Why do YOU support the Swans?

[stevoswan]

Sure do!

Why do YOU support the Swans?

And an early post in that thread refers to an earlier thread ending 2011.

What's that saying about forgetting history and being doomed to repeat it Just kidding, probably worth a refresh every few years, for the newer members.

I'll just reprint my reply from that 2017 thread then, which was a reply to this post from aardvark:

"15th June 1970 was one of the best days of my life. We beat Collingwood by a point after kicking 4 goals in time on. The following Monday at school was pretty special too."

.....to which I replied:

"I remember that game well. My Swans obsessed Dad was there that day sitting next to none other than the great Gordon Coventry.......and with minutes to go and the Swans still needing three goals to win, Gordon leant over to Dad and whispered "South are going to win this" and my Dad said "You're kidding aren't you Gordon?". Gordon replied with a smile, "Just keep watching.".......Stevie Hoffman went crazy, Gordon was right and my Dad was euphoric....his best day at the footy ever! Great thread by the way and therein that last story lies the reason I barrack for the Swans, my Dad. Mum barracked for the Cats, so I've always had a soft spot for the Catters....which I'm comfortable with as I see Geelong as a sort of Victorian version of our great club, ethical, proud, respectful and whose teams play the game as it should be played."

It's certainly a great memory .....and I still stand by the last sentence today (for all the Cats haters out there. )

Swans forever!

[Bexl]

My mother grew up in South Melbourne and I went to every game when I was a kid and I love the Swannies.

[liz]

Sure do!

Why do YOU support the Swans?

And an early post in that thread refers to an earlier thread ending 2011.

What's that saying about forgetting history and being doomed to repeat it Just kidding, probably worth a refresh every few years, for the newer members.

Now a single thread. I've merged the two.

[Ralph Dawg]

Paul Kelly. Even though we were so terrible back in the early 90's, he was always so good. A bit like Allan Border in the 1980's.

[KSAS]

I was born & bred in South Melbourne living within walking distance of the Lakeside Oval. One of my earliest memories is listening intently on the radio with my dad to the 1970 Semi Final against St Kilda (no live TV games then), which we lost. Saw my first live game in 1971 against Geelong which we won. Went to every home game soon after & when my older brother played for South U19's, I would go to watch him play when the Seniors played away so I was at the Lakeside Oval every Saturday during that period. I remember most of the kids in my primary school barracked for South. Peter Bedford was my all time hero.

Our family later moved out of South Melbourne, but kept going regurlarly to the Lakeside games plus some away games. I was heartbroken when we moved to Sydney but understood & accepted it for the club to survive. Eventually got to attend some SCG games, with the 1996 QF win over Hawthorn with my late dad being the most memorable (Cresser marking & kicking winning goal before final siren). I was an emotional wreck when the final siren rang at the 2005 GF. Didn't think my heart was gonna survive that tense final quarter which seemed to go on forever! Eventually was asked to leave empty darkening MCG by security as I wanted to savour every moment. Celebrated doing Clarendon St pub crawl and finished off having bit of a kip outside the Lake Oval .

[KTigers]

I was an emotional wreck when the final siren rang in the 2005 GF. Didn't think my heart was gonna survive that tense final quarter which seemed to go on forever! .

.

Did it ever. It is unbearable. I remember me and a bunch of people around us screaming "blow the @@@@ing siren" for that last minute
or so, which I didn't hear because of the pandemonium, and then briefly wondering why Mrs Tigers was hugging the bloke sitting
next to her.

[Bloods05]

My convict great-great-grandfather and -grandmother settled in South Melbourne after completing their sentences in Tassie. The family now has 6 generations of Swans supporters. My sister and I went every week to South games through the mid-60s, watching Skilton at his peak but never winning much (other than Brownlows) until 1970. I was in the (still record) crowd at the 1970 first semi and was devastated when we lost after leading at half-time. My dear departed dad watched '05 on a telly in someone's kitchen in Ireland. It was a replay and he already knew the result but he still got really nervous. The whole family greeted him (and Mum) at Tullamarine on their return a few weeks later, with banners and scarves and a rousing rendition of "Cheer, cheer". He saw us beat the Hawks in '12 as well. He never got to go in '33 as he was considered too young (at 11). I was there at the G in '05 and '12 with my son and my sister, memories that will last a lifetime for all of us. Tradition is made up of stories like this.

[Mel_C]

.

Did it ever. It is unbearable. I remember me and a bunch of people around us screaming "blow the @@@@ing siren" for that last minute
or so, which I didn't hear because of the pandemonium, and then briefly wondering why Mrs Tigers was hugging the bloke sitting
next to her.

I blame Channel 10 for having the 5 minute warning. No one knew how much time was remaining. I was at the game listening to the radio and they kept saying less than a minute remaining but it lasted 5 minutes!!

[Nico]

Another reason I follow the Swans is because Tom Papley, the grandson of club legend Max Papley plays for us. What better reason. Hang on, what's that I hear.

[Aprilbr]

[emoji38][emoji38][emoji38]

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[goswannies]

Another reason I follow the Swans is because Tom Papley, the grandson of club legend Max Papley plays for us. What better reason. Hang on, what's that I hear.

Wha ... wha ... what about Jeff Bray??

[Giulio]

Welcome Giulio ????

Thanks, Mel. I was looking for a 'Introduce yourself' section on RWO. Not finding one, I thought I'd introduce myself here (begging pardon from the Mods for breaking relevance for this thread):-

Hello RWO’ers. I thought I’d tell you my story of how I became a Swans supporter. I guess you could call me an accidental Swans supporter. I was quite young, perhaps 7 or 8 (I can’t remember. This is more than 50 years ago!). A bread company had a promotion running where for 3 bread wrappers and $1.00 – this was a time when one cent bought four lollies from the local shop - a VFL footy club jumper could be sent to you.

I thought I’d follow a footy team. Most other boys around my age could be seen kicking a footy, and being young and impressionable, I needed a jumper. I had no idea which team to follow, so I took a look at the footy ladder and saw that Collingwood were on top. I asked my Mum if I could have a Collingwood jumper (gasp)!

A few weeks later a parcel arrived for me. I unwrapped the parcel to reveal a South Melbourne jumper. I asked my Mum whether they sent me the wrong jumper, and she said no, it was the right jumper. She explained that when nominating the jumper, she forgot which club I wanted and decided that South Melbourne was the jumper of choice. The colours of the jumper matched the colours of her national flag (she was Polish). Ever since then, I’ve followed the Swans.

I’ve so many memories of following the Swans. From the grim, marginally survivable days of relocation to Sydney to the Edelsten era, with the Swanettes and the pink helicopters. Thirty goal games under Tom Hafey with messrs. Williams, Healey, Ironmonger, et. al. To the grim nineties where from memory, we only won one game in 1993, to a gradual rebuild and on to two more premierships and the present day.

And don’t we have some exciting youngsters! I’ve got a sense of destiny with this group, and I think we can go far. Here’s to some exciting times ahead!

[Auntie.Gerald]

welcome Giulio

[Giulio]

welcome Giulio

Thanks, Auntie

[i'm-uninformed2]

That’s an awesome introduction Giulio. A big fat welcome, and your mother was a wise woman.