Growing up in Keilor East through the 80s, a 10 minute drive from Windy Hill, would normally make it an easy decision to support Essendon.
But I had a choice to make.
Dad is a Footscray (Western Bulldogs) supporter and the Western Oval (Whitten Oval) is only a 15 minute drive from home.
I attended as many Bulldogs games as Essendon games in that time. Either parking on a side street near Windy Hill or KFC across from the Western Oval.
But there was a major difference going to those games. It was the "army" feel of being part of the red and black.
Sure, Dougie Hawkins & Brian Royal were great to watch, they drew the crowd in, but standing in the outer at Windy Hill & only being able to look upwards when you're knee high to a grasshopper and seeing Simon Madden look like he was 30 feet in the air at centre bounces, watching Paul Van Der Haar seem like he was floating in the sky taking "screamers" over opponents and Paul "Fish" Salmon extending his arms and being unstoppable above his head, these guys were Gods on a football field to my young eyes.
When I was able to stand on tippy toes for long enough I would see "cheetahs" in Watson, Hawker & Baker running freely in the fields.
Add to that characters of Terry Daniher, Billy Duckworth and Roger Merrett, all three, the last ones standing in a pack that all seem to fall like a deck of cards around them.
Then there was Kevin Sheedy.
Still too small to see him from the outer clearly, especially through the haze of cigarette smoke, but watching him on TV being interviewed, he always came across as a general, a leader, a person who demanded respect and always got it.
The 90s were just different compared to now.
I was old enough to take winning and losing seriously.
1990 Grand Final was misery. Going back to school and seeing "friends" in Collingwood scarves, tearful.
What a year 1993 was. The majority of the players I had grown up watching were gone, but new shoots were sprouting.
It was one of closest, most even seasons ever.
Only 6 points separated first and seventh.
Essendon finishing on top on percentage over the old time rival Carlton.
Round 2, Essendon and Carlton draw when Stephen Kernahan has an opportunity to win the game with any score after the siren and misses everything.
Round 6 Paul Salmon kicks 10 and Gary Ablett kicks 14 in a 42 goal shootout at the MCG.
In the return clash with Carlton, Essendon wins by 21 points and 5 weeks later in the Qualifying Final Carlton wins by 2 points.
With now all games being elimination finals Essendon has to play the 1992 premiers in the West Coast Eagles.
Essendon played The Eagles away in round 1 losing by 13 points and in the return game winning by 2 points.
But this time it was a 32 point victory and Adelaide would await in the preliminary final.
It was school holidays (if it wasn't, then it was for me as I was on the Gold Coast) ready to watch it on tv.
Having beaten Adelaide by 46 points in round 9 I felt confident in this result.
Unfortunately at half time, Adelaide was up by 42 points.
Now at this stage, I was still an emotional supporter.
In 1989, having beaten Geelong by 76 points in the Qualifying Final, dad and I made the trek to Waverley in the Preliminary Final for the rematch after Essendon in the previous week had lost Hawthorn for the chance to play in the Grand Final.
Now Waverley in those days seemed like a 2 hour drive from Keilor East, it probably was.
We had not booked a ticket and just decided to make the trip in the hope of getting a ticket at the ground.
This is a time when "ticket scalping" seemed to be at its prime.
So having made the trek and having paid a premium for tickets we sat down to watch the game and I remember being excited and confident.
Wow, did it turn ugly, down by 13 points at quarter time, it quickly became 50 points at half time and I felt sick.
We stuck it out for another 5 minutes and when Geelong kicked the first 2 goals of the 3rd quarter I had had enough and wanted to go home.
What a drive home that was.
A 76 point win 2 weeks earlier turned into a 94 point loss, still the greatest points turn around in a finals series.
So having "lived" through the 1989 preliminary final, I may have been forgiven for being an emotional wreck 4 years later at half time.
This felt different though.
I was keen for the game to restart, I'm not sure why though...was there a quiet confidence that this team had nothing to lose this time?
Well we know what happened in the end.
1995 I had the pleasure of going to the first Anzac Day game.
Me and my football teammates from Avondale Heights and a few other mates caught the train from Essendon station.
While on the train, it seemed like a regular crowd was building for the game, until we made the walk along the Yarra.
It was swelling towards the ground and by the time we got anywhere near the gates it felt like it was everyone for themselves.
In those days queues where only being used as part of the alphabet. There were people everywhere squeezing and pushing to get in.
Thankfully i survived by squirming my way through people with about 6 of the initial 20 plus mates that left the station and we took our seats behind the goals at the Ponsford Stand end.
What
A
Game.
The build up, the crowd noise, the game and the result. 10 out of 10.
The best game of football I have ever been to.
The next year we planned to do the same thing but this time I couldn't squeeze my way in and unfortunately was one of the thousands that got locked out and turned away. Lucky me.
After 1999 ended in a disaster. 2000 would be the greatest year ever to be an Essendon supporter (well it was for me that's for sure)
There was an air of invincibility, superiority, confidence, arrogance, you can keep listing them of 2000...and that was just how I felt, imagine what it was like for the players.
Starting from the first game of the preseason cup, it would be the most successful season by a team in history.
22 wins and 1 loss, fancy that loss being to the Western Bulldogs, of all teams. Dad never lets that game go by.
Damn.
Unfortunately 2001 is the last time to date Essendon has played off in a Grand Final.
Who would've guessed it at the time.
I will admit that my passion for the football club wavered at the beginning of 2013.
I guess everyone has a different story to where they were, what they were doing when the supplements saga news came out.
I think I remember that there was breaking news on a football club that was alleged to have taken illicit substances.
At the time, I didn't imagine the club accused would be the one that I grew up with.
I will be honest, football was not fun to watch or be part of for a period for me.
As much as i am one eyed in my support, i also love the game in total.
The build up, tactics, talk, promotion, everything that football is during the week and then on the weekend.
Now that football is so accessible on tv, I watch all 9 games a week, sometimes doubling up on games, I just love the battle, the contest.
But during the saga, the game was...just different.
It looked different, it felt different, it seemed different, it was just different.
There were so many emotions through that immediate period, anger, disappointment & disbelief, the the only choice was to try and not feel anything and that took away from the whole aspect that football and Essendon had been to me.
Ultimately it was always going to pass for me, the team and football would always win me over again, but I'll will never be able to understand what that period did to the players.
It more than just interrupted their careers and cut short their time in the game.
It tarnished their names absolutely unfairly.
Slowly the light appeared from a dark tunnel and now thankfully, the club is in a better shape to harness the abilities of the current playing list and give these guys the chance to fulfil the dreams they would have had since being knee high to a grasshopper, to represent the Essendon Football Club and be successful in winning Premierships.
Go Dons 🔴⚫️
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