Why do YOU support the Swans?

[dimelb]

Know it's pedantic Barry, but it is 'gnashing' of teeth. Didn't know you were a biblical scholar!

Off topic but it always reminds me of Dave Allen.
Hot gospeller: "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!"
Voice from the back: "Wot about them as has no teeth?"
Hot gospeller: "Teeth will be PROVIDED!"

I guess there would have been more gnashing in the food queue than about the football.

[Doctor J.]

I like reading the stories on here about Sydney based, or more broadly non Victorian supporters journey from interested observer>fan>supporter>member>rusted on Swan for life.

Melbourne based fans stories are not as interesting, mostly they are nth (insert a number between 2 and 6) generation supporters, which is not really making a choice, its being indoctrinated, but Sydney fans have generally made a choice to do this, so to me there is a lot more interest in their stories.

[barry]

Until recently there wasn't much choice for a new Sydney based fan.

I've always wondered where the first couple of thousand GWS fans (like hard core, cheer squad types) came from. They just appeared out of nowhere.

[Maltopia]

I spent my first five years in Sydney after arriving as a five year old from overseas. Either during those years or after coming to WA, I remember watching some games on TV and seeing Warwick Capper etc. kick 200 points in something like 3 games out of 5 and it was very exciting.

I didn't really start to follow AFL until much later in life, and it was the memories of Capper mostly that drew me to the Swans initially. Then over the years, watching some really tough players like Kelly, and Kirk and the 2006 and 2007 GFs with the Eagles that got me starting to really follow them instead of the Dockers, especially at the start of the magic 2012 season.

I have enjoyed watching the Swans these last five years mostly, except for last year when the expectation was so high that the close losses really got annoying, and also the biassed umpiring (we only won one free kick count against a Victorian team last year, and that was Essendon who was still in the doghouse). After the continuing free kick bias against the Bulldogs in round 1, I stopped watching all AFL for about ten weeks and have only just started watching again, and these last few weeks have been very enjoyable.

[Swansinger]

Haven't we done this many times ??
Never mind - I've had a glass of JD , so I'm in the mood to reminisce:

10th August , 1997 . My mate was studying and could not get to the game.
So he lent me his season ticket.
Leo Barry was still playing forward !

Round 19 1997 Sydney v St Kilda - FinalSiren.com

We lost.
But that didn't really matter.
I have never taken hard drugs , but I'm guessing I felt like someone who became addicted , after their very first hit of crack cocaine.

The atmosphere at the SCG was far better than at any NRL game .
I felt it was close to what I was accustomed to at the English football matches of my youth (without the threat of being stabbed).

Obviously , with the Swans being the only team in town , that was a huge factor in supporting them.
Had I settled first in Melbourne , I would have followed the Dogs (humble background , so have an affinity with strugglers) or the Tigers(best fans in the AFL , bar none).

[Hotpotato]

I grew up in the Northern Territory, in Darwin and we played tennis, rode our bikes, played golf, the three Musketeers and Aussie Rules.
It was a memorable outdoor, adventurous and happy childhood.

My old man was the sole Inspector of Primary Schools for the whole of the NT.
He was pretty good at sport and took a very keen interest in the development of Aussie Rules in the schools and particular interest in the aboriginal kids who loved the game.

He had to go on many long trips alone to all the outback schools .
Prior to one trip , the sports master in Darwin requested him to take some brand new Sherrins to all the schools he was going to .
They would be all pumped up ready for the kids to use them .
Naturally he agreed and into the back of his Holden were placed 100 or so brand new tight Sherrins .

A long way down the Stuart Highway at around 2.30am in the morning (he hadn't found a hotel/motel open ) he pulled off the road to grab some shuteye.

He crawled back on top of the footballs but had a great deal of trouble getting to sleep because it was impossible to get comfortable .
He became more and more disgruntled and opened the back door to try and rearrange things .

Of course half the footballs tumbled out .
This made him really mad, so he grabbed one of them and gave it an almighty kick across the Stuart Highway into the donga.

Feeling guilty , he trudged after it to retrieve the ball that belonged to one of the schools he was inspecting .

He was dressed in a white singlet and white boxer underpants .

He located the ball under the half moon, and started back. At that exact moment a road train appeared out of nowhere bearing down on him, he stepped back and looked up at the totally spooked out driver who was convinced he'd seen a ghost with a football.

The driver slammed on the brakes and the truck came to a screaming halt.

Dad walked up and peered up at the frightened driver.

What the hell are you doin man ?

I was fetching my football . I kicked it over the highway.

Why would you be kicking a football at 2.30 in the mornin?

I couldn't sleep, my car is over there.

It really didn't matter what the old man said, the truckie thought he was another Territorian Nutter on the loose .

Dad pulled into a hotel a couple of years later and the boys at the bar were engrossed in a story being told by a truckie....

.... " and out of the darkness this apparition appears in a white singlet and white boxer shorts holding a football..... "

Dad played for Sturt later on in Adelaide, I barracked for Wests.

I moved to Sydney in 1968 and couldn't get into League or Union .

When South Melbourne relocated in 82, I was very happy to start folllowing them ...

The wife is a convert from Union, the kids are rusted on Swans fans.

We've been to all the Grand Finals except 2012, when money was a bit tight .

We love it .

I run a bicycle tour biz in Sydney and often take clients to the footy as part of their Down Under experience .

[Meg]

Hotpotato, that story about your father is hilarious!

[Hotpotato]

Thanks Meg. It is a true story .

[Bill Posters]

My dad took me and my twin brother to the first Swans game in Sydney. I would have been about 4. Dad was from Melbourne and used to play footy and support the demons.

We used to go most weeks and sit on the Hill with a picnic. Me and my brother would jump up and down waving home made flags.

I remember one game against Geelong when a swannies player had booted a goal. It came flying through and down straight towards my brother. I thought he was a goner and then my Dad jumped up and took a chest mark right in front of him. Proudest moment of my life! Then he tried to boot it back through the goal and totally shanked it. Some bloke nearby told him he marked like a Swan but kicked like a Geelong player.

Been a massive fan ever since! Went solidly through the dark times but don't get the chance much any more as I have little kids and there are hardly any day games. Which is a pity, would love to shank a kick in front of my kids.

[jono2707]

I came on board in the early 90s just after I moved to Sydney - about 93 I reckon. I've followed AFL since growing up as a kid in the Riverina in the 70s, where league and Aussie rules were on a pretty equal footing. I played both as a youngster.

My beloved scarf also originates from about 93. It's been with me ever since, and has steadily accumulated pie stains, beer stains and a general air and odour of something you might find on the footpath outside a Salvos store. But I love it, and it tells the story of my journey with this team.

I got a 2012 Premiers scarf, but its only had a few outings. I want to get a Pride scarf too, but my beloved stained stinky pilled ratty Swans scarf will always be what comes with me to the footy.

[Mel]

I got a 2012 Premiers scarf, but its only had a few outings. I want to get a Pride scarf too, but my beloved stained stinky pilled ratty Swans scarf will always be what comes with me to the footy.

Mine dates from around 1995 and is similarly stained, sewed and showing many other signs of love over the years. I have the 2005 premiership scarf with all the players names on it, but have worn it to only two games, both of which were losses so it has a permanent home in my wardrobe now.

To add to my story as to why I'm such a rusted-on (to use the thread buzz word) fan: about 20 years ago the club was a much smaller, intimate kind of organisation. My dad arranged for my two favourite players of the time to call me and wish me a happy 21st birthday. If I wasn't already a Swan for life, that phone call (where I spent the first 5 minutes incredulous of the fact that I was actually speaking to Matthew Nicks and John Stevens) sealed the deal. It made my day/week/year. I'm a Swan for life.

[Boddo]

Since '82. Only side we got to see a full game of on tv every 2nd week. Missed all but the last few minutes of '06 due to travelling to fight. Lucky enough now that I have plenty of disposable time to enjoy every part of the game.

[mcs]

I came on board in the early 90s just after I moved to Sydney - about 93 I reckon. I've followed AFL since growing up as a kid in the Riverina in the 70s, where league and Aussie rules were on a pretty equal footing. I played both as a youngster.

My beloved scarf also originates from about 93. It's been with me ever since, and has steadily accumulated pie stains, beer stains and a general air and odour of something you might find on the footpath outside a Salvos store. But I love it, and it tells the story of my journey with this team.

I got a 2012 Premiers scarf, but its only had a few outings. I want to get a Pride scarf too, but my beloved stained stinky pilled ratty Swans scarf will always be what comes with me to the footy.

I'm glad its not only me that has an obsession with a beloved scarf!

Mine hasn't been on such a journey yet as yours Jono - only purchased in 2005 at my first live game. But its been to every game I've seen live, had plenty of beer stains, pie stains, tea stains (from tamer matches at home!), and various other things along the way. Some tears of joy in 2012 at my first taste of a Grand Final victory live as well!

When my better half (as she sometimes does!) suggests I should get a new scarf, my response is you don't throw out a dual premiership scarf until it is no longer fit for purpose! It is a bit tatty, has several unremovable stains (even though she has managed to convince me to wash it a couple of times in recent years) but it is an unremovable part of my Swannies story - if it doesn't disintegrate before said time, it'll go with me to my grave

[mcs]

I grew up in the Northern Territory, in Darwin and we played tennis, rode our bikes, played golf, the three Musketeers and Aussie Rules.
It was a memorable outdoor, adventurous and happy childhood.

My old man was the sole Inspector of Primary Schools for the whole of the NT.
He was pretty good at sport and took a very keen interest in the development of Aussie Rules in the schools and particular interest in the aboriginal kids who loved the game.

He had to go on many long trips alone to all the outback schools .
Prior to one trip , the sports master in Darwin requested him to take some brand new Sherrins to all the schools he was going to .
They would be all pumped up ready for the kids to use them .
Naturally he agreed and into the back of his Holden were placed 100 or so brand new tight Sherrins .

A long way down the Stuart Highway at around 2.30am in the morning (he hadn't found a hotel/motel open ) he pulled off the road to grab some shuteye.

He crawled back on top of the footballs but had a great deal of trouble getting to sleep because it was impossible to get comfortable .
He became more and more disgruntled and opened the back door to try and rearrange things .

Of course half the footballs tumbled out .
This made him really mad, so he grabbed one of them and gave it an almighty kick across the Stuart Highway into the donga.

Feeling guilty , he trudged after it to retrieve the ball that belonged to one of the schools he was inspecting .

He was dressed in a white singlet and white boxer underpants .

He located the ball under the half moon, and started back. At that exact moment a road train appeared out of nowhere bearing down on him, he stepped back and looked up at the totally spooked out driver who was convinced he'd seen a ghost with a football.

The driver slammed on the brakes and the truck came to a screaming halt.

Dad walked up and peered up at the frightened driver.

What the hell are you doin man ?

I was fetching my football . I kicked it over the highway.

Why would you be kicking a football at 2.30 in the mornin?

I couldn't sleep, my car is over there.

It really didn't matter what the old man said, the truckie thought he was another Territorian Nutter on the loose .

Dad pulled into a hotel a couple of years later and the boys at the bar were engrossed in a story being told by a truckie....

.... " and out of the darkness this apparition appears in a white singlet and white boxer shorts holding a football..... "

Dad played for Sturt later on in Adelaide, I barracked for Wests.

I moved to Sydney in 1968 and couldn't get into League or Union .

When South Melbourne relocated in 82, I was very happy to start folllowing them ...

The wife is a convert from Union, the kids are rusted on Swans fans.

We've been to all the Grand Finals except 2012, when money was a bit tight .

We love it .

I run a bicycle tour biz in Sydney and often take clients to the footy as part of their Down Under experience .

That story of your old man is fantastic Hotpotato

[Untamed Snark]

Thanks Meg. It is a true story .

Your father may be the world's only verified urban legend