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Toast Vale Garry Sidebottom

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RIP
 

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Geez.....He was only a Cat for about a season and a half....left Geelong after mid year '82 and joined Fitzroy. I always though Geelong in that era who weren't exactly flush with quality key forwards, we had Terry Bright, Peter Johnston (who made Kingsley Hunter look like Tony Lockett!) and not a lot else....he should have played many more games i think. Somebody at the Cats obviously wasn't keen on him, and of course the famous 'Missed the Bus' Preliminary in '81 where Geelong lost by 7 points.

He'd probably be late 60's tops, and again it seems quite young, a sign that at age 50 some heroes of my childhood are getting on a bit now. Vale to him and condolence to his family.
 
I'm showing my age here but Sidey was one of my favourite players and I was pissed off when we traded him to Geelong. I had many beers with him at various functions at Moorabbin and he was always good for a laugh. One day he had his eye on an attractive woman in the Social Club and I asked him if he was married. He turned to me and said with a smile, "Why, are you interested ?"

I always say he kicked one of the best goals that I ever saw live. He grabbed the ball from the boundary throw-in near the forward pocket at Arden St. He then ran away from the goals and kicked it over his head with his left foot from about 25 metres out. Great memories.

Another Saint's Captain, sadly gone.

Rest in Peace Champ.
 
Saintbloke said:
Enjoyed watching him play- a real presence on the field. A pity we didn't have better teams around him at the time. R.I.P. Sidey
Click to expand...
We did have a decent team around him.

O think the whole Jezza move caused is to lose quite a few like Young and Carl.

I could be wrong. It was a while ago.
 

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I vaguely remember a pre-season night game between St Kilda & Nth Melbourne, & thinking how tough the Saints were, with Sidey, Sarau & Big Carl. For memory that night series got the Saints off to a good start. Sidey was the new recruit & the buzz around him was huge.

I loved watching him play at Fitzroy. He was a fantastic player & a nice bloke too. I met him a couple of times as a kid. He was always generous in signing things.

So sad to hear of his passing. He was one of my Fitzroy heroes. Geez we're all getting old!
 
Garry played in the "animals" match at Moorabbin v Essendon back in the day.
One of the most memorable days in my footy watching career.
Big Carl taking out Bombers left right and centre.
I was standing in front of the Social Club and Garry managed to hit Cahill/Neagle (one of those two) with the point of his elbow.
Cahill/Neagle went down in a screaming heap.
Garry did too, clutching his elbow.
He got a few weeks for that.
As an actor, he was a good footballer.

Actually he was more than just a good footballer - he gave me a lot of pleasure watching him.

He also started a business called "Saintsforce Investments" with an office in South Road - just near the railway line.
I remember thinking about putting my hard earned in to one of his deals.
$ 1,000 - HUGE money then.
Never did it, cannot remember why know.
But probably a good thing because Saintforce Investments didn't last all that long.

Just an aside, its odd that he passes the week we play Essendon.
For those not aware of the "animals" match, we beat up Essendon and we also won the game.
Maybe his passing, sad though it is, is an omen?
 
ROUND 7, 1978: St Kilda 17.11 (113) d Essendon 16.11 (107)

There was violence aplenty throughout the game, with the smaller Essendon team suffering at the hands of the rough ‘n’ tough Saints. In a fiery speech after the game, Essendon president Colin Stubbs referred to his opponents as “animals”, a speech much reported in the aftermath. It was a game of bone-crunching hits, with St Kilda’s hardmen Carl Ditterich and Garry Sidebottom to the fray. Bomber rover Terry Cahill was on the receiving end of one from Big Carl and stopped breathing when he swallowed his tongue. He was revived, and survived. St Kilda threatened legal action against Stubbs for his “animals” call. Essendon threatened legal action against Ditterich.
 
 

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Really sad news. Loved watching him play. That era was full of characters and Sidey was a big part of Saints folklore.
I remember the match against the Hawks I think it was with the call that I still remember to this day from Peter Mckenna as he was
lining up for goal. "Aww somebody´s just hit Sidebottom with a can". Poor Sidey on the receiving end of that but that was how mad VFL
footy was in those days. RIP Garry Sidebottom
 
I first started going to the footy in the late 70s and I have a lot of memories of him from when I was a kid. The big fella was a good player for us.
His brother Allan of course also played for a us a few yrs after Garry left.
I always thought Allan looked exactly like Garry just a bit skinnier.
The name Sidebottom is a big part of the Saints 70s and 80s history.
s-l300 (1).jpg s-l300.jpg 1980-Scanlens-VFL-Football-Card-St-Kilda.jpg images (2).jpeg 1979_VFL-AFL_Scanlens_15_Garry_Sidebottom_St_Kilda_Saints.jpg
 
Sad to hear that Garry has passed.

We thought he was going to be the second coming. Never quite reached those heights but was one of our best in a tough era for the club. Had a huge heart and wore it on his sleave.
 
VDS66 said:
Used to love watching side arse play as a teen.

Sad news.

So in 79 despite just missing finals the previous year, Fox sacks Patterson after two weeks?
Click to expand...
Close but not quite! Would have been difficult for Jezza to replace him after 2 rounds in 79 seeing he captn coached the Blues to a flag that year!
We came last in 79 after just missing the finals in 78! It was after Rd 2 in 80 when Patto was sacked and Jezza took the gig!
 
Sidey was a fantastic player especially in his first season at the Saints . He absolutely dominated and he was very tough too . He copped 4 weeks for knocking out the Essendon player , and the Saints loss those 4 games . When he came back I think we started winning again . Yes we had Sidey , Big Carl and Jeff Sauru but we also had Robbie Muir terrorising everyone. Muir also missed games through suspension of course . But when they all played the other sides spent the game looking over their shoulders .
Back to Sidebottom . After starring that first season something happened to Sidey , he seem to lose his hardness and his form completely dropped away . So much so that he was traded to the Cats , not even sure who for , at the end of the next season. It was a dramatic fall from grace . He struggled at Geelong and he is often laughed at for missing a bus ride in for a final . But the facts are different. One of the Geelong staff forgot to tell Sidey that he was back in the team for the final . At the time Sidey copped the blame but it wasn’t his fault . However the staff at Geelong kept their mouth shut for a few years about the blame . Sidey was traded to Fitzroy to make him seem the scapegoat. Eventually he went back home . But all through the troubles Sidey kept his cool and remained a respected man by all except some people in the media who still to this day blame him for missing the bus.


Don’t Panic !!
 
Brains Trust66 said:
Sidey was a fantastic player especially in his first season at the Saints . He absolutely dominated and he was very tough too . He copped 4 weeks for knocking out the Essendon player , and the Saints loss those 4 games . When he came back I think we started winning again . Yes we had Sidey , Big Carl and Jeff Sauru but we also had Robbie Muir terrorising everyone. Muir also missed games through suspension of course . But when they all played the other sides spent the game looking over their shoulders .
Back to Sidebottom . After starring that first season something happened to Sidey , he seem to lose his hardness and his form completely dropped away . So much so that he was traded to the Cats , not even sure who for , at the end of the next season. It was a dramatic fall from grace . He struggled at Geelong and he is often laughed at for missing a bus ride in for a final . But the facts are different. One of the Geelong staff forgot to tell Sidey that he was back in the team for the final . At the time Sidey copped the blame but it wasn’t his fault . However the staff at Geelong kept their mouth shut for a few years about the blame . Sidey was traded to Fitzroy to make him seem the scapegoat. Eventually he went back home . But all through the troubles Sidey kept his cool and remained a respected man by all except some people in the media who still to this day blame him for missing the bus.


Don’t Panic !!
Click to expand...
Will cover the Sidey story on this weeks podcast if we have time. Anyone have any stories about him i could read out ?
 

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