I can remember falling asleep under a table in the upstairs players disco after wins. Running onto the ground on the siren to pat players on the back & get autographs (I had nearly every player in the VFL) & then going down in the rooms after games. I even remember my sister coming with me & players walking around naked after showering & nobody seemed to care. I remember being no more than 20m from Madden when he took that screamer & you can see me if you freeze the footage as well as when Jacko threw the beer can out of the ground. I remember carrying the blanket around at half time dodging high velocity coins being thrown at my head & feral opposition supporters spitting (Collingwood & Richmond were the worst) & I remember the day the Collingwood cheer squad set fire to the cut up yellow pages they’d thrown. I remember the little room just off the race where we used to keep all the flags, floggers, paddies & the banner before the game. I remember the guy who used to stand in front of the Hird stand fully kitted up in shorts jumper & boots no matter how cold - Dad would tell me he was ready just in case we needed an extra player. I remember people climbing trees & fences, hanging off the side of the scoreboard to get a better view & crowds that seemed to bulge out of the stadium. I remember Cpt Billy Larkins (captain of the drinking team) who had his own spot in the social club bar & I remember how good a raspberry lemonade tasted after a day of yelling. One of my best memories was running into Simon Madden in the hallway after a game & he lifted me up over his arm to sign my jumper. I thought I was 10ft off the ground!
I know I’m extremely lucky for the footy experiences I had & know my kids will never come close to that connection to the club which is sad.
Great memories JBOMBER. We forget how accessible the players were at Windy Hill after a match. You left out the raffle that was held at half time, with club officials carrying a blanket around where people would throw coins into. The prize, a colour TV. I’m sure this was running right up until we left Windy Hill in 1992.
The blanket was for the cheer squad to pay for the banners etc, that was me most weeks risking life & limb . I always get a giggle out of the fact that they still raffle a TV at every home game & still promote the fact its a “colour TV” as if there’s any other option. We always give Stretch a hard time when he’s carrying around the winning number at 3qtr time.
Yes, a lady in my row about 10 years ago started screaming & yelling out to the guy with the sign asking where to get her new TV. She may have been a club plant. I’ve never seen anyone on the train carrying one so I’m still suspect.
Dad dragging me out there from Frankston every home game
Taking your own fold up chair for the outer wing and being 5 years old not being able to see much , so the old granny’s on the fence put you on their knee.
West coasts first time at windy hill . And subsequent fights between players and crowd years later
The peanut man , the donuts just the best atmosphere for a kid to grow up in.
Side note my best day was at Moorabbin the day the 4 danihers played. Craig o brien was my mates godfather so we got to go in before at halftime and after the game . I really miss the suburban grounds
That’s quite a long haul from Frankston. Growing up in Aspendale, a trip to Windy Hill was a stretch too far. When old enough to drive I made it to two games. One in 1979 was memorable as I made it into the rooms. After flogging Melbourne a mate and I tried our luck at the Melbourne race. Fortunately Sam Allica, the Melbourne runner who we both knew snuck us into the rooms. Side note: As far as I know Sam is the only runner to have been suspended. Legend.
Ditterich was unloading on the players as they had just been delivered a hiding. He demanded that all the players turn up to some pub after they left. He particularly pointed to O’Donnell (Kelly?) to turn up. I assumed he must have been a laggard when it came to after game drinking. Poor show.
We rode our luck and made it through to the Essendon rooms where the mood was considerably lighter. I remember being somewhat shocked at the sight of Crackers Keenan walking around in a towel with a durry hanging from his mouth. Here was me thinking they were finely tuned athletes!
After such success we continued to ride our luck and tried to talk our way into the Social Club, explaining that I had driven from Mildura to see the game, which was true. It worked and before we knew we were drinking in the Social Club as the players came up. I spoke to Neil Besanko, reminding him that he coached me at the Mordialloc Under 14s some years back. My underwhelming games in the forward pocket didn’t jolt his memory but he was pleasant and indulged us for a few minutes. Losing the Grand Final that year probably scarred him. Understandable.
That was the last time I went to see a game.
After all of that the two of wandered up to the Bricklayer’s Arms. One look inside was enough to show we were out of our league and we quickly left. Quit while you are in front.
Did well to sneak into the social club. It was a mongrel drive with no freeways but I wouldn’t change a thing . You didn’t play with Peter Hess at mordialloc by any chance?
Originally had reserved seats in the stand over the gym complex ( forget the name of the stand) We sat behind the late Brad Robinson (from Australian Crawl ) and his then wife Kerry Armstrong
also had a job as a kid on the gate of the carpark opposite the ground. Most people would ignore me and drive in anyway. There were 2 who didn’t and were always polite, Johnny Young and peter McKenna
I remember going to games with my mate Davo and taking in an esky, in the days before they banned that sort of thing and him piercing my ear while waiting for the gates to open, just because. I distinctly remember wanting to seriously injure an umpire one day, the cheating prick destroyed us. They ended up surrounding him with the police horses because he was going to get lynched if they didn’t.
I also remember watching a game from on top of the roof of the Alan T. Hird stand with my older brother and a couple of his mates. Watched the entire game from up there and got busted climbing down when it had finished for which we were promptly banned from the ground for life. Good thing 13 yo me didn’t look anything like 18 yo me, plus I don’t think they were that serious, didn’t even take our names.
Unfortunately I never had the chance to have too many memories of the ground, I spent about half my first 18 years living interstate, another 2 living in Portland and the old man was a truckie and was almost never home to take me to a game. It wasn’t until I started working that I started to go to games but even that was only 3 or 4 home games a year, then I moved to Sydney as a 21yo and then to Perth in 1993 (left my mother queuing at Windy Hill for her GF tickets when we started driving to Perth, destroyed me that I couldn’t stay) where I have spent the last 28 years. Luckily I have had the opportunity to watch the boys at multiple other grounds over the years. Blacktown, Showgrounds, SCG, Football Park, Subiaco, Optus Stadium, Etihad, MCG, South Melbourne, VFL Park, Princes Park, Arden Street. Hopefully in the years to come, I can cover off a few others as well.
. I always get a giggle out of the fact that they still raffle a TV at every home game & still promote the fact its a “colour TV” as if there’s any other option. We always give Stretch a hard time when he’s carrying around the winning number at 3qtr time.