from my good mother.

[FlyingHigh]

The scoreboards were just fantastic. Race results, but best of all, the 1/4 by 1/4 scores. The collective roar of the crowd when an upset was on the cards. Started with a murmur at 1/4 time, a louder exclaimation at the long break, then always the roar when the underdog was up. "Which way was the wind blowing?", "injuries?", "could they hold on?" - all important questions that would eventually be answered via the chinese whisper system originating from some bloke with the tranny.

The budgets - always full of info for a young lad. Recall being taught the system of a 1 for goals & a . for behinds, then finally being entrusted by dad to fill in the budget come game time. Just loved reading the 5, 10 & 25 years ago history page - always hoping for time to speed up so I could read about Woodville in the 25 Years ago section. Was alway fascinated when some old guy comentating or reporting footy was mentioned in this column - did this mean he had actually played the game and was half decent??

Yep, all of this. And then the round-the-grounds summaries on the radio in the car afterwards, and hoping they'd talk about the game you'd been to before you got home. And there was always some poor soul who had to sit there for an hour before it was his turn to give his report

[spell_check]

When the big four were : Port, West, North and Norwood

When South, Sturt and Glenelg shared the wooden spoon

and when West Torrens played before huge crowds and promised the world and either just missed out on the finals or lost their final

Did North and West have any great games over those years - big minor round games, 1 v 2, large crowds, finals? Just curious

Why not ask Spelly?

North and West met in three finals between 1945 and 1963. The average minor round crowd was 8,109.55. 9 out of the 40 games I have crowd figures for were over 10,000. The biggest crowd was 15,000 in Round 2 1959.

Comparatively, North and Torrens also met in three finals in that time, one of those being the 1949 Grand Final. The average crowd was 10,338.02. 24 out of the 44 games were over 10,000. The biggest crowd was 23,471 in Round 7 1952.

West and Torrens met in two finals between '45 and '63. The average crowd was 9639.89. 23 out of the 47 games were over 10,000, the biggest being 18,236 in Round 8 1958.

North won three flags over this period, West and Torrens two.
Average minor round crowd during this time was:
Torrens: 9,661.74
West: 8,873.74
North: 8,648.98

[Adelaide Hawk]

One very early memory was field umpire KG Cunningham running around the ground with the 2 boundary umpires, and as they ran past us, a number of people behind me began singing "three blind mice, see how they run". To an 8 year old, I thought that was pretty funny

[robranosgod]

When the big four were : Port, West, North and Norwood

When South, Sturt and Glenelg shared the wooden spoon

and when West Torrens played before huge crowds and promised the world and either just missed out on the finals or lost their final

Did North and West have any great games over those years - big minor round games, 1 v 2, large crowds, finals? Just curious

Why not ask Spelly?

North and West met in three finals between 1945 and 1963. The average minor round crowd was 8,109.55. 9 out of the 40 games I have crowd figures for were over 10,000. The biggest crowd was 15,000 in Round 2 1959.

Comparatively, North and Torrens also met in three finals in that time, one of those being the 1949 Grand Final. The average crowd was 10,338.02. 24 out of the 44 games were over 10,000. The biggest crowd was 23,471 in Round 7 1952.

West and Torrens met in two finals between '45 and '63. The average crowd was 9639.89. 23 out of the 47 games were over 10,000, the biggest being 18,236 in Round 8 1958.

North won three flags over this period, West and Torrens two.
Average minor round crowd during this time was:
Torrens: 9,661.74
West: 8,873.74
North: 8,648.98

It would be interest to compare West's crowds from 1945-57 when they used Adelaide Oval as their home compared with Richmond. Adelaide always seemed to have a lot of SACA members who attended every week. Even then the Richmond figure would be skewed because of the crowd at the first ever game there in 1958.

I read once that Torrens drrew the biggest crowds of anyone in the league in 1961.

Also the respective 3 premierships to North and 2 to Torrens and West compares pretty well to everyone other than Port in that era. Norwood won 3 and Port the rest.

[spell_check]

This is the average crowd between 1958 and 1963, when West was at Richmond:

Norwood: 11,885.72
Port: 11,633.96
Torrens: 11,146.31
North: 9,536.85
West: 9,468.44
Sturt: 8,579.07
Glenelg: 7,212.96
South: 6,272.29

[Mickyj]

*Robbie Muir jumping the fence at Thebarton Oval is the one thing that really stands out for me, was about 7 or 8 at the time, dont think i will ever forget that.
*Going to primary school and copping it from all my mates who barracked for Port (but never went to the games) because Torrens had lost on the weekend.....again!
*The Footy Times
*KG's footy show
*The first games under lights at Footy Park
*Helping to hold up the Torrens banner for the last game against Woodville
*Torrens winning the 1990 reserves Grand Final
*The Eagles first finals series in 1991 and the first premiership in 1993, after that i was no longer a child!!

I am older than Columbo , but I was there when muir jumped the fence .
So my childhood memories
I was there when 19 men were on the field against West in Freddie Bills last game.
I was there when Shotgun Miller kicked a goal to win a game
I was there when Rocky Roberts came back from Richmond .I didn't remember when he left.
Going to Football Park when there were no seats or shelter .Getting soaked with my mates and not being able to get out the rain.
I was there during the years that west torrens only won 1 or 2 games.mostly against Woodville and Centrals .

One of my earliest memories is going to footy park to watch one of my friends brothers playing for torrens.There were a heap of us kids and a few parents .I don't recall the guys first name but his last name was Alexander and he was a big lad .Can recall my Dad being mad because us kids sat in the boot with the boot open .It was a huge old yank tank how we made it there and back I have no idea .
I can recall going up the street to the shallows family(the brothers who played for torrens) house .Playing with the younger kids and the older Brothers being there along with Peter Cousins(I think it was peter.).
Ahh the 1970's
To bad the footy was awful
Funny apart from the footy park games in the rain most weeks the ovals were packed .In the days when Knuckles coached the Eagles the crowds were huge .

Mickyj his name is Bob Alexander he was number 48

Thanks holden I was at school with his younger brother for a very short while.
actually went to school with a few torrens guys(wellsschool had been over for awhile) towards the end .

[Mickyj]

KG's footy show was great so was 7's Big League Replay

There was also a footy show on Sunday mornings and they showed the results of the games with garden gnomes and the loser would have its back to the camera. Think it was sponsored by Kallogs

Just as a side note The channel 9 footy show got me interested in Wresting the Aussie WCW was on straight after KG.

[Benchwarmer]

As a former Victorian, I remember getting the finals on Sundays in the 1980s live into Melbourne.

How about the Footy Park siren ... beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Much more charasmatic than the AFL sirens we are used to.

I wonder if the SAFA coverage on 9 was anything like the VFA coverage on 10 in Melbourne - has anyone (somehow) got an old VHS copy or DVD version of one of these games? Long bow, I know!

[Demon68]

My first trip down to Football Park from the country to see my first ever Grand Final with my beloved Redlegs, the 1984 Grand Final against Port, what a first ever grand final to see live, an awesome day and awesome match (especially cause the Legs won), those were the days that really enjoyed going to footy to watch footy played as footy should be played, that is:

1. Simple footy, one on one contests with no flooding and good hard courageous footy (I remember Keith Thomas's mark running back into the play, talk about courage from a smaller player.

2. Not over umpired - the umpires kept themself out of the game, and didn't try to impose themself on the game and they had character, if the players answered back at them they wouldn't get arrogant with a "I'm the one with the whistle, you will listen to me" back then they would have a crack back at the players, and would earn and build respect with players.

3. There was a healthy respect between supporters and a healthy rivalry that you could enjoy going to the matches and enjoy the banter between oppositions.

And who could forget duffle coats at the footy with the number and name of your favourite player on the back and badges on the front.

Now back to the actual day, starting with the tussle between Craig Balme and Tim Evans during the national anthem, Evans didn't know where to go, Balme was going to eat him alive. The the scuffle in the square after that and Dwayne Russell came through and took out a Norwood Player (Duncan Fosdike I think it was). The Keith Thomas's mark running back with the ball into the play, courage plus and the best feeling of all - the final siren sounding.

That is the memory that I will always have with me as a country kid coming down from the bush, as we didn't get to experience that often, so something very special for me.

[Macca19]

First game I can remember going to would be R3 1988, Port v Centrals at Footy Park. I went to games in 87 but that match would be the first I remember. I remember bits and pieces about matches that year, especially the two finals...and getting to the ground real early for the reserves GF.

Used to stand up against the fence next to the Port dugout at Alberton and always made sure I was one of the first out on the field at breaks so I could see and hear Jack and the players.

Always used to fill in the scores and loved the 10 years ago stuff in the budget, always had a smile at a big Port victory.

Loved the old double headers at Footy Park, with 20-30k there. Used to be great. One of the first matches I can remember lots about the game (unfortunately) was Sturts 1 point win over us at Footy Park.

Always loved going to other grounds. Would never miss a game unless I was terribly sick and couldnt go.

Then with all the AFL stuff happening. Was a good time to grow up and love SANFL football. Cant wait till I have kids and can do the same with them.

[sunbowler]

I was/am a Westies supporter mainly because Trevor Reu & Paul Garnett played for my local club as did the great Bernie Mattiske in the 30's. Would listen to the great Bloods on the radio on Saturday arvo if their wasn't any local footy and replay the game in the back yard. I was always one of the local heroes. The only time I saw SANFL games was on Anzac Day when the old man who was a one eyed Magpie would take us to see the GF rematch, which quite often were WAFC v PAFC. Still have some of the budgets somewhere. Westies always seemed to win the rematch however the Magpies with help from Laurie Sweeney always won the big one. Somewhere in the 70's I think Wests & Port played a charity match with Sweeney umpiring and and as he ran on the ground Doug Thomas put a Magpie guernsey on him.
On a serious note looking at some of those attendance figures how do they stack up on a per capita basis against combined AFL/SANFL attendances now.

[FattyLumpkin]

Also recall rubbing shoulders with current SANFL players of the day. It wasn't unusual to have a school teacher who played league (D Hicks for me), or one who worked in a bank & served you.

Going to Motley & Greer when in the "big smoke" was always a treat. Just walking around that shop looking at all the footy stuff - from stickers, bags, jumpers & even sprigs. Could even take your footy in to get it pumped up.

Another memory was your first pair of footy boots. Always hand me downs, with each owner traeting 'em like gold. New sprigs & laces & they were like new. Used to polish 'em to death & can even recall mum ironing the (white) laces. In turn they were handed down to me lil bro & my first "brand new pair" bought. High ankles with the hard toe - priceless.

[A Mum]

It wasn't unusual to have a school teacher who played league (D Hicks for me), or one who worked in a bank & served you..

How true !!
For me that school teacher was Darryl Hewitt

[GWW]

Also recall rubbing shoulders with current SANFL players of the day. It wasn't unusual to have a school teacher who played league (D Hicks for me), or one who worked in a bank & served you.

Did he make more sense in the classroom than he did in the commentary box?

[am Bays]

I know I shouldn't but I'll get in before anyone else does....

Watching my team lose grand finals....

deja vouz anyone???

[robranosgod]

This is the average crowd between 1958 and 1963, when West was at Richmond:

Norwood: 11,885.72
Port: 11,633.96
Torrens: 11,146.31
North: 9,536.85
West: 9,468.44
Sturt: 8,579.07
Glenelg: 7,212.96
South: 6,272.29

Thanks for that Spelly.
Given that I can remember from 1959 onwards it pretty much equates to what I said were my first footy memories, the Big 4 in terms of performance were in fact Port, Norwood, North and West and Torrens were a huge crowd puller.

That is why I have a wry smile when I hear the big four referred to as Port, Norwood, Glenelg and Sturt. Other than poor old South every dog has their day and even South did have their moment in 1964.

[Barto]

Also recall rubbing shoulders with current SANFL players of the day. It wasn't unusual to have a school teacher who played league (D Hicks for me), or one who worked in a bank & served you.

Did he make more sense in the classroom than he did in the commentary box?

I remember that Mr D Hicks came to give a motivational speech to us school kiddies when he was still coaching at Central District. He was talking about having goals and visualizing them. He then opened up his wallet and showed us what he always carried around: it was a drawing of the West End chimney with red white and blue painted on top.

Of course we laughed. Surely that would never happen

[JK]

The scoreboards were just fantastic. Race results, but best of all, the 1/4 by 1/4 scores. The collective roar of the crowd when an upset was on the cards. Started with a murmur at 1/4 time, a louder exclaimation at the long break, then always the roar when the underdog was up. "Which way was the wind blowing?", "injuries?", "could they hold on?" - all important questions that would eventually be answered via the chinese whisper system originating from some bloke with the tranny.

The budgets - always full of info for a young lad. Recall being taught the system of a 1 for goals & a . for behinds, then finally being entrusted by dad to fill in the budget come game time. Just loved reading the 5, 10 & 25 years ago history page - always hoping for time to speed up so I could read about Woodville in the 25 Years ago section. Was alway fascinated when some old guy comentating or reporting footy was mentioned in this column - did this mean he had actually played the game and was half decent??

The banter in the crowd. Always seemed good natured and always some card in the crowd who had the punters doubled up in laughter. Maybe the years have dulled the memory, but during the 60's I cannot recall a foul mouth requiring the call of "Language" from my good mother.

Far out that post brings back some memories ... In those "Looking Back" Budget articles, I don't think a week went by without references to "Lemon Time" and a team that "came home with a wet sail" ... Great stuff Lumpkin!!

[76er]

I loved going to see Sturt play and would usually see them at Footy park as it was the closest venue to me. Also saw alot of port games as many of my mates at school were Port supporters. Used to ride my bike in there and chain it to the gate. 50c to get in. (early 80's).

I also remember trying to sell ice blocks at the freezing 79 gf. Port supporters in KISS make up was a hoot. Got constantly abused by punters even when being polite. When I got abused by folk in the wheelchair area that was it.

LOved the replays and the "disussion" When I first heard HG Nelson I thought of KG, Wally May and Ian Aitken all at the same time.

The Budget's Looking back section was a gem. As somebody mentioned Those lemon time speaches must have been something else. Every week in looking back Oatey seemed to have moved somebody to a strange position for him and thus the wet sail was set to the wind.

In contrast I was a very quiet supporter. Used to keep my thoughts to myself and silently try to will the boys home. Now I take the village idiot approach. Sorry to anybody I've offended this year!