Club History Some Obscure Trivia About The Swans

[Ozmale62]

Thanks to all the people who responded kindly to my last post re Club History in regards to my past meeting with South Melbourne/Sydney Swans great Bob Pratt.

The response got me thinking that there are a lot of supporters who know a little bit or maybe quite a bit about the modern day Swans, but very little about our rich Club History from the beginnings to today. So this got me thinking to put a few things down & hopefully get others to add to this rich tapestry so that ALL SUPPORTERS of the Red & White have something upon which they can be proud.

Here are a few obscure trivia items that I thought that I would share

1. Since the inception of the VFL in 1897 & subsequently the name change to the AFL in 1990 , only one team has ever kicked 100 or more points in just one quarter of football

* 106 points (17 Goals 4 Behinds) - Rd 12 1912 - South Melbourne V's St.Kilda at Lake Oval, Sth Melb.


2. Since the inception of the Brownlow Medal in 1922, the South Melbourne & subsequently the Sydney Swans players have won the most Brownlow's

* South Melbourne Winners
1940 Herbie Matthews Snr,
1949 Ron Clegg (tied),
1955 Fred Goldsmith,
1959 Bob Skilton (tied),
1963 Bob Skilton,
1968 Bob Skilton,
1970 Peter Bedford,
1977 Graham Teasdale,

* Sydney Swans Winners
1981 Barry Round (tied),
1986 Greg Williams (tied),
1988 Gerard Healy,
1995 Paul Kelly,
2003 Adam Goodes,
2006 Adam Goodes.


3. Since the inception of the VFL in 1897 & subsequently the name change to the AFL in 1990, only one team has scored 30 goals in three consecutive matches (weeks/rounds)

* Round 16 1987
Sydney v's West Coast Eagles at SCG
Syd 30.21.201 v's WCE 10.11.71

* Round 17 1987
Sydney v's Essendon at SCG
Syd 36.20.236 v's Ess 11.7.73

*** Note - This is also the only time in the history of the AFL/AFL that concsecutive 200+ scores were achieved in successive weeks.

* Round 18 1987
Sydney v's Richmond at SCG
Syd 31.12.198 v's Ric 15.17.107


4. The first ever jumper worn by the Swans teams was horizontal hoops similar in design to the current Day Geelong Cats however in the Red & White colours that have been traditional for the Club.




5. Lastly, lets talk about the Club Colours. Where did they come from the famous Red & White.

The club itself was born in 1874 however South Melbourne actually wore Blue & White originally, pretty much in the same form as Geelong. In 1880 however, the club amalgamated/absorbed Albert Park (which is a small suburb in South Melbourne) into the fold. By 1890, the Club changed to the now familiar colours of Red & White as a result of Albert Park wearing the Red & the White from South Melbourne. Hence our Club colours were born.

Over the years, the club has worn may jumper designs & to make it easier for you, I have attached a link to a website where you can view all of these jumpers over time.

http://www.footyjumpers.com/

Hope that this Post creates some real interest in others sharing other pieces of obscure information & that we as a Club can not only celebrate our past & present, but prepare all of our supporters for the bright future ahead.

 

[PVF]

I don't know if you can celebrate this one but Rod Carter for who that don't know was from what I hear(retired before I was born) was a great full back for the Swans and Fitzroy.

After 215 games (139 for the Swans at the time) in the VFL/AFL he kicked his first and only goal ever in his career for Sydney against Melbourne which apparently drew quite the reaction from the crowd.

 

[Ozmale62]

I don't know if you can celebrate this one but Rod Carter for who that don't know was from what I hear(retired before I was born) was a great full back for the Swans and Fitzroy.

After 215 games (139 for the Swans at the time) in the VFL/AFL he kicked his first and only goal ever in his career for Sydney against Melbourne which apparently drew quite the reaction from the crowd.

PVF

I am old enough to not only remember Rod "Tilt" Carter (sometimes known as Rocket) playing for Fitzroy, but having been born & bred in South Melbourne, I remember going to watch him play for Port Melbourne after leaving Fitzroy & wondering why he was not playing VFL still. Then yes, he returned to the VFL/AFL to play with Sydney & I was wrapt. The reason he was called tilt, was the angle of his head when playing.. it appeared to always tilt to the side.

I also remember that match clearly as he has had shots at goal previously & always missed. However the Swans players were in complete control & were adamant to a man that they wanted Rocket to kick a goal & boy, was there a mighty cheer when he finally got one. The players also responded extremely well by getting around him & celebrating the milestone. When the stat went up onto the scoreboard, the crowd then really reacted a second time.

I believe that he still holds the record for the most games before kicking a goal.

And this brings me on to Lewis Jetta & his 19 behinds before kicking his first goal in the AFL... Another obscure record to the Swans... We certainly have a rich history of obscure records that not every follower, supporter or member knows about, hence the post.