RESPECTED football journalist and keen Geelong fan John Harms has written a chapter with a difference in the marvellous book brought out this year to commemorate 150 years of footy. In “The Australian Game of Football Since 1858” he writes a heartfelt and affectionate ode to the fans of our great game.
In the piece he argues that even though the players play the game, Aussie Rules truly belongs to the people who follow it.
Harms is not alone in this view.
The people who created the Australian Football Gallery at the recently opened National Sports Museum at the MCG also felt a need to celebrate the contribution of fans to the game of football.
The “Fans and Fandom” showcase features memorabilia which demonstrates the passion of those who watch the game. Included are a novelty pack of Richmond toilet rolls; an anti-Football league bra made in 1994 from two halves of a Sherrin football; a portrait painting of James Hird made by a 10 year old for a school project; a knitted doll in Carlton football club attire holding a football under its arm; a decorated mirror mounted on wood-grain particle board featuring a black and white photograph of the First Hawthorn Football Team from 1916; and a Micky Martin facemask.
In other words, a whole bunch of stuff that represents the enthusiasm and humour that our game engenders in its followers.
The items are a mix of pieces transferred from the old Australian Gallery of Sport and the MCC Collection and items loaned more recently by fans of the game.
General Manager of the National Sports Museum Gerry Kerlin says the items were selected according to certain criteria. They were either once merchandise items, or they are personal or handmade, illustrating the personal commitment of fans to their club.
“The pieces are quirky, eclectic and funny, demonstrating the enormous passion, verging on religious, with which football is regarded in the greater Australian community,” she says.
Gerry Kerlin explains that the idea behind the showcase was to “provide the visitor with an area that they can identify with personally and passionately”.
In the book commemorating football’s 150th anniversary, Harms suggests that footy means so much to the fans because it “provides a key mythology of hope in a world where hope is often less obvious”.
Footy fans will continue to love our indigenous game because it instils this hope in their bones. And the best thing about hope in footy is that even when it is dashed, soon it rises anew.
As they say in the classics – there’s always next week.
The National Sports Museum is located at Gate 3 of the MCG. To discover more about this fabulous facility visit www.nsm.org.au
