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It has been yet another weird week for me, which really started the previous week. A perfectly normal meeting resulted in one case of COVID-19 and one of the flu. I kept testing for COVID because it didn’t make sense — why would both of us become sick but with different things? There had to be something else going on.
Anyway, I really didn’t want to give this thing to anyone else. It’s been nastier than any COVID experience I have had – so I thought I should write something for you that could be handled from home.
For some reason, I kept thinking about the Shepparton Football Club and the impact it had on my early years. So, I called a member of the Town Talk team, didn’t I? “Yes, my husband is fine. It’s me now! Is it possible for you to find this by Thursday?” And there she was, on Wednesday, with all I asked for and more. Plus, some really yummy slices — which I certainly didn’t ask for, but we ate it anyway!
I don’t know how to say ‘thank you’ for something like this adequately.
The history of the Shepparton Football Club
The first thing I looked for in the above history wasn’t there.
In 1946, my uncle and aunt returned from Melbourne in the early hours. They had been to the theatre. Their car ran off the road, just near the Murchison bridge, and they were both killed. The club’s best-and-fairest award was named after my uncle David Clark at that time.
It is not clear to me how much of this I remember and how much was told to me later — although I clearly remember loud knocking on the door and my grandmother’s screams.
The history I have is The Bones of 100 Years of the Shepparton Football Club, written in 1981 by Tom Carey with the assistance of Jack Edwards. However, the record of office bearers begins in 1950, a year in which Jack was vice-president and, it appears, a year in which good record-keeping began. There is a promise of a “flesh and blood history” yet to come.
The list of Clark Memorial winners begins in 1946, so I believe I’ve got the year right. However, I’m not sure why. Or what part my uncle David played in the club.
My earliest memories
There are two early memories for me, one of which would have been 1948 and the other 1949.
The first was a party given by my parents at their home. I had been to the football many times and yet I didn’t recognise any of these large and loud men, tramping through my home, wearing the wrong clothes. So I hid. I remember thinking that if I hid under my bed, they would be able to reach me, whereas my parents’ bed, being bigger, would be safer. I could hear them all searching for me; my mother started to sound worried, but I didn’t care. Eventually, long arms reached me — and I emerged, teary, from under the bed.
Some years later, when discussing my strange behaviour with my mum, she said Murray Slee had hauled me from under the bed, which explained the long arms. I was just a shy child; that was all there was to it.
And I was still a shy child when the club won the premiership the next year. Shepparton was playing in the Central Goulburn Valley League and, in 1949, won its only flag in that competition.
Having dutifully waved streamers for a whole footy game, I was sitting on the low fence that separated the clubrooms from the ground. A footballer named John Brady picked me up and settled me on his shoulders; he then jogged into the players’ dressing room. For a while, I was mildly interested in the fact that I was very tall. But mostly, I was just embarrassed — people were looking at me. I don’t recall how that adventure ended, but it was probably embarrassing!
Then, according to my memory bank, I was left alone by the club for around five years. At this time, they found another opportunity to ‘get me’. We were to welcome a new coach, Ron Paez, and his wife, Olive Paez, to the club, and I was to give her a bunch of flowers. Okay! That’s not difficult. Except they forgot to tell me that I would have to walk the length of the clubrooms, with everybody looking at me, so I’d probably fall over. I remember wondering whether or not I should curtsy. Was that just for the Queen? Or is someone taking her place? As lovely as she was, Olive was not representing Her Majesty, so I eliminated the curtsy idea. And I didn’t fall over!
Now, some real history
There was no Shepparton team in either the Central Goulburn Valley League or the GVL in 1939 or 1940. The following year, the war stopped all football. There was a team called ‘The Imperials’ that usurped the name of the principal team – ‘Shepparton Imperials’ — for one season. But Tom Carey was doubtful they deserved a mention in a ‘history’.
In 1946, the Shepparton Football Club was re-formed under Hec McLean. I had been told, somewhere in the past, that my uncle David was president at the time of his death, but this doesn’t fit with the written history, so David must have been on the committee. I’d have known if he was a past player because the players were my heroes.
Anyway, Shepparton continued in the Central GVL over these post-war years because the half-day holiday was still on a Wednesday, and they wanted it to stay that way — it didn’t, of course. After winning the 1949 premiership, the club voted on potential leagues and landed in the GVL in 1950.
The players
The premiership team included some names that are familiar to me: Kenny Johnston, Ray Phillips, Alan Goodlet, Maurie Fennel, Max Gunnell, John Brady and Murray Slee.
John Brady had a successful footy career and went on to become captain of North Melbourne, and, of course, Murray Slee is still with us – 101 years old and, understandably, becoming a little frail.
It’s in the book
Please let me make it clear that I was an admirer of the late Tom Carey — in both of his fields of expertise. He was a prolific sports journalist and was blessed with a seriously good singing voice.
However, surely there was some bias in the air when he wrote the following at the beginning of his ‘history’:
The Mightiest Country Club
In 1925, the now-defunct ‘Argus’ declared Shepparton was the mightiest of all Victorian country football teams. It might have been more. In 1924, two of Victoria’s most powerful clubs met at Deakin Reserve on July 24 — Shepparton defeated Collingwood 15.16 (106) to 14.16 (100).
Tom goes on to explain that neither side had its best team on the ground, and he goes on to compare Shepparton teams through the early years and concludes that the 1920 side was, possibly, the best ever.
It must be pointed out that while writing this history of the Shepparton Football Club, Tom was working with Jack Edwards. Jack was president of the club for 21 years, 1955 to 1975, and was renowned as Mr Football or, sometimes, Mr Shepparton.
Tom did go on to write the second ‘history’. I have seen some of it briefly in the past. Does anyone have a copy to lend?
Its ‘mightiest moment’?
It is somewhat ironic that (arguably) Shepparton’s most successful period affected my own life substantially. Tom Hafey and his wife, Maureen Hafey, came to Shepparton in 1960. And there was something different, something special, about the old club. Three years without a premiership, but everyone knew it was coming. In the off-season, the players were frequently seen at the pool, swimming and exercising, before being fed by Maureen. Then three flags on the trot — and Richmond asked him to ‘return home’ and coach. (With a fourth flag in ’66, under a new coach, K. McGill.)
Tom Hafey had made many friends, and he didn’t hesitate to ask for support. Shepparton’s interest in the VFL/AFL changed significantly. The Tigers won premierships in ’67, ’69, ’73 and ’74 with a substantial number of supporters in Shepparton — my family among them.
It must have been 1977 when we bumped into Tom at a Richmond game at Waverley Park. He greeted us with enthusiasm, asking, “Will you follow me to Collingwood?” The answer was a definite “No”. He had turned us all into Tiger supporters, and we would remain Tiger supporters.
Clark Memorial Best and Fairest
I still don’t know exactly why the memorial was named after my uncle David. As Murray Slee’s memory isn’t what it was, the only people left who may be able to help would be connected to the Pottenger family — cousins once or twice removed. But please, if anyone knows — tell me! There is renewed interest from another generation, a young man who has ‘winning the best-and-fairest’ on his bucket list — before travelling south to help out the Tigers, of course.
Not really a history
Well! That wasn’t really a history, was it? More a meandering through my memories, occasionally backed up by Tom Carey’s work. However, I’m back now, feeling much better at the end of the week than at the beginning.
There are three things to avoid, over the next few months: COVID, the flu and RSV. But let’s not get too hung up on it all. I see the Brits have recalled their COVID vaccine produced by AstraZeneca. We could go crazy trying to work out what to do and what to avoid; and still get it wrong.
With a bit of a grin, I say, ‘May it be easy, my friends’.
Marnie
Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au
Letter: Town Talk, The News. P.O. Box 204. Shepparton, 3631.
Phone: Send a text to 0418 962 507. (Note: text only. I will call you back if you wish.)
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