Victoria Park - Your Stories?

[Morrigu]

[Johnson#26]

Just a quick question...what was the attendance figures for the last game at VP??

[Joel]

Last Game at Victoria Park:

Date: 28-Aug-1999 Att. 24,493

http://stats.rleague.com/afl/seas/1999.html

[rand corp]

Random Memories:

Early Days:

My grandparents starting taking me to Vic Park back when I was 4 years old (1968). Sitting one back from the fence on old fold out camping chairs down in front of the old commentary scaffolding between the scoreboard and the members stand.

Thermos flasks and cold toasted cheese sandwiches and a hot dog for me at half-time (which, to be honest with myself, when I was 4 years old was the highlight of the day).

A day at the footy was a full day for my grandparents with the morning taken up by preparations that were both methodic and frantic, it was of the utmost importance that we left exactly on time. Parking was my grandfathers biggest nightmare.

McKenna sure to kick them from anywhere after marking on the lead.

Barry Price in the guts, a master of the long dead stab-pass.

Tuddy walking past me on the boundry with a broken arm.

Ian (Strop) Cooper walking past me with a broken Jaw.

Climbing up into the commentary box (scaffolding with canvass thrown over it) in the rain and the little kids being allowed to stand behind Thorald Merrit as he called the game on radio.

Being taken into the rooms once after the match and the old guy on the door letting my grandfather take me inside, not having the heart to say no to the little kid in his grandfather's arms, with the star-struck eyes and a Pies jumper on.

McKenna kicking a ton and everyone running onto the ground.

The Quality that was John Greening.

Max and Wayne, much loved brothers.

Thommo going from the Million-Dollar baby (as my grandfather used to call him at the time) in the number 28, to Brownlow medalist in the No. 1 guersney, destroying opposition big names such as Big Nick, Moss and all-comers.

Bobby Rose as coach. Whom my grandmother said "was a gentleman" and my grandfather said "bled black and white".

All the same faces, friends/brothers in arms -sitting in the same spots year after year.

Later on:

Watching Daics mechanically slotting Bananas from the boundry in front of the social club.

Being in absolute awe of Carman's magic.

Running onto the ground and patting the players on the back after the match.

Having a kick on the ground after the match and trying to emulate our heroes.

The Cheek of Ray Shaw, the Guts of Stan Magro.

Final memories:

I now live overseas (Bangkok), but for work reasons I moved from Melbourne a decade before the move up here and missed the final fling at VP.

My last game there I hadn't been to VP for many years and managed to catch a game whilst I was in town. I remember being quite taken aback by the sheer mass of working class supporters and quietly humoured by the dry wit and straight, street-language (expletives included).

Just before the game there was a public announcement requesting that the crowd refrain from using excessive bad language so that everyone there could enjoy the footy (I found the announcement an unusual phenomenon in itself). Looking around the crowd and given the discussions that had been going on around me, my first thought was "mate, you are not going to find anyone offended here".

My memories of that game have faded but the dry wit and sardonic humour of the supporters I found illuminating and enjoyable.

The Collingwood Football Club means so much to so many people and many people that need it. It is as much a social phenomenon, with social responsibilities as a football phenomenon with a resposibility to win. It is so much and it can be so much more. Long-Live Collingwood.

[Joel]

Victoria Park: Your Stories and Memories

http://nick.magpies.net

As we move from our ancestral home of Victoria Park to our new outstanding home at Olympic Park, We at Nick's Collingwood page would like to invite you to tell us of your favorite memories and stories of Victoria Park.

If you would like to submit an entire article or even a short piece, We would love to hear from you so We can share your and our stories with Magpies from around country and indeed from around the world.

How? simple, if you are a member of Nick's Collingwood Bulletin Board you can simply post your stories/memories in this thread: http://www.magpies.net/nick/bb/viewtopic.php?t=18576

If you are not a member of Nick's Collingwood Bulletin Board or you prefer to E-mail it, you can E-mail your stories/memories to the following address: webmaster@magpies.net

[LeonSkyDiamonds]

Who remembers the old fella that used to sell the peanuts in the outer at Vic Park and other Collingwood away games.I can still hear him coming around at half time and saying "peanuts......peanuts.......".What about the half time blanket.Throwing out all your loose change.I remember the deathly silence that used accompany the arrival on to the playing arena of the opposition-especially interstate teams.DOH...i'm having trouble recalling actual incidents and i didn't miss a game at VP from 81 up until 89.

Hey Randcorp,just how good was Greening?As i was born in 74 and didn't go to my first game until 81(vs Hawthorn,had them sitting in the aisles,92,000 from memory,biggest crowd ever at Waverley.Also had 2nd biggest Waverley crowd that year as well vs Essendon)The reason i ask about Greening is my friend who is in his late 40s reckons that as far as ability and sheer brilliance goes,that Greening,Fabulous Phil Carman and Daics were the best.As i only saw Daics play,and saw video footage of Carman i am left in the dark as to how good Greening was.Isaw him take one ripping mark on Magic Moments.That's about all.How would you sum him up to someone like myself and which of the modern era players could you compare him to?Were you at Moorabin on that fatefull day and if so, did you actually see the incident?As it was way behind play,i don't suppose you would of.Excuse me for straying from the original thread.As i live in Glen Waverley i also have many fond memories of the old VFL Park.As a teenager,getting absolutely ratarsed with my mates and walking to the game,all the while passing around the bottle of whatever dad had behind the bar(my fathers a publican and has been for near on 30 years)

[rand corp]

LSD,

Ha Ha, remeber peanuts very well, downed a few bags in my day.

I was indeed there on the day Greening was taken out by that mongrol O'Dea.

My grandfather hated going to Moorabin, wouldn't got for years. On this day we arrived a little late, struggled to get a parking spot and wind our way through the packet crowd. I remember as we took our spots my grandfather asking what had happened and a bloke telling us that Greening had just been king hit and stretchered from the ground minutes earlier. Can't remember much else about the day but that is a memory I will never forget given what happened afterwards.

My grandmother collected all the print media articles of the incident and Greening's recovery and pasted them in a scrap book for me. She always said that the doctors could do nothing for him that first night and didn't know whether he would live or die. It was truly a dreadful incident.

I also have bittersweet memories of the charity match played for John at Vic Park during the following pre-season, throwing my money into the blanket as it went around at half-time. With the Collingwood Cheer Squad holding up the giant John Greening banner that used to adorn the fence in the days before advertising took over and the bloody St.Kilda cheers squad holding up a small Jim O'Dea banner at the other end, which all around me thought was absolutely deplrable. Can't remember if they escaped with their lives as I was still pretty young.

Greening was a consumate talent in that he read the play beautifully, was a very good kick of the ball, had all of the skills at ground level and was a stunning mark overhead (not just for his size but full-stop). Was silky and just oozed class. Hard to compare him to players today but think of an even better version of Browny (ours) than Browny.

I would think that Greening, Daicos and Carmen are the most naturally talented players I have seen in the black and white. Bux, Brown, McKenna and many others are champions and stars but, these guys just had that silky,freakish touch that is rare either these days or then.

I remember as a kid getting lost at Waverly after the match in the first season it opened -when the crowd area was only the terrace seats (no stands in its first year). I went up to a blue coat and simply said I'M lost and had to get my name called out over the PA. later I also remeber winning the night flag there under Ray Shaw and losing to North when they kicked a goal after the siren (we was robbed).

Also remeber one night at Waverly, kicking the footy on the ground with my mates till it got dark after a match. Then, walking out noticed that one of the walk-in snack bars was open and abandoned. We drank more Big M's and ate more chocolate bars that night than all the flavoured milk and chocolate I have consumed in the rest of my life since.

[Magpie_Dan]

One of my memories was just of late when I kicked a goal for Nick's when we played LSD!

My last one was scattering my father's ashes right in the middle of the ground!

[LeonSkyDiamonds]

Thanks for your very prompt reply rand corp.I was also often told of the Price Mckenna combo.Apparently a Price drop kick/stab pass was like a tracer bullet hitting Mckenna lace out on the lead.And apparently Peter Mac would kick them from anywhere.

[Morrigu]

I, like you Rand Corp was there that day in 1972 - never saw the actual hit but I remember crying from then until we eventually got back home

Mum had been up late the night before the game sowing the 22 number on my first duffle coat - I remember vividly the Aints supporters laughing at me on the way out and yelling "hope he dies"

JG was poetry in motion - balanced, sublimely skilled - on the ground and overhead.

I would doubt that those with the O'Dea banner got away unscathed - that day we had half a dozen blokes - built like proverbial brick sh*thouses standing around us in the Rush - When they saw that banner - well I could not repeat the conversation but as one they took off in search of them!

That was Vic Park - one in all in - it was such that other supporters would not dare to venture there!

[raymond35]

One of my memories was just of late when I kicked a goal for Nick's when we played LSD!

My last one was scattering my father's ashes right in the middle of the ground!

This was always my plan for myself. I dont know if the fact that there must be heaps of ashes on there has been considered by Eddie and co.

[raymond35]

The outer at Victoria Park had a strange smell in the 1970s that i didnt understand at the time. I now know that the smell was a mixture of Beer, Cigarettes and Marijuana. At least that was what it was like in the packed area in front of the scoreboard.

Random Memory: The week Daics was dropped to the reserves for missing a training session, he took a Gary Ablett style mark on the flank in front of the Rush Stand and made it look easy.

[RikkiRockett]

i have many great memories (i could write forever)
- the earliest memory i have is going into the rooms after training as a six year old in the tommy hafey days - wondering around getting autographs - my favourite getting allan edwards as he got out of the shower - 25 years later the page still has wet smudges
-standing behind the goals between the point posts to get on tv and the characters that were always there in the same spot every week, every year
- the last game - the pre match with all the legends through the years was magic - to see my father yelling out to neil mann ("super MANN")with the same passion that i was yelling out to daics
-dragging my footy hating girlfriend to grand final training last year and her standing in the bob rose stand drinking and in amazement at the turnout and atmosphere - i think it finally explained to her the magic of collingwood

- I also remember former umpire glenn james telling the story that he was more scared huddling in the umpires room at Vic Park waiting for the mob to go after a game than he was when he was in Vietnam

[cooldewd]

Vic Park was the closest thing to a universal church as I have ever seen.

My earliest memories centre around standing on beer cans (or what ever else I could find) so I could peer over the adults shoulders in the Rush stand and watch the enchanting genius of a teenaged Peter Daicos weave his sublime magic and kick improbable goals. Ofcourse I had been going for a couple years before then....but the Daicos memories remain seared in my mind for the shear wonderment his wizardry caused in my impressionable child mind.

A decade later, I was older and still marveling at Daicos' genius....

After that dog Matthews ended Daicos career (prematurely), I must confess, although I still attended Collingwood home games at Vic Park, the memories were just not as vivid....to be sure there were some great performances from Bucks and Sav etc....but nothing that captured my imagination like anything I saw from the master during his glorious reign.

So for me, memories of Victoria Park will always make me smile because they are inextricably tied in with Peter Daicos - the most freakish footballer who ever lived.

* On Greening, the best way to describe him as a player would be to imagine a young guy who played like Chris Judd (speed, balance, penetrive kicking etc) with the Gary Ablett ability to take incredible screamers. Greening will always be one of the greatest talents lost to the game.

The Dude

[piedys]

In 1990, during the Collingwood vs. WCE game at Vic Park, i was unfortunately summoned away from the game by the "call of nature". Sitting on the throne under the Sherrin Stand, the yelling from above hit fever pitch with a god almighty roar that nearly blew the doors off the mens room! I wondered what i'd missed... When i returned to my seat in the stand, i was told about how Millane strolled around 3 WC Weasels, and kicked a goal at our end. When i got home and saw the replay, i understood what all the fuss was about!

Dyso