How I became a Centrals supporter...
Well, my whole family (both sides) is from the Catholic part of Northern Ireland. Mum is from a 2 street town (with 16 pubs) in county Tyrone while Dad is from West Belfast - a Catholic/nationalist stronghold of Belfast. Mum's immediate family and about 1/3 of Dad's extended family (my grandmother on Dad's side is one of 13 children) all migrated to Australia on the infamous 10 pound packages in the mid 70's looking to set up their families away from the problems in Northern Ireland - Dad was sent out here basically to prevent him joining the IRA! Mum's family set up shop in Salisbury East while Dad's family scattered around Elizabeth (which, to me, is somewhat ironic that they settled in a largely English area given their nationalist Irish background and hatred towards the English).
So I take it that Dad's family simply adopted the local SANFL side, which was Central Districts. Again, it was ironic they supported a side wearing red, white and blue because you simply don't associate yourself anywhere near those colours in nationalist parts of Belfast. Didn't take long for Dad to get right behind the team, despite the club by now being well and truly in it's mediocre period where they didn't win finals, even getting Mum (who wasn't, and still isn't, much of a sport fan) to be a regular to games. However, I think Mum had to force herself into sporting exile after a) setting a Port supporters umbrella on fire because it was in her way and b) punching a Port supporter over the fence (and dragging her back over) at Football Park because she called her a 'Pom' (given the families background, not a wise move).
So by the time I entered the world, the family were regulars at most of our matches. Dad was one of those fathers who decided one of the first words I should learn was 'Rudi' (true story - and I wouldn't put it past him to try and have the first word my nephew says to be Gowans
)
Going to games as a kid, I didn't really care about the results, as the various SANFL grounds (and particularly Elizabeth) became a giant playground for me - whether it be hiding under the steps to the undercover seats at Football Park (or marvelling at the electronic scoreboard), playing hide and seek under the Centrals coaches box, or sliding down the stairs behind the terracing at Elizabeth in empty hot dog roll crates (I could never master that skill though). One of the funnier moments of my childhood support was the first time Dad took me to a Centrals v Sturt game at Elizabeth. Every time we went I'd always ask Dad who we were playing, and you'd get answers like Port, North, West etc. But this time he said Sturt. Having never heard of the word before, I thought he said skirt, and was convinced I would be seeing a team in pink skirts until I saw the correct spelling on the scoreboard (and by the end of the game I knew they were the easybeat team - this was during their wooden spoon run on the late '80's and '90's).
Living in Elizabeth at the time, just about everyone at school was a Centrals/Crows supporter (we did have one Eagles supporter though - who also supported West Coast). During the early '90's, despite the advent of the Crows (who our family immediately went for), Dad still took us to Centrals game quite often. As the '90's moved on and I got older, my interest became more focused on the game and less on the games under the coaches box or down the stairs. I also began to learn about things like the Port Adelaide rivalry and just how mediocre Centrals were in the competition, as I read about the long finals losing streak in the papers following the breakthrough finals win in 1994. Despite spending most of the 1995 season in Belfast, we were back in time for a late season game against Port at Alberton, and then the finals series. I remember the ecstatic scenes in the 1995 Preliminary Final as Centrals finally made that first Grand Final. However, we couldn't get tickets for the big game (and is still the only Centrals Grand Final I didn't attend). That loss didn't hurt that much for me as it was great just to get to be in a Grand Final. 1996 was a different story though - I spent most of that night in tears, and Dad said some rather ironic words, 'should have went as Sturt supporters, would have been just as much a waste of money'. I say ironic because of the 2002 loss, so after that loss I joked that we should have went as Glenelg supporters... - and 6 years later we played Glenelg in a Grand Final. So after 2006, what did I say, 'should have went as West supporters...', does that mean a Centrals v West Grand Final next year (probably on track for that going by Westies rise in recent years).
By the late '90's, a combination of the Crows successes (and getting Crows season tickets in 1997) and Centrals starting to slide saw my interest in the club slide somewhat. Also reaching that mid-teen stage of my life where you can be influenced somewhat by your mates (my sister became a Port supporter for a few years because her best mate is a Port supporter, but she came back to supporting Centrals), who were quick to remind me of Centrals mediocrity, and I began to question why I bother supporting the side. 1999 was the toughest test of my support for the club. While I started going semi-regularly to matches again (after not going to a game in 1997 and about 3 games in 1998), Centrals missed the finals, and my mate (who seemed to barrack for a different team each year before settling on the Eagles) took me along to the finals series and I started warming to the Eagles (that has since long gone). 1999 was also when I discovered free entry for under 18's, which meant it was easy to convince a couple of mates to spend a Saturday arvo at a Centrals match.
So 2000 comes along, and we start attending semi-regularly, as the on-field results improve. The weekend they finally win the Grand Final is a double celebration for me, as the day before the Grand Final I completed my Learners log book. 2001 I decided that I'd start attending as many games as possible as I become more independent, 2002 I became a member, added the season ticket in 2003, and have barely missed a game since.
...and I still find it ironic we support a side wearing red, white and blue - even the rivalry with the Eagles is a bit ironic given the somewhat closeness of the Eagles colours of green, blue and gold to the Irish national colours of green, white and gold.
