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Sherrin memories from our sacred footy grounds

Richard Marles

by Richard Marles

07 Mar 05:50am

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Filed under: Afl, Geelong Cats, Nostalgia, Sport

39 comments

I recently visited Simonds Stadium at Kardinia Park to see the progress of construction of the new Players Stand. This joint project by the Federal and State Governments and Geelong Football Club will take capacity of the Cattery to 33,000.

You're never too young to cheer for the Cats. Photo: Andrew Henshaw

I have been visiting the home of the Geelong Cats since I was a small boy. My first memories were of a suburban ground, mostly surrounded by a terraced embankment with a few rows of wooden benches on the fence.

In the 1970’s, going to the footy came with the expectation of standing up. For a big match people packed into the terraces cheek by jowl. As kids, we went hunting for empty beer cans that we arranged as a platform to give us more height so we could see. But for a less important game the ground could be empty allowing us to play kick to kick in the terraces while the game went on below.

At the end of the game, the sovereignty of the turf returned to the people as thousands of fans ran onto to the ground with footies in hand to test their own skills in front of goal or in the centre circle.

At the age of twelve I remember my Mum dropping me and a mate at Victoria Park. Without any fear of our safety, and without any supervision, the two of us walked into the ground and happily watched a game of footy for two and a half hours ... at the home of Collingwood. Naturally a fight broke out, but in truth it was the Collingwood fans themselves who were in most danger. Crowd conflicts at Victoria Park were always blue on blue affairs as the Magpie Army contested the appropriateness of their self-criticism. But since teeth have been considered a luxury among the Collingwood faithful, most stoushes amounted to little more than a harmless prod by a tattooed knuckle against a soft rubbery gum.

Having safely enjoyed an entire childhood of watching the footy at Kardinia Park and across Melbourne, I visited England in the mid 80’s and watched in horror the tragedies of Bradford, Heysel Stadium and Hillsborough where going to watch their team cost many fans their lives.

As I look back, I am amazed at how well behaved Australian Rules footy crowds really were. There were cheers, shouts, and taunts. There was colourful language. But kids were safe in the embrace of the footy fraternity. Because a footy match was fundamentally a family affair.

Footy grounds are not just venues. They are repositories of memories. For me it is the memory of the collective gasp as Gary Ablett Senior approached the ball and the crowd knew it was about to witness a miracle; or the memory of Larry Donohue’s hairy arms. It is also the memory of times spent with my Dad, as I ferreted my way down to the fence line so I could see and then checked in with him at the end of every quarter to compare notes.

A large part of my childhood lives at Kardinia Park as it does for tens of thousands of other citizens of Geelong.

As I stood in the centre of Kardinia Park admiring the new stand as it nears completion, it was impossible not to marvel at the change. There are almost no terraces left. The vast majority of the stadium is seated. Lights will soon be erected. It is starting to look like a genuine arena where major events happen in a very modern city.

Just as I’ve grown up, so has the stadium. Yet, whereas I look older and more crumpled, Kardinia Park looks newer and shinier. That said the level of comfort on offer for watching the footy is certainly more conducive to my middle age.

For all the sentimentality of the past, Kardinia Park today is infinitely better. It can now claim to be the most important piece of sporting infrastructure in regional Australia.

The new stand contains a state of the art classroom which will be used to teach local school children about sports science and in the process excite them about maths and sciences. It is testament to a club that knows its roots are in the community and that its future belongs to these kids.

Throughout Australia, footy grounds are the great meeting place. From the MCG to the Lara sports ground they are the places where people gather to watch their region on display and identify with their community. In most towns and cities it is the footy ground which is the heart and soul.

In Geelong that place is looking fantastic. And it is a reflection of a city and a community which feels very much the same.

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39 comments

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    • Gregg says:

      06:14am | 07/03/13

      ” A large part of my childhood lives at Kardinia Park as it does for tens of thousands of other citizens of Geelong. “

      So Richard, what’s the insider goss on who used to make the handbags for the trips up to Melbourne and I suppose you might be able to claim some merit in having their issue to players stopped a few years back, though looks as though someone could be doing some stitching again.

      I reckon that classroom could create some good skills in teaching leatherwork, making handbags and Sherrins.

      Talking of Victoria Park people and the Big G, I was fortunate enough to get along with a friends family to the 1958 Collingwood/Melbourne ground burster GF, allegedly some 115,000 though it could be an estimate with all the kids allowed inside the fence.
      And for standing room terraces and character you could not beat being under the old green scoreboard, a bit of a favourite as down by the fence were two rows of unreserved seats so if you got there early enough you could even get yourself a seat at finals.
      It was 1962 and for some reason I happened to be there at one of the Cats/Blues Prelims, a draw in the first and I cannot remember which it was or why we did not get to the Essendon/Blues GF.

      Anyway, I made my mind up that the next year I was going to get a GF ticket and that was when you used to camp outside the G and so one school day in August I wagged it from about lunch time and hitched home into the Dandenongs to get my sleeping bag and whatever else, just to find it was snowing lightly but that did not deter me.
      At 14, I hitched back down to FTG to catch the train in to Richmond and wandered over to take up my place, fortunately it not snowing down there but a frigid night and I was also most fortunate to have a family group of Pies supporters take the lone Bomber in and let me share some warmth of their 44 drum brazier as well as the warmth of their friendship.
      I think I might have even wandered up to Bridge road and down into Richmond a bit to get some dim sims in the wee morning hours too, all with no harm.

      I got my tickets OK only to have Essendon not get into the finals and low and behold, seems as though the Cats had not yet taken up using handbags.

      The next year queuing for tickets was more than literally a real pisser of an event for they changed the system and the queuing started at a huge roller door entrance to the tunnel around at the south west corner, nicely located to get the brunt of weather and Melbourne did not fail to turn it on, cold and pissing down and no shelter and hundreds of people all getting soaked and miserably cold.
      A bit before midnight it was near riot like and people started banging and banging on the roller door and to much joy, they raised the door so we could enter into the tunnel a few hundred metres.

      My sleeping bag was already soaked through and it was a cold miserable non sleeping night so once I had my place again the queue, a few of us found we could out on to the ground and with the rain having stopped a bit, I can say I have run out on to the hallowed turf to play footy, first night football, kick to kick with no light other than that from the moon, kind of eery but warming up experience.

      Reply

    • Aitch B says:

      06:15am | 07/03/13

      Great article, Richard although I think you might have a few Magpie fans gnashing their gums/teeth in response.

      I too have great childhood memories of Kardinia Park. When I was 16 (mid 60s) it was nothing to get on a ‘footy special’ train at Spencer Street that stopped at the South Geelong station. You’d watch the game from the Moorabool Street terraces and get the train home. A long day but well worth it! smile

      Reply

    • Ben says:

      06:24am | 07/03/13

      Richard, we of the great unwashed would like to thank you for yet another article along the lines of I’m-just-a-regular-guy-at-heart. It is very reassuring to know yet another former lawyer come union secretary come government member can talk about the footy in our language (The line about footy grounds being “repositories of memories” was very deep indeed). If possible, next week can we have an article about what does and does not constitute “campaigning”? This could also be complemented by a summary of the benefits of “governing” on a traffic island in Western Sydney as opposed to Parliament House. Thanks.

      Reply

    • B2 (Ben W) says:

      02:33pm | 07/03/13

      I’m another Ben and I knew Richard at Melb Uni where we both studied in the 1980s. He was back then, as now a die-hard Cats supporter whose dislike of the Pies only raised my opinion of him. Accordingly your comments about his pleasant, non partisan article seemed a bit joyless adding nothing to an otherwise harmless nostalgic dialogue.

    • Ben says:

      04:30pm | 07/03/13

      Thanks Ben W. I’m sorry if you perceived my comments to be, in your words, “a bit joyless”. I’m sure Richard is a Cats supporter, but I do find his tendency to waffle on about himself to be a bit - well, a bit joyless, if I can borrow your phrase. Perhaps it’s the cynic in me, but I do think that any politician writing for Punch (or anyone else) does so with self-interest first and foremost in mind.

    • Mahhrat says:

      06:33am | 07/03/13

      I think I would like to visit Geelong.  I’m not sure how you call it “regional”, but I’ve never heard bad things about it, and I like that sense of community.

      Reply

    • Bear says:

      10:05am | 07/03/13

      Plenty of good pubs and coffee shops like a big city but at country prices. Nice outlook over the bay, complaints by some, ‘it’s a bit industrial’.

    • I hate pies says:

      12:18pm | 07/03/13

      It’s a crime ridden hole.

    • Eskimo says:

      01:28pm | 07/03/13

      Just don’t go on a Saturday night.

    • Bear says:

      03:43pm | 07/03/13

      It does have a dodgy element. Only time I needed security to help me leave a club was in Geelong. Picked up a bird and these random guys were circling like seagulls. Don’t know what they thought, we were going to share or something?

    • stephen says:

      07:28am | 07/03/13

      Must be spotlights in that picture up there because the sun appears to be shining in Kardinia Park.
      (I’ve never been to Geelong and it isn’t raining.)

      Reply

    • Michael S says:

      07:33am | 07/03/13

      When I was a kid, my Dad used to take me to the footy (now it’s me taking him).
      We’d stand in the outer at Windy Hill. When I was small, I didn’t see that much, but revelled in the atmosphere. With each passing year, I’d see more and learn more of the game.
      My first footy jumper had Terry Daniher’s number 5 on it. I had a duffle coat with lots of badges - Paul Salmon, Roger Merrett, Billy Duckworth, Paul Van der Haar, Glenn Hawker, I Hate Carlton and others.
      But the true hero was our eccentric visionary genius coach, Kevin Sheedy. After the disaster of being flogged in the 1983 Grand Final, the Bombers fought back to go back to back in 1984 & 1985.

      Windy Hill holds a lot of memories - but in reality, it was a dump. And as crowds and memberships grew, the Bombers outgrew it. Leaving the suburban ground to go to the big stadiums was a no-brainer; and the club has never looked back.

      Life took me to Sydney, and I didn’t see the Bombers as often - the annual game against the Swans was a must, plus a few pilgrimages down south per year. But I did manage to get a seat, perched high in the old Ponsford Stand, as James Hird’s invincibles completed a dominant season with the 2000 premiership.

      Life moves on, and footy moves on. I’ve lived in Sydney longer than I ever lived in Victoria. The game has changed, and clubs have changed. With a new club coming on board in my neck of the woods, I traded in the old black and red for the charcoal and orange of the GWS Giants.
      But the more things change, some things remain. Who should be coaching the Giants? None other than Kevin Sheedy, the same eccentric visionary genius I idolised for so long at Essendon.

      Reply

    • Eda says:

      08:51am | 07/03/13

      Thanks Michael S

      ‘When I was a kid, my Dad used to take me to the footy (now it’s me taking him)’. Me too.

      “Windy Hill holds a lot of memories - but in reality, it was a dump.’

      Yep, but what a beautiful, glorious dump it was. 

      Like you I have so many (great ) memories of Windy Hill.

      My son got to play cricket there a few years go, and as it had been many years that Essendon has not played there, I was mighty chuffed, at the way the ground is looking.

      At tea and drinks break/s was happy to sit back and remember those good old days, going home happy or sad, and always thinking (if we lost) we will be better next week, lol.

      Good luck to your new team ( we play each other Friday night).

    • PW says:

      12:11pm | 07/03/13

      Good luck supporting the Giants this year Michael.

      Hope they play a few more games in their area than they did last year. One, I think it was.

    • Kerryn says:

      07:42am | 07/03/13

      I remember my first-ever footy game, at the Gabba, Lions v West Coast back in 2004 at the tender age of 15.  I’m just glad I got to see Alastair Lynch play once.  Seeing the number 11 standing in the goal square in front of me is a sight I will never forget.  Even though we lost, it was still a good day.

      Last game I went to was the NAB Cup game with the Hawks, Suns and Lions.  Also a good night, even though my current favourite player didn’t play both wins.  Hopefully will make it to the ressies game on Saturday, they’re always fun!

      Reply

    • Sickemrex says:

      08:50am | 07/03/13

      Great article, took me back to my childhood making the regular trips down the Midland Highway goat track from Ballarat in the 70s and 80s to see our beloved Cats. I’ve now been in QLD for 15 years and have married a Queenslander who I can easily drive to madness merely by singing We Are Geelong.

      Reply

    • Levi says:

      08:57am | 07/03/13

      In the spirit of Bill who constantly trolls NRL articles, might I be the first to say AFL is absolute crap. Any sport where the players get rewarded for missing (socialist pandering), spend more time fighting over the ball on the ground than seagulls fighting over a chip, and taking cheap shots at each other from behind is decidedly unaustralian.

      Have at.

      Reply

    • Strauss says:

      09:17am | 07/03/13

      As opposed to Levi who trolls AFL articles huh?
      Sport, the breakfast of lightweights

    • Levi says:

      10:54am | 07/03/13

      That was the whole point genius.

    • Bear says:

      11:01am | 07/03/13

      Levi obviously feels threatened by AFL. Deep down you know you’re on the losing team.

    • Bill says:

      12:12pm | 07/03/13

      @Bear
      It’s only the losing team if your players are built like beer kegs with no necks and pumpkins on top where their heads should be.
      Oh right, NRL.

    • Levi says:

      12:16pm | 07/03/13

      Keep telling yourself that until you believe it is true Bear.

    • Bear says:

      12:49pm | 07/03/13

      I don’t need to believe, it’s a fact! You lib lovers know all about facts right!?

    • Levi says:

      02:45pm | 07/03/13

      We know facts better than “it’s not a campaign” Gillard.

      There you are Bill!!! As opposed to stringbean fairies who’s skills consist entirely of running circles in a paddock dropping the ball constantly, all while being cheered on by toothless mexicans in Victoria.

      Geez the games been going for longer than basketball and the best you can conjure is an occasional scrap with a bunch of backwoods Irish who play by different rules with a different ball. Good times.

    • Bear says:

      03:26pm | 07/03/13

      It’s only leaguies and the AFL bring up the International issue. The avg fan could care less if it’s only played here, in fact that’s what’s good about it. How many countries have there own code to themselves!? Who cares what game they play in China or North Queensland?

    • sunny says:

      04:14pm | 07/03/13

      It’s shouldn’t be a political issue, there’s actually bipartisan agreement that Rugby League is far better than AFL. I’m no scientist but NASA, CSIRO and The Royal society will have all the proof if you want to search for it.

      Really I’ve only got three words to say on the issue - State Of Origin - best 4 hours of sport on this big blue earth!

    • Bomb78 says:

      09:06am | 07/03/13

      I take it that the Gold Coast isn’t considered regional Australia? Or Newcastle? Or Townsville? How about the world class facilities in Coffs Harbour? The stadiums in these regional cities are just as important as the one in Geelong - one of them will host the Commonwealth Games in five years time. Another case of everything being better in the AFL and Victoria?

      Reply

    • DanFlan says:

      12:02pm | 07/03/13

      The author did not once insult or denigrate any other regional oval, nor did he state some sort of Victorian superiority.  He shared his memories from one he spent so much time at.  He may have stated Kardinia Park “can now claim to be the most important piece of sporting infrastructure in regional Australia”, but he never said any of the other stadiums you mentioned could not do the same.

      You also clearly haven’t caught the point of the title of this article Bomb78.  Would you say “Sherrin memories from our…etc”  could quite easily be “Sharing memories from our…etc”. 

      How about sharing some memories about those other top-notch grounds that you have mentioned.

    • Bomb78 says:

      02:30pm | 07/03/13

      Dan Flan - the comment about importance is misplaced in this article – despite your suggestion, I did get the slant of the article, and I appreciate that part of it. However the author couldn’t restrain the politician in him by referring to it as ‘ the most important piece of sporting infrastructure in regional Australia’. Maybe to Geelong supporters, but on what grounds can it make that claim?
      Referring to the stadium as ‘infrastructure’ is not about the culture or community – it makes it about economics (or maybe politics?). An AFL or NRL team at your stadium doesn’t make it the most important piece of sporting infrastructure in regional Australia.  Attracting events to a regional centre that would otherwise go to a capital city or overseas makes them important. This provides not only direct economic opportunity in regional areas, but exposure here and overseas.
      Townsville successfully hosted games in the 2003 Rugby World Cup at their regional stadium - they also hosted the British & Irish Lions on their 2001 tour. For those that live in AFL Land, these are the two biggest events in rugby. As per my original post, the Gold Coast is hosting the Commonwealth Games at its regional city stadiums. Newcastle has hosted rugby league tests and will host a Lions tour match this year. Coffs Harbour has hosted World Cup and Olympic football qualifiers; the ARU based its training camps there for years in part because of the quality of its facilities.
      I guess the author won’t be shy about talking up the federal government money he was able to ‘secure’ for the upgrade – just wonder if he’ll mention his days at Slater & Gordon as prominently?

    • DanFlan says:

      03:08pm | 07/03/13

      Fair points Bomb.  I appreciate the scale of the events that have and soon will be taking part at those venues, and they are great venues.

      Politics and sports should never meet….

    • iansand says:

      09:22am | 07/03/13

      I remember the Hill at the SCG for an All Black test* in the days when beer was full strength and plentiful   I somehow ended up being surrounded by a large group of very large and very vocal Maoris.  I was vewwy, vewwy quiet.

      *For AFL people, this is an event where the best players from one country play the best players from another country - in this case New Zealand.  Later this year we will have the best from Great Britain playing as the Lions, as well as annual games against South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina.  These events happen every year, and every year we send our best players to play in other countries.

      Reply

    • Bomb78 says:

      10:14am | 07/03/13

      I took my (Kiwi) wife and our 7 week old first born to an All Blacks test at Eden Park. Wife and son in their best AB’s gear - me stupidly wearing much Wallaby Gold. If I hadn’t been holding the baby I think I may have found out plenty about the New Zealand hospital system. The baby didn’t stop one fine example of New Zealand manhood blowing a lung full of cigarette smoke in my face. To top it off the AB’s stole it the game in the last 5 minutes.
      Still it was about the best night out at the football I’ve ever had. Every Australian should go overseas to support one of our sporting teams if they get the chance. Home and away domestic football doesn’t come close.

    • Levi says:

      02:48pm | 07/03/13

      Don’t count on your average AFL fan comprehending what you just said, iansand. We stuck them in the dreary south-eastern corner of Australia for a reason.

    • NSS says:

      03:23pm | 07/03/13

      Oow, International Group Bum Sniffing. How lovely! ha!

      Actually, I rather like the idea that Aussie Rules is fairly exclusively just that. It’s our game, cobbled together from bits of Gaelic football and rugby. It’s truly indigenous and we don’t need to pretend it to be anything else.

      BTW, how are those Wallabies doin lately, Levi? wink

      Disclaimer: As I’ve said I like both games, but my first love is definitely footy, meaning AR, cos you guys don’t kick much do ya?

    • Levi says:

      04:28pm | 07/03/13

      Couldn’t give 2 hoots about the Wallabies NSS. Bronco’s are my team.

      I’d hardly call it footy when 70% of the game consists of squabbling around on the floor like a mob of confused seagulls, and the constant scrappy touchy-touchy shoulder action that happens off the ball.

      At the end of the day I suppose it’s what you’re used to and have grown up with. Myself and everybody I know have actually attempted to watch more than 5 minutes of AFL, but it’s always in vain. You end up changing the channel due to severe frustration at the fact that nothing is actually happening, then when something actually happens they get rewarded with 1 point for putting in a half-arsed attempt at a shot at goal.

    • NSS says:

      09:49am | 07/03/13

      That was an enjoyable read, Richard, thanks. I know Geelong and Kardinia Park well too.

      My football ground memories are similar, but largely from the west of Melbourne ie West Footscray, which no longer exists. We used to catch the train and walk the few yards to the ground, then sit wrapped in a chenille bedspread on the really foul days in the outer, eating our “dogs eye and dead ‘orse”, yelling our lungs out. Watching the likes of Dempsey and Whitten play the game was well worth it. Besides, there was nothing else to do! It was about community, it was about tribalism, but most of all it was about entertainment, the muddier and bloodier the better.  How times have changed!

      Reply

    • Catter says:

      10:13am | 07/03/13

      As a 6-7 yo 70s kid we used to silde down a hill, gravel, on discarded cardboard boxes. I can’t remember what ground though, either kp or western I think. Anyone remember this. Imagine the safety issues today. No way would this happen now.

      Reply

    • I hate pies says:

      12:24pm | 07/03/13

      There was nothing like getting the bus all the way out to arctic park to sit on wooden benches 50m away from the ground, in the howling wind and rain, to watch your team get thumped, then to sit on bus again all the way home again…what a ground! I went with my old man to watch Fitzroy take on Richmond; one of my fondest childhood memories…I even got to watch Matt Rendell and Mark Zanotti strut their stuff!

      Reply

    • pa_kelvin says:

      06:15pm | 07/03/13

      God we must all be getting old rehashing memories from the 60s and 70s.
      I remember watching Sheedy playing for the mighty Tigers back in the day, thanks for the memories Richard, This is one semi-old fella that appreciated your article for what it was…....

      Reply
 
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