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RudeBoy
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
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| Post subject: Memories of the fire/brawl against the Bombers at Vic Park |  |
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All of this reminiscing about old Vic Park got me thinking about the day an all in brawl erupted between ours and the Bombers cheersquad. It was around 1969 or 1970 and I was 12 or 13yrs, so my memory is a little hazy. I remember the ground was overflowing with people sitting on the roof of the stands with their legs dangling over the edge and a pre-game brawl erupting after someone damaged one of the cheersquads (I think it was the Bombers') banners before the players had a chance to run through it. Eventually, floggers were set alight which led to the (then) VFL ban on floggers at the game. I reckon a lot of colour and excitement was lost to the game after that stupid decision. Anyway, I wondered if MagpieGreg or anybody else might be old enough to have been there. What are your memories of that fateful day? Importantly, I remember us flogging the Bombers that day, and if i'm right, it was the day McKenna kicked 13 goals, including 7 in the 3rd quarter! Ah, those were the days!
Apologies from an old timer for boring you young turks with this stuff. |
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Dave The Man 
Joined: 01 Apr 2005
Location: Someville, Victoria, Australia
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I was not born for another 15 Years so I would be a Bit hard but I would like to know what happend
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I am Da Man |
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crass
Joined: 13 Jan 2008
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i remember the sheets of corrugated iron being ripped off the fence on trennery crs just behind the scoreboard...by big tough blokes who were outraged at the sell out.
i scrambled in with the others and made my way to the timeclock where i hung like a monkey and watched the theatrics wide eyed and open mouthed.
i'd never seen anything like that before...
the crowd was bigger than the other big crowd i remember (v Carl '70).
an atmosphere that i'd never before felt at vic park since...
and it was chaos...
i just saw a flurry of activity where both banners were destroyed by the cheer squads and down at the yarra falls end all i could really see was smoke and lots af activity when the essendon floggers were set on fire.
the crowd were fired up but i DO remember a classic PIES 10 goal quarter that set Tuddy's bummers on the bum...
but gee, Tuddy was one tough and scary footballer...
the club blew it by letting him leave the fold.
even as a kid, that was one move i couldn't believe happened.
but enough waffling from yet another boring middle aged fart...
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collingwood tech boy |
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Piethagoras' Theorem 
the hypotenuse, is always a cakewalk
Joined: 29 May 2006
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Remember it fondly, I'd just turned 46. Charles' ears were just beginning to sprout
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Formally frankiboy and FrankieGoesToCollingwood. |
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Pied Piper 
Joined: 20 May 2003
Location: Pig City
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Are you telling us you're 82?! 
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"The greatest thing that could happen to the nation is when we get rid of all the media. Then we could live in peace and tranquillity, and no one would know anything." - Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
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johnybravo87 
Joined: 11 Oct 2004
Location: Melbourne
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| Pied Piper wrote: | | Are you telling us you're 82?! |
have a look at his pic and you might get your answer.
your line made made me chuckle frankiboy, nice work
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The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. |
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Pied Piper
Joined: 20 May 2003
Location: Pig City
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Ha ha, thanks johnnybravo. Think it's time for bed 
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"The greatest thing that could happen to the nation is when we get rid of all the media. Then we could live in peace and tranquillity, and no one would know anything." - Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
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RudeBoy
Joined: 28 Nov 2005
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How the fu#k did you remember all that Magpie Greg??? You must have a hidden football diary under your bed!
It's all coming back to me now. Ian McCorist was Collingwood's version of Hopkins. Blonde like Daisy, and could run all day. I thought he should have had a longer career. Anyway, you've captured the drama of the day perfectly. I've never experienced a day at the football like it since. It was truly electric, both on and off the field. Thanks for the memories. BTW, I do miss the cheersquads' floggers. |
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joffa corfe
PREMIERS 2010
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
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| magpie greg wrote: | Rudeboy
This is the game
Queens Birthday 12 June 1972
Collingwood v. Essendon
The day Des Tuddenham first returned to Victoria Park as Captain Coach of Essendon was truly one of the great Collingwood Essendon clashes.
I remember the day as a 14 year old quite vividly. It was a Public Holiday. It was a cloudless winter sky and the sun shone unhindered all day.
I put 20 Electrifying Hits on the stereo listening to Elton John singing Country Comfort and Country Radio singing Gypsy Queen as I counted down the time to 11.30 am when the family started the trek to Victoria Par from the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
Des Tuddenham said the 44,000 strong gave him a warm welcome , the same as they had done for Bob Rose some weeks earlier as Tuddy trod onto the Vic Park turf for the first time as an enemy. Well, Des may think that, but all I know is I heard one of the loudest boos I have ever hear emanating from the Sherrin Stand as he led the black and red heathens onto the ground.
Essendon were the glamour team of 1972 and were in the five as they headed into this round. The Pies had struggled for consistency and were still a game and half out of the five on 22 points from 10 games. They had started to put together some semblance of teamwork in the last few weeks having thrashed Geelong and South Melbourne in consecutive weeks after Bob Rose's Footscray had gotten the points at Victoria Park some weeks earlier.
Robert Rose, Bob’s son had stood out of football for the last 4 weeks and had twice asked for a clearance to Footscray and had been twice refused.
John Greening was having his best year and was leading or near the top of all awards after his move into the centre in 1972.
This was a game that had everything. Gates were torn open, fences broken, spectators risked their lives and fires were lit in an amazing series of events. Health official closed the gates at 1 pm but this didn’t stop spectators breaking into the ground and getting free admission.
Peter Lucas Collingwood General Manager said it was the worst case of crowd behaviour he could ever remember. In particular he said he was disgusted with the behaviour of the cheer squad. and with the incident in the second quarter when the Essendon cheer squad floggers and streamers were set alight. The game had to be stopped for 10 minutes and the crowd swarmed onto the ground to get away from the fire which had spread 80 metres along the fence. It was revenge for an incident before the game when an Essendon supporter charged through the Collingwood run through. He was chased by angry Collingwood supporters who then ran to the Essendon run-through and tore it apart.
But bigger than all this was the football itself.
The game was greatly anticipated and it did not let the fans down. After the third quarter of the Carlton game at Princes Park in 1969, this game produced one of the most electrifying quarters of football I have ever had the privilege of witnessing.
In the dressing rooms before the game Neil Mann refused to mention Des Tuddenham’s name.. He said he wanted the Magpies to play Essendon, not Tuddenham.- and play Essendon they did.
The Magpies started slowly and held a small lead going in to quarter time. The second quarter was much the same until the streamers caught fire. After that incident the Dons scored a couple of goals as they went to a 15 point lead and everyone was thinking the Bombers may run away with the game in the second half.
But the third quarter commenced with the Pies kicking to the Yarra Falls end. At the conclusion of the quarter the Magpies had kicked 10-3-63 to 1 -3 9 and had sprinted to a 38 point lead with scintillating team work as they produce d a classic run on football to completely demoralise Essendon.
Len Thompson dominated the ruck in a best on ground display, Max and Wayne Richardson and Barry Price took it away and delivered it to the forwards. And Peter McKenna dominated kicking 7 goals for the quarter in a game where he ended up with 13 goals.
Even Ian McOrist was a good player as his opponent Barry Davis complained “this guy just keeps running all over the ground, he never keeps still”! Maybe McOrist was playing 21st century football!
I have vivid memories of Ronnie Wearmouth and John Greening streaming down the outer wing and either chipping to or handballing over to Peter McKenna as we decimated Essendon.
Doug Gott was playing as a great foil at centre half forward chipping in for three goals, and Con Britt and Jeff Clifton and Daryl Salmon were impassable in defence setting up many forward thrusts in the third quarter.
The amazing run of goals in the third quarter left even the match committee aghast such was the surgical precision and excitement of the standard of play.
The Collingwood machine ground the Bomber into the ground with another great quarter in the last to run out 55 point winners.
Tommy Sherrin said after the game “it was the finest game I have ever seen Collingwood play” in an emotional speech to several hundred supporters in the dressing room. Thompson’s stats were 19 kicks, 11 marks two handpasses and 37 ruck tap outs out of a game total for both sides of 42. Thompson was forced to ruck unchanged all day due to Graeme Jenkin getting injured early in the game and Bob Heard missing with injury.
It was like a revivalist meeting in the dressing rooms afterwards, with fans throwing in $400 for the players and loudly cheering each word uttered by any Collingwood official and the trophy winners that day, Thompson, McKenna and Classy wingman Alan Atkinson.
After the game Tuddy said the Magpies are always hard to beat out here! His return had been a nightmare. He said the roar of the crowd was intimidating in the third quarter. It was one of the loudest roars I have heard which was equalled again the day Starcevich kicked 2 goals in 2 minutes in the last quarter against Carlton at the MCG in 1988, when Rupert Betheras scored a goal in Q3 v Brisbane at the Doe in 2002and later that year when Rocca scored in the PF agasint Adelaide in the Q3.
Thankfully the one quarter they showed that night on the football replay on Channels 7 and 9 was the third quarter.
Oh, and after watching this game form the stands Robert Rose decided to play out the season with the Magpies.
The Pies went on to play well with occasional lapses for the rest of the season but suffered the blows of losing John Greening only three weeks later to Jim O’Dea’s cowardice and losing Peter McKenna for the finals which thwarted their finals campaign where they went out in straight sets.
The scores
Collingwood v Essendon
3 4 22 2 2 14
5 5 35 7 9 51
15 8 98 8 12 60
23 10 148 13 15 93
Goalkickers
McKenna 13, Gott 3, Wearmouth 2, M. Richardson 2, W. Richardson, Greening McOrist
Best Thompson, McKenna, Britt Atkinson Price Oborne Salmon Wayne Richardson, Greening, McOrist. |
That was a top class read Greg..absolutely loved it 
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Football is Greatness
http://youtu.be/tJwoKbPOsQE |
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Pied Piper
Joined: 20 May 2003
Location: Pig City
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Where is your archival/statistical information coming from Greg? Are you relying on old newspaper records, for example? (Not querying your memories of the games, just interested in where you're getting the nitty gritty detail)
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"The greatest thing that could happen to the nation is when we get rid of all the media. Then we could live in peace and tranquillity, and no one would know anything." - Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen |
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Didaksgoal
Joined: 12 Mar 2004
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| magpie greg wrote: | Thanks to those who have said they enjoyed the article.
I love writing about the period when I grew up watching footy in the late 60s and 70s and I am happy to pass on these memories to the younger ones as well as reminisce with those of my vintage or a little younger.
It feels good for us all to be and feel a part of the Collingwood family. |
I really enjoy reading what you post here Magpie Greg, nice work.
Go the Pies |
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skaman
One step beyond.......
Joined: 01 Mar 2005
Location: Townsville via Melbourne
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Great stuff MG. Geez you must be close to Rudeboys age, he turned 75 last year!
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Enjoy yourself. Its later than you think! |
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die4pies
Homeward bound
Joined: 07 Nov 2005
Location: Trenerry Cres.
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Fantastic as usual MG.
Another great day in the life of The Club capture for all to enjoy.
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"MAKE COLLINGWOOD GRATE AGAIN" |
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pietillidie
Joined: 07 Jan 2005
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| Post subject: Re: Memories of the fire/brawl against the Bombers at Vic Pa | |
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| RudeBoy wrote: | | It was around 1969 or 1970 and I was 12 or 13yrs, so my memory is a little hazy. |
I refuse to believe you're a day over 30 RudeBoy! |
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pietillidie
Joined: 07 Jan 2005
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| Excellent read again Magpie Greg. |
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