Too Tough To Die - Footscray's 1989 Fightback Book

[immortalmike]

My first post.Crazy keen bulldog supporter my grandfather first played in 1925 for the dogs and roved with Allen Hopkins .The reason i was keen to post was my friendship with author Allan Dalton who lurks these forums and was chuffed to see this thread,he has some crazy background stories to the book that some might be interested in i hope he joins in if others are interested.cheers

Welcome aboard mate.

 

[timtamWB]

My first post.Crazy keen bulldog supporter my grandfather first played in 1925 for the dogs and roved with Allen Hopkins .The reason i was keen to post was my friendship with author Allan Dalton who lurks these forums and was chuffed to see this thread,he has some crazy background stories to the book that some might be interested in i hope he joins in if others are interested.cheers

Welcome mate! Always good to have someone with Dogs blood running through his veins! And of course we're interested in his stories

 

[King Harold]

My first post.Crazy keen bulldog supporter my grandfather first played in 1925 for the dogs and roved with Allen Hopkins .The reason i was keen to post was my friendship with author Allan Dalton who lurks these forums and was chuffed to see this thread,he has some crazy background stories to the book that some might be interested in i hope he joins in if others are interested.cheers

He must have played with my wife's grandfather , who also was a part of the VFA -VFL cross over

 

[Barkly St End]

My first post.Crazy keen bulldog supporter my grandfather first played in 1925 for the dogs and roved with Allen Hopkins .The reason i was keen to post was my friendship with author Allan Dalton who lurks these forums and was chuffed to see this thread,he has some crazy background stories to the book that some might be interested in i hope he joins in if others are interested.cheers

g'dday Ian
1925 was a big, big year.
Obviously none of us are old enough to go back to the days of Hopkins, but from what I've read, he's as big a name as you can get at our club.
When I was a little kid in the 70s, it was a breeze getting into the clubrooms, and our junior footy club would have their pie nights there, etc - I used to love checking out all the memorabilia.
I'd also sometimes go and watch the cricket team play in the summer, and they used the visitors rooms as their dressing room, and in and around there, there was a room or two full of old black and white footy photos, going all the way back to the year dot, pretty spooky photos for a kid too, especially in those dimly lit rooms, and if I'm not mistaken, there was a photo of Hopkins amongst that lot.

 

[ian garlick]

g'dday Ian
1925 was a big, big year.
Obviously none of us are old enough to go back to the days of Hopkins, but from what I've read, he's as big a name as you can get at our club.
When I was a little kid in the 70s, it was a breeze getting into the clubrooms, and our junior footy club would have their pie nights there, etc - I used to love checking out all the memorabilia.
I'd also sometimes go and watch the cricket team play in the summer, and they used the visitors rooms as their dressing room, and in and around there, there was a room or two full of old black and white footy photos, going all the way back to the year dot, pretty spooky photos for a kid too, especially in those dimly lit rooms, and if I'm not mistaken, there was a photo of Hopkins amongst that lot.

 

[ian garlick]

Yes 25 was a big year when the dogs beat Essendon that year i believe the players were offered cash or a medal for their efforts luckily my grandfather took the medal and he left to me in his will i have never seen another one i think i would like to donate it on loan to the bulldog musuem

 

[King Harold]

Yes 25 was a big year when the dogs beat Essendon that year i believe the players were offered cash or a medal for their efforts luckily my grandfather took the medal and he left to me in his will i have never seen another one i think i would like to donate it on loan to the bulldog musuem

My wife has also got her grandfathers medal from that game along with premiership medals from 1919 & 1920 VFA
The interesting thing was they never received the VFA 1924 premiership medal , because the VFA were so unhappy with their defection, they refused to acknowledge them.
The medal from the Essendon game was at least a consolation.

Can I ask your grandfathers name ?
My wife's grandfather was Jack Meuleman , a 5' 6" full back.

By the way she also offered them to the club museum, but to be honest they didn't seem that interested, which disappointed her quite a it.

 

[Barkly St End]

Ian and King Harold
that's some pretty significant historical pieces you got there.

It's worth remembering that we are the reigning Champions of victoria!
(I think that's the title we received for winning that challenge game against Essendon back in 1924 which effectively ushered our entrance into the VFL)

 

[ian garlick]

My wife has also got her grandfathers medal from that game along with premiership medals from 1919 & 1920 VFA
The interesting thing was they never received the VFA 1924 premiership medal , because the VFA were so unhappy with their defection, they refused to acknowledge them.
The medal from the Essendon game was at least a consolation.

Can I ask your grandfathers name ?
My wife's grandfather was Jack Meuleman , a 5' 6" full back.

By the way she also offered them to the club museum, but to be honest they didn't seem that interested, which disappointed her quite a it.

My wife has also got her grandfathers medal from that game along with premiership medals from 1919 & 1920 VFA
The interesting thing was they never received the VFA 1924 premiership medal , because the VFA were so unhappy with their defection, they refused to acknowledge them.
The medal from the Essendon game was at least a consolation.

Can I ask your grandfathers name ?
My wife's grandfather was Jack Meuleman , a 5' 6" full back.

By the way she also offered them to the club museum, but to be honest they didn't seem that interested, which disappointed her quite a it.

My grandfather was George Garlick and he played a handful of games for the dogs in 25 and a few years later a handful for the dees he was a terrific bloke

 

[King Harold]

My grandfather was George Garlick and he played a handful of games for the dogs in 25 and a few years later a handful for the dees he was a terrific bloke

Thanks Ian , I will try to seek him out in the 1925 photo.
It's great to have some connection , no matter how small , to that historical time for our club.
Can you give me an idea where I might find him in that photo ?
Jack is the totally bald guy , and from memory front row seated , right hand side of the photo.
The blown up photo of course is hanging at the club.

 

[Nightowl]

My wife has also got her grandfathers medal from that game along with premiership medals from 1919 & 1920 VFA
The interesting thing was they never received the VFA 1924 premiership medal , because the VFA were so unhappy with their defection, they refused to acknowledge them.
The medal from the Essendon game was at least a consolation.

Can I ask your grandfathers name ?
My wife's grandfather was Jack Meuleman , a 5' 6" full back.

By the way she also offered them to the club museum, but to be honest they didn't seem that interested, which disappointed her quite a it.

s**t a 5 foot 6 full-back.. that's a great effort! That's my height.. lol.

 

[King Harold]

s**t a 5 foot 6 full-back.. that's a great effort! That's my height.. lol.

Yeah hard to imagine, but he was also a champion runner winning a number of gifts.
So his speed must have been a great help.
Also quite a character , I have heard numerous stories about what he got up to and how the fullbacks at the time had not much idea how to play Coleman !
And without trying to dreail the thread , from his son to great grandson ( 3 generations )all went on to play 1st class cricket , including his son Ken, a champion Victorian State cricketer , who went on to captain coach the WA team when they first entered the Sheffield Sheild competition.
Yarraville born and bred !

 

[Nightowl]

Yeah hard to imagine, but he was also a champion runner winning a number of gifts.
So his speed must have been a great help.
Also quite a character , I have heard numerous stories about what he got up to and how the fullbacks at the time had not much idea how to play Coleman !
And without trying to dreail the thread , from his son to great grandson ( 3 generations )all went on to play 1st class cricket , including his son Ken, a champion Victorian State cricketer , who went on to captain coach the WA team when they first entered the Sheffield Sheild competition.
Yarraville born and bred !

Excellent KH.. u should be proud..

 

[King Harold]

Excellent KH.. u should be proud..

Sadly , nothing to do with me

 

[The Buck]

I'm Ian Garlick's mate -- Alan Dalton, and I am one of the co-authors of Too Tough To Die.

It's true that I have lurked this forum for quite a while and have gleaned much from the hard-edged Footscray/Bulldogs fraternity posting their often quite poignant observations of life as a Footscray/Western Bulldogs member/supporter.

I am very encouraged by the response generated by this thread. It shows that the club has a really dedicated core of savvy people who don't mind, indeed relish, every chance to stake our claim as a top AFL side. I am similarly heartened by the seamless transition of the Presidency from Gordon to Smorgon to Gordon.

The fightback of '89 was a yardstick in the history of our club, a crucial response by our community to what was, effectively, the death of the FFC.

I was initially anti-Smorgon in 96 and now, in agreement with PG, I think he has been our greatest president.

I am rapt that we have survived and have remained a viable club in this most competitive of sporting codes..

And, to add to the Champions of Victoria discussion, my grandpa, the inimitable Henry "Leggy" Sawyer played reserves for the 'scray in 24 and went on to play in the ruck for Essendon before he got his jaw broken and retired back to Parkside. He is noted in the book.

 

[Nightowl]

I'm Ian Garlick's mate -- Alan Dalton, and I am one of the co-authors of Too Tough To Die.

It's true that I have lurked this forum for quite a while and have gleaned much from the hard-edged Footscray/Bulldogs fraternity posting their often quite poignant observations of life as a Footscray/Western Bulldogs member/supporter.

I am very encouraged by the response generated by this thread. It shows that the club has a really dedicated core of savvy people who don't mind, indeed relish, every chance to stake our claim as a top AFL side. I am similarly heartened by the seamless transition of the Presidency from Gordon to Smorgon to Gordon.

The fightback of '89 was a yardstick in the history of our club, a crucial response by our community to what was, effectively, the death of the FFC.

I was initially anti-Smorgon in 96 and now, in agreement with PG, I think he has been our greatest president.

I am rapt that we have survived and have remained a viable club in this most competitive of sporting codes..

And, to add to the Champions of Victoria discussion, my grandpa, the inimitable Henry "Leggy" Sawyer played reserves for the 'scray in 24 and went on to play in the ruck for Essendon before he got his jaw broken and retired back to Parkside. He is noted in the book.

Great job with the book Alan. So glad to see you've started to post.
Several other posters have expressed their wish to get a copy of the book.
Do you think there is any chance of a reprint happening?

 

[Eastdog]

I wonder where the book would be available.

 

[The Original Swooper]

You can count me in for a copy. Lent mine out years ago & was never returned.

 

[Nightowl]

You can count me in for a copy. Lent mine out years ago & was never returned.

Know the feeling mate.. I loaned a video of one of Chris Grant's milestone games to a friend. Never saw it again..

 

[Nightowl]

Please let us know if there's any chance of a new print run of the book Alan. It's obviously scarce on the ground.

 

[The Original Swooper]

Know the feeling mate.. I loaned a video of one of Chris Grant's milestone games to a friend. Never saw it again..

It goes both ways though. I have a great assortment of "borrowed" tools...

 

[Fossie 32]

Welcome The Buck, thank you and congratulations for your book which is a great record of this part of our history.

 

[dogwatch]

I'd be another interested in a copy.

It was a unique event in Australian sport and so heavily charged with emotion and passion. It had so many layers too. It transcends parochial support for different clubs and different codes.

 

[BRG93]

The book is at the National Library of Victoria (Think that's what it is) just looked on the net and found it for those super keen

 

[Royale]

There's a copy at Footscray VUT as well. My mate goes to uni there, I might get him to borrow it for me.

Still, would prefer my own copy!