Match thread: Swans v Dockers.

[KSAS]

I'm also old South fan in my early 60's and still marvel how good the club is now when compared to the many dark days at the Lakeside Oval when a win felt like a flag! It built resilience and fierce loyality for the love of my club. It has helped me slowly get over last year's GF debacle.

[Sandridge]

As an old South fan like yourself ( a wee bit older), I still have mental scare tissue from all those losses. I still fear the worst and so get a huge kick out of each win we have. The 2 flags I have seen were like manna from heaven. Wouldn't mind seeing one more!

So true, BF! Never thought I'd live to see one Premiership, let alone 2. All those losses we endured as South Melbourne supporters make us so grateful that our club is now in such a great position on and off the field.

One of the games I remember the most from those horror South Melbourne years was a game in 1973 when we beat Geelong at the Lake Oval to end a 29 game losing streak!! Was anyone else there that day, too?
With the crowd reaction after the game, you would've thought we'd won the Premiership!!

[Sandridge]

I'm also old South fan in my early 60's and still marvel how good the club is now when compared to the many dark days at the Lakeside Oval when a win felt like a flag! It built resilience and fierce loyality for the love of my club. It has helped me slowly get over last year's GF debacle.

Yep! Those of us who are old enough to remember those days and stuck with the club can only marvel at where our beloved team is now!

[Blood Fever]

So true, BF! Never thought I'd live to see one Premiership, let alone 2. All those losses we endured as South Melbourne supporters make us so grateful that our club is now in such a great position on and off the field.

One of the games I remember the most from those horror South Melbourne years was a game in 1973 when we beat Geelong at the Lake Oval to end a 29 game losing streak!! Was anyone else there that day, too?
With the crowd reaction after the game, you would've thought we'd won the Premiership!!

Was there. Graeme John coach?

[KSAS]

Was there. Graeme John coach?

Yep, he was.. My memory was the crowd storming onto the ground at the final siren (myself included) & players having difficulty getting to the rooms. What sticks in my mind is seeing Peter Bedford walking towards the race whilst dragging a young woman, who was hanging onto him in a tight embrace!

I don't have much recollection of the game itself, other than Gary Brice played like a gladiator to my young impressionable eyes.

Apologies for hijacking this thread, as it probably deserves to be in the reminiscent/history thread instead.

[Blood Fever]

Can't remember the details of the game. Remember being on the ground after the game with my brother.

[Sandridge]

Like you BF and KSAS, I don't remember the game itself, other than the fact that we had a comfortable lead in the last quarter so we could just lap up the fact that a horrendous run of losses was about to end.

Like you both, though, I clearly remember being on the ground after the game. I managed to get relatively close to Graeme John as he made his way from the coach's box on the bowling green side of the ground to the clubrooms on the opposite side. He was mobbed by South fans and his progress to the rooms was very, very slow!

I also remember seeing a man who, to 16 year old me, seemed quite old. (Looking back, he was probably only 40 or 50!) He was celebrating with the cheer squad, jumping up and down, belting out the club song and bawling his eyes out. I will never forget his face!

[Blood Fever]

Like you BF and KSAS, I don't remember the game itself, other than the fact that we had a comfortable lead in the last quarter so we could just lap up the fact that a horrendous run of losses was about to end.

Like you both, though, I clearly remember being on the ground after the game. I managed to get relatively close to Graeme John as he made his way from the coach's box on the bowling green side of the ground to the clubrooms on the opposite side. He was mobbed by South fans and his progress to the rooms was very, very slow!

I also remember seeing a man who, to 16 year old me, seemed quite old. (Looking back, he was probably only 40 or 50!) He was celebrating with the cheer squad, jumping up and down, belting out the club song and bawling his eyes out. I will never forget his face!

Hope he was still around in 2005!

[Velour&Ruffles]

Magnificent stuff KSAS, BF and Sandridge - I loved hearing this. As a very young boy I recall being at the old Lakeside Oval for a game against Geelong, but I couldn't swear it was this one. It may have been a practice game - I recall the scores being incredibly high.

I do remember a game where we beat Carlton and everyone was beside themselves with excitement. Any thoughts about what that might have been? [Probably does belong on the Reminiscing thread now]

[Roadrunner]

Yep! Those of us who are old enough to remember those days and stuck with the club can only marvel at where our beloved team is now!

When we won a game, it felt like winning the flag! I remember when Ian Stewart was our coach and we were playing Collingwood in our next game. We weren’t given even half a chance- even the most optimistic of supporters wrote us off. I was at my lawyers’ office in his reception area and there was Ian, writing in a notebook. I sat down next to him and we started chatting- I told him I had red and white blood but we were going to get a bath from the Pies. He said no, we will win because look at the team and who we’ll have playing covering their key players and so on. After about 10 minutes listening to him I started to regain a bit of belief.

Sure enough, it went pretty much as he said it would and we beat Collingwood against all expectations! I’ll never forget the feeling………..

[Blood Fever]

Magnificent stuff KSAS, BF and Sandridge - I loved hearing this. As a very young boy I recall being at the old Lakeside Oval for a game against Geelong, but I couldn't swear it was this one. It may have been a practice game - I recall the scores being incredibly high.

I do remember a game where we beat Carlton and everyone was beside themselves with excitement. Any thoughts about what that might have been? [Probably does belong on the Reminiscing thread now]

Could have been 1967?

[KSAS]

Magnificent stuff KSAS, BF and Sandridge - I loved hearing this. As a very young boy I recall being at the old Lakeside Oval for a game against Geelong, but I couldn't swear it was this one. It may have been a practice game - I recall the scores being incredibly high.

I do remember a game where we beat Carlton and everyone was beside themselves with excitement. Any thoughts about what that might have been? [Probably does belong on the Reminiscing thread now]

Hi V&R,
We played Geelong in a 50 goal shoot out at the Lakeside Oval in 1978, which we lost by 12 points (26.11 167 to our 24.11.155). 4th Highest ever scoring game. Could this be the one? (There's highlights of this game on YouTube).

I do recall 4 years earlier in 1974 we defeated Carlton at home unexpectedly. as they were a powerhouse then. I searched to find we won by 21 points, 14.17 101 to 11.14 80.

[Blood Fever]

When we won a game, it felt like winning the flag! I remember when Ian Stewart was our coach and we were playing Collingwood in our next game. We weren’t given even half a chance- even the most optimistic of supporters wrote us off. I was at my lawyers’ office in his reception area and there was Ian, writing in a notebook. I sat down next to him and we started chatting- I told him I had red and white blood but we were going to get a bath from the Pies. He said no, we will win because look at the team and who we’ll have playing covering their key players and so on. After about 10 minutes listening to him I started to regain a bit of belief.

Sure enough, it went pretty much as he said it would and we beat Collingwood against all expectations! I’ll never forget the feeling………..

Great story. Sounds like 1977?

[Sandridge]

Magnificent stuff KSAS, BF and Sandridge - I loved hearing this. As a very young boy I recall being at the old Lakeside Oval for a game against Geelong, but I couldn't swear it was this one. It may have been a practice game - I recall the scores being incredibly high.

I do remember a game where we beat Carlton and everyone was beside themselves with excitement. Any thoughts about what that might have been? [Probably does belong on the Reminiscing thread now]

Don't know how old you are V and R or how long you've supported the Bloods but is it possible that it's our game from Round 7, 1970? We had won a few games before this round but a 77 pt win win against the Carlton powerhouse showed we were the real deal. We went on to make the finals for the first time since 1933. (Carlton went on to win the flag, unfortunately.) I tried posting the details of this game but wasn't successful. If you go to AustralianFootball.com you can search teams and games from any VFL/AFL season.

[crackedactor 01]

As my first game I attended as a kid, I remember South Melbourne beating top of the ladder Collingwood by a point in 1970. Stevie Hoffman kicked the last goal and Peter Mckenna took a mark after the siren. Celebrations were big and a lot of angry Collingwood supporters.