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A very good article on the old SFL from todays Age.
I was only a kid but i remember those crowds for the grand finals.
Sydney's beginnings were boom and crash
September 16, 2005
Sydney's football journey began long before the Swans. Steve Strevens remembers.
SYDNEY in the 1970s was a wonderful city in which to live. I shared a house in Paddington, which in those days was home to gatherings of hippies, where kaftans, beads and illegal substances were the norm.
It was a heady time ? the sun, the beaches, the pubs, the music.
Then there was football.
I played for South Sydney. Although nowhere near as successful as our rugby league counterparts, we were still the Rabbitohs, nonetheless.
An eclectic bunch, we attracted players who had stopped off on the then traditional journey around Australia. A couple came from South Australia, a few from the West and some from Tasmania. Most were from Victoria.
There was Peter Marks, who played for Fitzroy reserves and whose other claim to fame was to be beaten at the post by Jean Louis Ravelomanantsoa in the 1975 Stawell Gift.
Wayne Bruce, who we named Batman, obviously, had played with South Melbourne reserves while Bob Hankinson, our coach, had been at Collingwood.
As most games were played on Sundays, we would get together on Saturday afternoons and watch the live telecast of the VFL match of the day from Melbourne.
The standard of Sydney footy was pretty good in those days. Each club had VFL reserves players or some from the VFA. Indeed, the NSW team that was made up predominantly of players from the Sydney league, beat the VFL seconds by 77 points in 1972.
NSW was coached by former Richmond legend John "Swooper" Northey, who had been recruited by Western Suburbs, a club with the luxury of poker machines. Northey was a revelation, although a target for many unscrupulous opponents, who pounded him at every opportunity.
Former Carlton star Mark Maclure was a youngster at the time, having moved to Sydney with his father who was in the navy. Maclure played at Eastern Suburbs, and remembers receiving a good grounding in the rugged football environment. "They reckon it was as tough as the old VFA," he said this week.
There were many other identities. Sam Kekovich coached Newtown in his inimitable style, as did Alan Joyce before taking Hawthorn to a flag. Steve Rixon played for St George before saving his hands for wicketkeeping.
Our games were played on grounds surrounded by proper fences; with gates and turnstiles and old brick grandstands. Not that we had a huge following, although grand finals were played in front of 12,000-strong crowds.
Maclure was right. Some games were brutal, especially those against Balmain at Leichardt Oval. On one occasion, I was decked behind the play, whereupon Mick Lumsden came rushing towards the culprit, dived over my prostrate body and delivered his form of retribution.
An all-in brawl ensued, which included our president, the one-legged Jack Armstrong, who hopped over the fence and charged as fast as he could towards the fight, waving his crutches to anyone within range.
We reached the finals in 1974 and Inside Football called us the Foreign Legion. One of our less well-credentialled recruits, football wise, was Marty Rhone, who, after recording Denim and Lace, decided to top off his career by playing with us. Marty played only seconds, but he certainly attracted the women.
Then in the next few years, things began to change. South Sydney folded, as did a few other clubs. The TV broadcasts moved to the middle of the night.
The Swans came in 1982 and we thought that with them would come a renewal of the competition. Nothing much happened. Clubs still folded or amalgamated and many of the grounds were rationalised. Trumper Park, home to Easts, became inner-city parkland. West's ground, Picken Oval, had the fences and changing rooms demolished. And Paddington changed dramatically. too.
The locals stayed but the rest of us moved back home to states where footy was appreciated more.
But we never forgot those years; everyone's second team is the Swans. Each time they play, we remember what it was like before them. We still hope that Sydney will embrace football in general ? not only the Swans ? and that it gains rather than loses more local following.
And in far-flung corners of the country tonight, no matter who we barrack for, we will be urging the Swans to victory and smiling at our memories.
I was only a kid but i remember those crowds for the grand finals.
Sydney's beginnings were boom and crash
September 16, 2005
Sydney's football journey began long before the Swans. Steve Strevens remembers.
SYDNEY in the 1970s was a wonderful city in which to live. I shared a house in Paddington, which in those days was home to gatherings of hippies, where kaftans, beads and illegal substances were the norm.
It was a heady time ? the sun, the beaches, the pubs, the music.
Then there was football.
I played for South Sydney. Although nowhere near as successful as our rugby league counterparts, we were still the Rabbitohs, nonetheless.
An eclectic bunch, we attracted players who had stopped off on the then traditional journey around Australia. A couple came from South Australia, a few from the West and some from Tasmania. Most were from Victoria.
There was Peter Marks, who played for Fitzroy reserves and whose other claim to fame was to be beaten at the post by Jean Louis Ravelomanantsoa in the 1975 Stawell Gift.
Wayne Bruce, who we named Batman, obviously, had played with South Melbourne reserves while Bob Hankinson, our coach, had been at Collingwood.
As most games were played on Sundays, we would get together on Saturday afternoons and watch the live telecast of the VFL match of the day from Melbourne.
The standard of Sydney footy was pretty good in those days. Each club had VFL reserves players or some from the VFA. Indeed, the NSW team that was made up predominantly of players from the Sydney league, beat the VFL seconds by 77 points in 1972.
NSW was coached by former Richmond legend John "Swooper" Northey, who had been recruited by Western Suburbs, a club with the luxury of poker machines. Northey was a revelation, although a target for many unscrupulous opponents, who pounded him at every opportunity.
Former Carlton star Mark Maclure was a youngster at the time, having moved to Sydney with his father who was in the navy. Maclure played at Eastern Suburbs, and remembers receiving a good grounding in the rugged football environment. "They reckon it was as tough as the old VFA," he said this week.
There were many other identities. Sam Kekovich coached Newtown in his inimitable style, as did Alan Joyce before taking Hawthorn to a flag. Steve Rixon played for St George before saving his hands for wicketkeeping.
Our games were played on grounds surrounded by proper fences; with gates and turnstiles and old brick grandstands. Not that we had a huge following, although grand finals were played in front of 12,000-strong crowds.
Maclure was right. Some games were brutal, especially those against Balmain at Leichardt Oval. On one occasion, I was decked behind the play, whereupon Mick Lumsden came rushing towards the culprit, dived over my prostrate body and delivered his form of retribution.
An all-in brawl ensued, which included our president, the one-legged Jack Armstrong, who hopped over the fence and charged as fast as he could towards the fight, waving his crutches to anyone within range.
We reached the finals in 1974 and Inside Football called us the Foreign Legion. One of our less well-credentialled recruits, football wise, was Marty Rhone, who, after recording Denim and Lace, decided to top off his career by playing with us. Marty played only seconds, but he certainly attracted the women.
Then in the next few years, things began to change. South Sydney folded, as did a few other clubs. The TV broadcasts moved to the middle of the night.
The Swans came in 1982 and we thought that with them would come a renewal of the competition. Nothing much happened. Clubs still folded or amalgamated and many of the grounds were rationalised. Trumper Park, home to Easts, became inner-city parkland. West's ground, Picken Oval, had the fences and changing rooms demolished. And Paddington changed dramatically. too.
The locals stayed but the rest of us moved back home to states where footy was appreciated more.
But we never forgot those years; everyone's second team is the Swans. Each time they play, we remember what it was like before them. We still hope that Sydney will embrace football in general ? not only the Swans ? and that it gains rather than loses more local following.
And in far-flung corners of the country tonight, no matter who we barrack for, we will be urging the Swans to victory and smiling at our memories.
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