How did you come to the club

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I grew up in a non-aligned family with St Kilda sympathies. My Dad followed St Kilda in the 60s, but lost interest after their premiership and didn’t follow football through the 70s. He started watching football again in the mid-80s, but didn’t support any team, just hated certain teams, namely Carlton, Collingwood, Hawthorn (and later West Coast and Port Adelaide), and loved watching them lose.

I was not really interested in football as a child, and nominally chose Collingwood to support as my best friend in pre-school did. I remember being happy that Collingwood beat Essendon in '91, but only because my friend was happy.

Then in Grade 3 or 4, I fell deeply in love with an Essendon supporter named Melissa. Given I was desperate to try and win her favour, I decided to support Essendon and considered it a sure-fire bet to win her over. It didn’t work. I was heartbroken and ended up moving to a new school the following year. I stubbornly decided to stick with Essendon, despite the rejection.

Similarly, and completely independent of my manipulative motivations, my sister, two years younger, had also decided to support Essendon. She did this to show solidarity with the sole-essendon supporting boy in a class of Collingwood/Carlton/Melbourne supporters, who she felt sorry for. She may have also had a crush on him too, but never admitted as much to me.

Over the next couple of years, my sister became a massive tomboy and became totally into footy, collecting footy cards and even joining an all-male under 11s footy team, where she played full-forward and was mercilessly teased as the only girl. I think she played for a couple years until the age girls were banned from playing.

I’m not sure when I went from nominally supporting Essendon to passionately supporting Essendon but it was sometime in grade 5 or 6. I think I was pulled along by my sister’s enthusiasm and I may have become competitive in seeking to know more about Essendon than she did, as I felt a bit dumb when she mentioned players like Wanganeen that I had never heard of it. I have no idea when I started to follow the team and get emotionally connected to win/losses. I remember being overseas with my parents in 1993 and asking an Australian we met whether we won the grand final or not, so it may not have been till 1994 that I got really into it. My dad would take me and my sister to our first game against Melbourne at the MCG when we got smashed by a bazillion points and Schwartz kicked a million goals. I remember also going to a Geelong game when Gary Ablett dominated us. I don’t remember what the first win I witnesses was, but I went to a string of losing games before I experienced a win. The passion developed quickly, (as did the hatred of Carlton), and I can remember rushing home from school on Anzac Day 1995 to listen to the final quarter of the famous draw, heart in my mouth and stomach churning the entire time.

Looking back, I suspect my Dad also probably hated Essendon, but he won’t admit it now out of respect to his kids. He comes along to Fark Carlton games and delights in Carlton loses, so I think he delights in seeing his kids happy the most.

Also many years later, in my mid-20s, I spotted Melissa at the train station in Essendon gear after an Etihad stadium match (having not seen her since I was 10). Predictably, she was not quite the goddess that my 10 year old self recalled. I think she hopped on a different train quite quickly, but I would have liked to have thanked her for the broken heart in grade 3, as it indirectly led me to support a great club that I’m very proud of, which has brought me so many happy memories in my life. I mean, imagine if she had supported Richmond???

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83

Oddly, my Dad barracked for South Melbourne, Mum for Richmond, oldest brother for St Kilda and older brother for Melbourne.

But when I was 6, I liked collecting and making model aeroplanes, particularly from WW2 (there was no internet back then) so it was only naturally drawn to the bombers.

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84

It was the Christmas holidays, 1978, I had just turned 5 years old. I was spending some of my holidays at my Aunts house (Hawthorn supporter) and was out the back playing with my two older cousins, when I was asked which Footy team I barracked for. I had no idea, so one of cousins told me he barrack for Fitzroy and that they were the best team ever. I was sold Fitzroy it was. He then spent ten minutes getting up his older sister that he had won and how useless she was. Oldest cousin then disappeared, with both of us thinking she had cracked it and left. My cousins and I continued playing and about 15 minutes later my older cousin came back. She once again asked me who I barracked for in the footy, I told her Fitzroy, she then produced a 20 cent bag of caramel whirls and said they were mine if I’d barrack for Essendon and the rest is history. It’s the best decision I have ever made.

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85

Basically, immigrant family grown up in Niddrie.

Left back to Europe at 6yrsold, came back here at 16 remaining a Bomber. That was a loooooong time ago...

Was great as a kid living in a suburb that was at least 80% Essendon.

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86

Chick i liked in primary school went for the Dons.


That's actually how I started following South Melbourne Hellas. Had a thing for Greek girls in those days.

Haha.
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By train.

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I forget these boards exist, but having stumbled across here now it was worth it. Some great stories!!

For me. 1st game I remember was 79 elimination final. Dad was a committed bomber, so it was always to be. His dad was Essendon, because his older brother played with Essendon after the war (I have no idea whether they were always Essendon, they grew up in Coburg).

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My dad was a terrible, terrible alcoholic who had an iron rule over my whole family. He was also an essendon supporter, although as the years and the beers took hold in not sure if he really remembered who he went for. Anyway, one night he came home from the pub pretty untidy even for his standards and came into me and my brothers room. We were kind of just getting into footy and had those scalens stickers spread out on the carpet. We had a fair few of the Melbourne stickers and thought Jacko was pretty cool as we knew him more for his antics than his footy. So dad goes, what have you got there, and we tell him it’s a sticker album and these are the stickers. Who do you support? Erm, the demons? More of a query than an answer. So dad goes off and soon comes back brandishing a 22, and goes, I repeat who do you go for? We gave the right answer this time as we knew who he went for, and after that it just became the bombers. Sad but true. Or at least it would be if it wasn’t a load of ■■■■. We were just two kids who made good decisions. I’ll get my bullet proof vest.

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Touche’

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Mid 70s, watching Sesame Street, Bert was wearing a red and black scarf, loved the colours, asked mum “are those colours a footy team”? She said that’s Essendon, that’s who I barrack for. Never looked back, never will.

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92

My grandpa moved from childers to mooney ponds, where my Dad was born in 1929. He grew up there so as locals they all supported the Bombers. After he married my Mum they moved up here to Clematis, where all us six kids were born. All bombers also. As a kid my brother and I played for the local side Emerald…bombers colours also…it was great. Ive got three boys so far…all bombers…although Im taking a 12 month self suspension at the moment in sympathy.

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93

My story will be unusual compared to everyone else’s, so I felt I should share it.

Some of you may know that I am from the U.S.; some of you may not.

My knowledge of the game goes back to the mid-1980s when the fledging ESPN network, struggling to find 24 hours of content, would begin airing VFL matches on weekend evenings, including the Grand Finals live.

This is ESPN’s Bob Ley presenting the 1985 GF with, of all people, Mike F-cking Fitzpatrick.

It’s possible I watched this with no knowledge of who Essendon was… but I will say this - even as an eight year-old in the American midwest, I know that I absolutely could not support any kind of team that wore brown and yellow.

Anyway, I forgot all about it… went to high school, went to university, and became addicted to two things at the same time - the internet and The Simpsons. I was a major contributor to the Simpsons Archive and other fansites to the point that I began to become known in fan circles. I struck up an online friendship with an Australian woman from Melbourne who had aspirations of being an animator… we got to know each other well and was as much of a superfan as I was. We managed to arrange a personal tour of Film Roman, who animated the show at that time, and got to see them working on episodes that wouldn’t air for several months. One of those was the Las Vegas episode. So we spent a week together in LA, and to say that there was a spark between us would be an understatement.

I was invited to Melbourne for the first time in 1999, in the heart of what ended up being a memorable footy season. I instantly recalled the sport I’d watched on TV years earlier and begged my eventual father-in-law to drag me out to one of those. Having two indifferent 20-something daughters, he hadn’t had much chance to see footy outside of his lounge room, so I talked him into it. I attended a Fremantle-Essendon match at the MCG that, ironically, was played on the 4th of July. As it turns out, he had seen Coleman in the flesh as a child, and grew up in Strathmore with Ken Fraser and Mark Harvey’s family as neighbors (watched Mark play as a little kid), so his Essendon cred was actually pretty impressive. I decided I wanted to follow the sport from that day forward and that I was gonna follow Essendon.

I emigrated to Australia in 2002 and stayed for seven years. During that time I got married at Rosalyn Court, bought several memberships, introduced several American relatives to the sport, and found the Essendon “grog squad”. My first year or so I had been feeling pretty isolated and embarrassed from George W era politics and a lot of other things… the footy gave me a social outlet and introduced me to some people that I now consider lifelong friends, even if our paths don’t cross as much anymore. They didn’t care who I was or where I came from; they just embraced me as another person in the Essendon family.

Circumstances brought me back here later, but I haven’t lost my interest one bit… I’ve even played the game a little in a very successful and well-organised local competition. I was lucky enough to see the boys train in Boulder, Colorado a few autumns ago and get several autographs.

I have to admit I look through a very different lense these days considering all that has happened. I think I’m actually relieved in a sense I’ve been away as I might not have handled it particularly well.

3 Likes
94

Fitzpatrick looks like Beavis with a mo & specs. … or maybe it’s Butthead …

95
My story will be unusual compared to everyone else's, so I felt I should share it.

Some of you may know that I am from the U.S.; some of you may not.

My knowledge of the game goes back to the mid-1980s when the fledging ESPN network, struggling to find 24 hours of content, would begin airing VFL matches on weekend evenings, including the Grand Finals live.

This is ESPN’s Bob Ley presenting the 1985 GF with, of all people, Mike F-cking Fitzpatrick.

It’s possible I watched this with no knowledge of who Essendon was… but I will say this - even as an eight year-old in the American midwest, I know that I absolutely could not support any kind of team that wore brown and yellow.

Anyway, I forgot all about it… went to high school, went to university, and became addicted to two things at the same time - the internet and The Simpsons. I was a major contributor to the Simpsons Archive and other fansites to the point that I began to become known in fan circles. I struck up an online friendship with an Australian woman from Melbourne who had aspirations of being an animator… we got to know each other well and was as much of a superfan as I was. We managed to arrange a personal tour of Film Roman, who animated the show at that time, and got to see them working on episodes that wouldn’t air for several months. One of those was the Las Vegas episode. So we spent a week together in LA, and to say that there was a spark between us would be an understatement.

I was invited to Melbourne for the first time in 1999, in the heart of what ended up being a memorable footy season. I instantly recalled the sport I’d watched on TV years earlier and begged my eventual father-in-law to drag me out to one of those. Having two indifferent 20-something daughters, he hadn’t had much chance to see footy outside of his lounge room, so I talked him into it. I attended a Fremantle-Essendon match at the MCG that, ironically, was played on the 4th of July. As it turns out, he had seen Coleman in the flesh as a child, and grew up in Strathmore with Ken Fraser and Mark Harvey’s family as neighbors (watched Mark play as a little kid), so his Essendon cred was actually pretty impressive. I decided I wanted to follow the sport from that day forward and that I was gonna follow Essendon.

I emigrated to Australia in 2002 and stayed for seven years. During that time I got married at Rosalyn Court, bought several memberships, introduced several American relatives to the sport, and found the Essendon “grog squad”. My first year or so I had been feeling pretty isolated and embarrassed from George W era politics and a lot of other things… the footy gave me a social outlet and introduced me to some people that I now consider lifelong friends, even if our paths don’t cross as much anymore. They didn’t care who I was or where I came from; they just embraced me as another person in the Essendon family.

Circumstances brought me back here later, but I haven’t lost my interest one bit… I’ve even played the game a little in a very successful and well-organised local competition. I was lucky enough to see the boys train in Boulder, Colorado a few autumns ago and get several autographs.

I have to admit I look through a very different lense these days considering all that has happened. I think I’m actually relieved in a sense I’ve been away as I might not have handled it particularly well.

That’s a brilliant story Stealth…thanks for sharing.
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96

My father was a fiery red head, One of 12 Children, 8 of them boys and the youngest. He had a run with the reserves back in the 30’s, the story goes that he didn’t like where he was selected, so went back to play with his mates at Flem-Kensington.
We went to Windy Hill a few times together, in the outer next to the tin shed. One of the times against Collingwood, a couple of very large men got on dads goat, and one poked dad in the chest, he warned them, he did it again, it was on, I was about 12 then and the best I could do was grab one of their legs and hang on.
When I was about 15, I had started work and I smoked, never at home, I thought nobody new, Ha ha. Anyway we went this particular day and I forgot I was with the Old Man, dragged out a ■■■, lit up, then realized what I’d done. I thought he would kill me, but he never said a word.
One of my nephews, Mark Ellis had a tryout with the seconds, but didn’t make it. I think all of my aunts and uncles followed the Bombers, except the Preece’s? who were tied up with Nth somehow.
Go Dons.

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97

Just wondering how others became Bomber fans.

As a West Aussies kid I supported one of the local WAFL teams. In the mid-60s the ABC began broadcasting a VFL game each Saturday morning and this piqued my interest. But who to barrack for was the issue. So I decided that I would buy a packet of Scanlen’s footy cards and support whichever team was represented by the first card in the pack. Out popped Ted Fordham and 56 years later…

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I assume I was brainwashed by my old man…I do not remember a time when I did not knowingly barrack for The Bombers.

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If I wanted to go to the footy, I had to go with my dad…and my brother. I was 6. His father was an ex-committeeman and life member. That was only for a few years though as my grandmother died when I was 11.

We used to drop in at the grandparents’ for lunch opposite Queens Park in Moonee Ponds and walk to the game.

All my elder sister’s friends were Saints fans, but she quickly realised that if she wanted to come too, it was the Dons,

Unfortunately, 2 of the 3 youngest followed Geelong to please my mum, who really couldn’t give a toss about football. She had relatives play for Geelong, like the Bourkes and Barry Stoneham.

When they married, they were given a cat by Charles Brownlow’s family. It was gone by the time I arrived though.

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100

I grew up in a Collingwood family.

I was 6 years old during the 1990 grand final…… while watching the game at home, my whole family were drunk, loud and obnoxious.

In an act of rebellion, I told everyone I’m barracking for Essendon. At the end of the game, everyone was bagging me out……And told me I better swap over to Collingwood now they won the premiership. Which I refused.

I stayed with Essendon, Even tho my parents thought it was just a phase. Then to solidify my hatred of Collingwood, they took me to an Essendon vs Collingwood game in 1991 to try an convince me to swap back…… and it opened my eyes to the feral Collingwood filth. As those drunk idiots would give any child nightmares.

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