Getting to the Whitten Oval on matchdays in the VFL days and Early AFL days

[Eastdog]

As a younger Doggie supporter who hasn't experienced a match there as yet I wanted to get woofers insights on what a typical matchday there was for the fans at that time. Was it a case of a short stroll down the street to the WO or was it a longer journey with the car or train from the other side of the city? Did you go to the pubs before and after games etc etc. things like that.

Love to hear some stories.

 

[DoggyStyle]

The Rising Sun and the Buckingham (the "Buck") hotels were the place to drink before and after the game. Both are now apartments. Bloody hipsters.

 

[Dogs Rule]

As a kid, I used to walk with my Dad down Gordon Street cross opposite the Drill Hall and buy a Record (80 cents in the early 90s) on the corner of Barkly Street.

Can still clearly remember the old entrance on Barkly Street and hurriedly running up the hill so I could see the ground. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

Great memories and I'm so grateful I got to experience footy there and now get to experience it there all over again.

 

[Chicago1]

I lived in Maribyrnong for my first two and a half years in Australia, so I took the 82 tram to Ballarat Road and Gordon Street and would walk the rest of the way. Of course all matches were on Saturday and the 82 tram only ran until about 1pm so I took the replacement bus home. At times I'd go straight from the match to Moonee Valley for the trots.

When I moved to Box Hill it was fairly easy to get the two trains out to the Western Oval. Of course there weren't many of us Bulldog fans on the Lilydale/Belgrave part of the journey.

Speaking of going to the footy... when my parents visited me in May 1979, we went to a match at the Western Oval. I lived in Box Hill at the time so on the way back we stopped at Flinders Street Station to catch the train to Box Hill. As we waited for our train, a train filled with Collingwood supporters arrived from Waverley. Collingwood had beaten Geelong at VFL Park that afternoon. My poor parents were startled by the emergence of a couple of hundred screaming Magpie fans running down the tunnel to all of the platforms. It was a crude, but effective learning experience for my parents as to how feral Collingwood supporters are.

 

[Eastdog]

I lived in Maribyrnong for my first two and a half years in Australia, so I took the 82 tram to Ballarat Road and Gordon Street and would walk the rest of the way. Of course all matches were on Saturday and the 82 tram only ran until about 1pm so I took the replacement bus home. At times I'd go straight from the match to Moonee Valley for the trots.

When I moved to Box Hill it was fairly easy to get the two trains out to the Western Oval. Of course there weren't many of us Bulldog fans on the Lilydale/Belgrave part of the journey.

Speaking of going to the footy... when my parents visited me in May 1979, we went to a match at the Western Oval. I lived in Box Hill at the time so on the way back we stopped at Flinders Street Station to catch the train to Box Hill. As we waited for our train, a train filled with Collingwood supporters arrived from Waverley. Collingwood had beaten Geelong at VFL Park that afternoon. My poor parents were startled by the emergence of a couple of hundred screaming Magpie fans running down the tunnel to all of the platforms. It was a crude, but effective learning experience for my parents as to how feral Collingwood supporters are.

Love it. Yeah it has changed nowadays as I definitely see quite a few of our fans on the Belgrave/Lilydale Line.

 

[Eastdog]

The Rising Sun and the Buckingham (the "Buck") hotels were the place to drink before and after the game. Both are now apartments. Bloody hipsters.

How about the Station Hotel?

 

[BWFC]

How about the Station Hotel?

I'm not sure what the station hotel was back in those days? The station Hotel is no where near the WO so I doubt it would've been much of a pre game haunt. The closest pubs were the Buck, the Plough, the Rising Sun, The albert? \

In my younger years me and my dad would go to my Dad's mate's house opposite the Buck where he would keep us a car park. And then we'd walk to the game and always stand in the same spot at the Geelong road end. I remember it like it was yesterday. The smells, the sounds, the vibe. Football these days feels nothing like it did back then. After the game we'd go back to my Dad's mate's house and watch the highlights on tv "if we were the match of the day".

As I became a teenager I remember sleeping at a mates house near Paisley street and being woken by the sirens during the reserves game. We'd get up and head down to the ground. Great memories.

One of my most vivid memories was that final game in 87 against Melbourne. I would've been 6 at the time but I remember it vividly. My dad had an old Morris Minor and me and my sister decorated it with red white and blue streamers. After the game when we lost I remember crying, and there was a blue at the Geelong road end and when we got back to the car my sister pulled off all the white streamers. I remember being really upset with her for doing that.

Another one I remember vividly is the day we kept Carlton nearly goaless for a whole game. And I remember one day where it just poured rain and my dad made me and my mate wear garbage bin bags as coats lol.

 

[stmookeyj]

It was usually a 2 train job from Eddie's hood changing at North Melbourne. It was going back that created problems when the old man thought it was a good idea to walk to Kensington (past Flemington), then train to Strathmore before a cab to 17 Walsh Street. A certain 5 year old marked the occasion by letting it flow on the back seat.

 

[Eastdog]

It was usually a 2 train job from Eddie's hood changing at North Melbourne. It was going back that created problems when the old man thought it was a good idea to walk to Kensington (past Flemington), then train to Strathmore before a cab to 17 Walsh Street. A certain 5 year old marked the occasion by letting it flow on the back seat.

Good old Broady

 

[Eastdog]

The Station Hotel is in Footscray but yes your right BWFC by checking the map it's closer to the Maribyrnong River compared to the others.

 

[cragglerock]

My parents grew up in the Footscray area, but I grew up in Windsor. As a kid (in the 80s) I would catch the train to West Footscray & make sure I arrived around 9.50am.

Most of the gates opened at 11am for the reserves, but one gate opened at 10am, so I got there early each home game, to make sure I got a seat in front of the Grandstand, sitting against the fence on the only row of seats available.

There I would sit for an hour, waiting for the reserves, rain, hail or shine. Duffet coat, record, & vacuum flask all on hand.

 

[Senor Ed]

How about the Station Hotel?

Best steak for miles. Get the rump.

 

[barkin]

In the sixties, Saturday was up early for u14s and later u16s FDL, home for homemade soup and sausages. A walk from near the ammunition factory in Gordon St, (now Edgewater), past the Powell hotel and on to the Barkly St gates with a couple of brothers and some cousins we would pick up along the way. As we got closer to the ground the tension started to build and we would start to half jog the last stretch to the ground.
Queuing to get the membership card clipped and then the quick run up to see the scoreboard for the seconds match. We always stood on the flank towards the grandstand. If the tv cameras were being setup near the grandstand, we would start preparing to lose the game that day. Usually had a kick of the footy on the ground after the game with mates who usually had a footy with them. From memory games started at 2.30pm as a lot of people still worked on Saturday mornings (doing 44 hour weeks). It would be getting quite dark by the time we left the ground. The long walk home in the dark never seemed far though, when we won.
Home for dinner, watch the half hour replays in b&w, then a trip down to the milk bar for the evening edition of the pink Sporting Globe with the match reports. A lolly for me also, if my dad was in a good mood.

 

[Eastdog]

Some great reading so far thanks for sharing.