Vale #23,#25 Mick Twomey (1931-2015)

[WhyPhilWhy?]

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2015-12-16/vale-mick-twomey

[ronrat]

Vale indeed. Another legend who goes on having kick to kick with Bob Rose. Condolescenes to family

[BazBoy]

First Grand Final I attended was 1953 and saw you play a great game Mick.
You and all those Magpie,s that day started a love of Collingwood.

R.I.P

[Dr Pie]

A dual Premiership player. We haven't had one of those for over 50 years. The Twomey family were great warriors for Collingwood. Vale Mick Twomey.

[sem]

i saw him play and he was good and his brother Bill was even better .

i think Bill was also a captain at Collingwood .

Two greats of the club who really played for the jumper .

That is a term not used today but it means they bled black and white

[Woods]

This appeared in the Sporting Globe on 4 Apr 1951 after a practice match, and just before Mick Twomey’s first game for Collingwood in the home-and-away round of that year.

MAGPIES NEW FIND
Collingwood have another Phonse Kyne in young Mick Twomey and when he learns some of Kyne's artful tricks he may be even better.
Twomey gave a great display of ruck play on Saturday, and on his showing should "walk" into the Magpie team for the first match.
He took some glorious fingertip marks, and his hitting out to the rovers was equal to any of the good ruckmen playing today. Young Twomey will be the fourth member of his family to strip with the mighty Magpies.
His brothers, Bill and Pat (now with Warragul) have been stars with Collingwood in recent seasons, and his father, Bill sen., was a champion of many years ago.
Mick is unlike his brothers in two ways—his build and his kicking. He is only 19 years of age, 6 ft. 1 1/2 in., and nearly 14 stone, and kicks with his right foot. Both Bill and Pat are left-footers.

As for Mick’s father, Bill, he went on to coach Ballarat after his Collingwood days. This is from an article in the Argus of 17 June 1950.

Bill Twomey, one of the best known names in football, is the new coach at Ballarat. Bill was a great player for Collingwood, where his performances on the wing are still remembered. He was also a grand runner, winning the Stawell Gift.

His son Mick played under his father in that year.

What a great Collingwood pedigree.

RIP Mick.

[sem]

Amazing WOODS

SO how did you manage to get the articles from that great newspaper

" THE SPORTING GLOBE"

i like reading articles like that and brings back memories of the great players of the past .

i remember going to VIC PARK one Thursday night to watch the players train and i was sitting next to Harry Collier . He must have then been in his 80's and the way he talked you could see that he would have given anything he had to go out there and play and put the JUMPER on again .

[Woods]

sem,

The National Library of Australia has scanned and digitised old Australian newspapers and made them searchable on the internet, and for free.

Most Vic newspapers are there : Age, Argus, Herald, Sporting Globe and lots of country papers too.

Here's the search page: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/search?adv=y

Enjoy filling the pre-season void with some great Collingwood stories from the past.

[3.14159]

"6 foot 1 (and a 1/2) and equal to any of the good ruckman going around todae (then)".
The Twomeys are legends of the club.
I doubt we will ever see 4 brothers play at the club again.
As long as there is a Collingwood these boys will be remembered with pride.

[partypie]

[ronrat]

I love reading the old papers on the nla website (discovered my mums squeaky clean family was not so)

On reading the war record of my great uncle we were surprised to find he was admitted to a VD clinic in Britain in 1918. He was on leave from France.
My Dad said he was that straight laced his only son (killed in WW11)and his nephews had to call him Mr Gibbs and wore a tie and jacket to the dinner table.

[Woods]

Just leafing through the newspapers from the Twomey’ bother's time at Collingwood and found that at just 26 years of age other clubs were already trying to poach Bill as a coach. This is from the Age of 18 Feb 1954:

Stawell Hopes for Bill Twomey Fade

By Percy Beames

Collingwood centreman, Bill Twomey, told Stawell officials this week not to count on him to fill its coaching position for the 1954 season.

Stawell Football Club, having failed to secure the services of Association star ruckman Frank Johnson, wants Twomey as playing coach. Officials of the Stawell club have told Twomey that, if he can gain a clearance from Collingwood, Stawell will pay him £30 a week and set him up in a milk- bar business in the town.

Twomey has told Collingwood's secretary (Mr. G. Carlyon) of the offer. But it is not his intention at the moment to apply for a clearance.

Twomey said last night that he was interested in the offer, but he would like to play another year with Collingwood. After another season he would become eligible for life membership. Twomey attaches great importance to the winning and holding of that life membership honor. Once that is gained he would still have plenty of time to accept coaching offers.

He is only 26 years old, and last season was one of the best he has given Col lingwood.

Brother Also

Pat Twomey, brother of Bill, may also receive an attractive coaching offer.

He is wanted by the Corowa Football Club.

Permission to interview Pat Twomey will be sought by the Corowa club this week from Collingwood.

It is understood Corowa would pay Pat £2 5 a week and place him in a good position, or start him off in a business.

What a tantalising lure! - thirty quid a week and a milk bar. Wonder what old Bill made of free agency and the offers that are thrown around today by AFL clubs (eg. Buddy’s $10 mill deal).

The thing that comes through time and time again in these old news reports is the unbreakable loyalty these men had for the Collingwood Football Club. They lived a life that today is seen as one of extraordinary commitment, and it was, but to them it was simply their personal values.

Speaking of club loyalty, check out this story from the Argus of 27 Aug 1954 about one of Bill Twomey’s team mates, Lou Richards, who had just retired. This story would also make a great framed print, with its excellent layout, photography and caricatures. Here’s the link (its too long to repeat here). Hope it works:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/71676263?searchTerm="lou richards"&searchLimits=exactPhrase=lou+richards|||anyWords|||notWords|||requestHandler|||dateFrom=1955-08-01|||dateTo=1955-08-31|||l-advstate=Victoria|||sortby=dateAsc

[sem]

Amazing article .

i might give up watching the magpies after doing so since 1956 and just read the old newspaper articles .

Doing that will be less stressful .

Thanks again WOODS

[partypie]

The story about Lou Richards is gold. Hint - click on the PDFs button at the top left of the page, it is much easier to read

[Neil Appleby]