What made us 'Collingwood people'? - Add your story

[Hiya-and-Higher]

My roots: I lived in Johnston Street Collingwood until I was 12. I went to Gold Street Primary. So I played in and around Sackville Street, Easey Street, Keele street, Little Abbot street, all 2 blocks from Victoria Park, and the pub over the road was the watering hole for some of the players.

I *really* got serious in 1964, and lo' and behold we made the Grand Final! From then on I became deeply committed. I used to keep stats on every game and arrange them in all sorts of combinations. I still have the exercise books bulging with notes and clippings right up to the early 70s. We had some truly great sides in them thar days and the true excitement they produced cemented the passion. I will forever resent Carlton winning in 1970 no matter what great tactics they employed to escape the hole they were in.

I went to many many games throughout those years and through personal *lows and hard times* during that period Collingwood helped to bring me much joy. I am considerably older now and I don't depend on the magpies like I used to for happiness, but the fire burns in the soul for them still.

I want Collingwood to remain an Everest above all other clubs, win or lose.

[B&W Phantom]

I can speak on behalf of Northern Pie and myself here as we are both brothers.

Collingwood supporters in my family go back the early 1900's. As far as i know my great grandfather on my mothers side supported Collingwood along with all the members of the family.

My father came from WA and he did'nt really follow teams in the VIC league. When he asked for my mothers hand in marriage he was asked' Who do you barrack for' . His reply
' Subiaco'... "well" my grandma said 'if you wanna marry my daughter you need to barrack for Collingwood'. 'Fair enough' my dad replied.

I remember we had Collingwood embedded into us right from thr time we were really young. I remember watching grand final's where we lost and the whole family wept. iI knew the Collingwood theme song before i went to school. It is a tradition in my family. Once unbeknown to me I said to my Dad 'I don't follow Collingwood anymore, I go for Fitzroy'.
My Dad packed a few clothes and food and told me i could not live in this house unless i support the Pies. Needles to say I supported Collingwood again.

NP and I love Collingwood. We were excited about promoting the Pies more in Qld and decided to build a website. We are not one eyed, we just don't give a s##t about any other team.

Go Pies!!!!!

[Millane42]

I was born in SA, but grew up in sydney. When I was 5 years old, I was a big western suburbs fan (in the rugby league) and they were the black and white magpies.(they are now merged with balmain). I remember some of my family, namely my uncle watching the aussie rules on sat arvos, and he took me to see north melb v sydney at the scg. from then on my interest grew but i didn't follow the capper era swans, i liked collingwood - the first game i remember having an impact was the first round thrashing of footscray in 1987.

October 6 1990 is still the best day of my life - i have clippings and stats from newspapers. the magpies were great in the late 1980's, early 1990's, and all the people at school hated them - they liked essendon or carlton. i lived and breathed collingwood - daicos, brown, croscisca, millane, wright, shaw, christian, kerrison, alan richardson, turner, starcevich, gayfer, morwood, mckeown, manson, monkhorst, francis, russell, kelly, banks and barwick.

footy got big up here once talking footy, the footy show and games were being broadcast on friday nights, saturdays/nights and sundays from about 1994/95.

bring on foxtel next year! so everyone can see every magpie game.

a common misconception about sydney people is they don't follow footy, that's crap because all the guys i used to play with/against, most of my mates and all of my family love aussie rules. they all follow teams from the whole of the league, not just the swans (they are usually a 2nd favourite) and people have tipping comps - the nrl is dying big time - so the tipping is always afl in work.

and i check this site every day and the afl magpies site.

so i will safely say that collingwood is a way of life rather than a team i support and will be to the day i die.

[stik35]

I envy all of you who have a Collingwood family history.
My parents came here from England in 1967 when I was five.
On my first day at school somebody asked me who I barracked
for and I didn't know.
I found out the names and colours of the teams and I picked
Black & White because I liked the colours.
I told everyone I barracked for Collingwood and soon found out
that apparently this was a good reason (along with my English
accent) for everyone to make fun of me.
This only made me more determined to be a Collingwood supporter
and I'm still copping the same sh*t today -with pride.

Not having football parents and three sisters who weren't interested meant that I didn't get to my first match till I was
old enough to go with friends when I was about 14.
I had my bedroom painted Black & White and wore my football jumper to school.
We used to catch the train to Vic Park and stand in the outer
on our eskys or sit on the roof of the toilets to see better.
My favourite games in those days were beating Richmond and I still hate them today, along with Carlton, Port Adelaide etc.
We even used to catch the train down to Kardinia Park.

Unfortunately I married an anti-football man. Big Mistake.
He barracks for whoever Collingwood are playing that day.
He wouldn't let me brainwash our kids so I let them make up
their own minds - They chose Collingwood.
My son (now 17) and I go nearly every week and live for the
football. We go year in year out - no matter where we are on
the ladder. My husband sulks at home and waits for us to lose so
he can hang sh*t.(He's had a few great years of this)

Now I've found you guys I'm addicted to this place.
It's great to be able to talk Collingwood all year round.
I really feel like Collingwood are now an exciting young team
and I can't wait till next year!

[Bones]

Hey Ed whats your story, seeing your were born in Carscum....?????

[ed healey]

I was born at the womens hospital in carlscum,but the family home was in sth yarra.
But i presume you mean his royal Edness not me.

[MagpieMark]

Hi everyone

I've been away for a little bit and would like to reply to this topic, its a good one!

I'm in Queensland and am hoping for a Pies game up here next year since we missed out this year and I want some revenge on these Bears idiots who think they are the only team in the competition.

Anyway I became one of the faithful after watching my grandfather go into deep depression in 1979 in September. He also told me his brother played cricket for Collingwood Cricket Club as well and a famous story of how he once stumped Don Bradman playing for Victoria. So that just made me smile a mile wide and I have loved and bled them ever since.

Keep posting your stories, they are great!

Go Pies!

[Bones]

Erm of course i mean His Royal Eddiness....

[magpie jeff]

Ed your a bloke so what were you doing in the sheilas hospital mate???

'My God'i wouldnt go into hoddle street tonight for quids'.Bill jacobs 3aw, minutes after our premiership'That is like winning tattslotto and losing your ticket and some bloke puts it in the herald sun that he found it'Rex Hunt 3aw during the 1990 grand final'Well thats about as useful as a fly wire door in a submarine'sammy newman 3aw during the 1990 grand final

[Greg J]

When things are really tough, I like to think of it as the last baseless decision I ever made (barracking for Collingwood).

But here is the basis, as far as I can work it out. I was eight, when my mother brought her kids back east. My brother was a couple of years older, and I had one older and one younger sister. As soon as we arrived in Melbourne, pressure was put on us all to pick a team (it was late winter, 1972). My mother's younger brother was a Collingwood fan, mum supported North, as did her mum, her dad was a Footscray supporter. The kids across the road supported Carlton (as did a lot of kids in Coburg). The scene was set for an epic struggle for the four kids football soul.

My brother and I had tagged along with dad and seen some games in WA. Mostly Swan Districts (the WAFL magpies I think, certainly i remember them being black and white) and some East Freemantle (North Melbourne colours) ones. The whole family supported East Freemantle over in WA, and it was just events that made us always be watching Swan Districts games (thats where my dads mates where).

Anyway, my brother and I went started supporting Collingwood, much to our uncles delight. I remember he "helped" us make our decision with secret bribes and threats. It essentially had boiled down to a choice between North and Collingwood, and my uncle only had to point out North's complete lack of success (no premierships yet in 1972) and Collingwoods track record (most premierships for at least another decade) and we were sold.

I always like to think that the decision was made a little easier by there only being black and white TV. As it was impossible to tell the difference between East Freemantle and Collingwood on a black and white tele.

Imagine my first day at the new school. The first recess, the kids gather around and demand to know who I barrack for (alas, my elder brother is nowhere to be seen). But do I say nothing, NO, I say I barrack for COLLINGWOOD. Much to the delight of the other Collingwood barackers, and to the chargrin of the others. Why, because at my new school we played football team based sides "King of The Hill" and the Collingwood team just got a handy sized addition to their team. And off the faithful rushed to dislodge the Carlscum and Bitchmond supporters from the top of the hill. As we kept doing it, until the buggers got sick of being beaten and we went on to play another game.

For some reason, first the older sister and then the younger sister started supporting Carlton. I do not know how that works out, but I am sure Freud could have tell us why.

My brother and I are still passionate Collingwood supporters. In our travels around Australia we went to great lengths to keep up to date and watch as many games as possible. Bosses could not believe we would refuse to work if Collingwood was on the tele. I have been living in Melbourne for the last five years, and been to almost every game. I joined once Eddie became our President (my one disappointment with Collingwood was that we had too many loud mouthed presidents who kept talking about non football things, thats as close as I go to critising the Club).



Greg J

[Player]

My path to Collingwood was certainly well of the beaten track, having never actually been to Collingwood game, or an AFL game, or even to Victoria for that matter.

I was briefly in Syndey around 1995 for a holiday/family reunion in Armidale. I arrived in the morning from New Zealand with a day to kill before connecting with other family members. I intended to go to the Sydney v Collingwood game that was played that day, mainly for novelty value, but actually fell alseep and completely missed it.

Purely as a coincidence I have family who live in the tiny New Zealand township of Collingwood, and Hawkes Bay (where I have never been) in New Zealand plays in black and white and are known as the Magpies. This made Collingwood my sentimental favourites.

For the next four years I would catch infrequent snippets from that one hour Fosters Aussie Rules Show.

It was not until T.V. in New Zealand starting giving regular coverage to the game, and with access to the Net that my interest, and appreciation of the game started to grow. My interest in Collingwood proceeded a long distance awareness of the cultural baggage of being a Pies supporter and also lead to broader interest in the game itself.

I realised my interest had grown when last year, standing at long off, to my great annoyance two causal spectators would not stop talking about how great Essendon and Sheedy were. This just after St Kilda's recruiting coups.

I continued followed most of the Magpies games on the scoreboard here at Nicks, which remains a real lifeline, until I found the ABC's webcasts on the offical AFL site this season.

[Kristin5]

I barrack for Collingwood because it's a family tradition. It's in my blood! My grandfather played for Collingwood in 1927 and 1928, and my Nan was a Collingwood supporter from birth. Needless to say, her family were very happy when they met her new boyfriend - the ex Collingwood footballer! So their children were raised to be members of the Magpie Army, and then the next generation (me!) were too.

What it means to be a Collingwood supporter? Well, as a lot of you know, my Nan passed away earlier this year. Her flat has now been sold, and last night my mum and I were packing up all of Nan's belongings. I came across a poem amongst her things which was obviously written in 1989, and thought I'd share it with all of you:

COLLINGWOOD FOREVER

I've been mocked and criticised, yelled at and abused,
Joked about, laughed upon, humiliated and accused.
I've withstood more pressure than anyone oughta,
And all because I am a Collingwood supporter.

Fairdinkum and faithful, one-eyed til I die,
Persistent and loyal, forever a Pie.
Distinctively proud, I carry no shame,
My confidence high til the end of a game.

This Collingwood feeling within you it lives,
Incentive and courage and spirit it gives.
Explaining is difficult, describing is too,
For unless you're a Magpie you won't have a clue.

It's something you're born with, it's rare and unique,
It's inevitable, it's unreal, it's a pure lucky streak.
This feeling within, I carry with pride,
Worthwhile and important, by it I abide.

Although in my lifetime I've never once seen,
The Flag taken home by a Collingwood team,
I strongly suspect that as time passes by,
There will come a day, a year of the Pie.

After thirty-one years, of waiting in vain,
Supporters alike will be happy again.
The top of the ladder, united we'll stand,
That Premiership Cup in the grasp of our hand.

A day filled with joy, a time to remember,
The Grand Final Day, come the month of September.
No birthday desire would fulfill my heart more,
Than to see us come home with a magnificent score.

I can see it right now, a bright gleaming vision,
The Collingwood team, out to kill, on a mission.
The electrical current, the great atmosphere,
Ecstatic supporters gathering far and from near.

The crowd always anxious, for what is in stall,
Anticipating greatly on the bounce of the ball.
The magnetic like cheer when a goal or so's kicked,
That glorious feeling when the opponents are licked.

And it's all to be ours come the end of this year,
I speak with pure confidence, I speak with no fear.
Though if fate is against us and again we dare lose,
I'm certain that the year after brings us good news.

[This message has been edited by kristin5 (edited 02 November 2001).]

[This message has been edited by kristin5 (edited 02 November 2001).]

[magpie jeff]

That is excellent kristen.

'My God'i wouldnt go into hoddle street tonight for quids'.Bill jacobs 3aw, minutes after our premiership'That is like winning tattslotto and losing your ticket and some bloke puts it in the herald sun that he found it'Rex Hunt 3aw during the 1990 grand final'Well thats about as useful as a fly wire door in a submarine'sammy newman 3aw during the 1990 grand final

[Greg J]

Beautiful.

Just emailed it to the fellow Collingwood supporters at work. Also printed out a version to put up on the wall.

Greg J