What's your story?

[Chewmeister]

I'm interested to here how people came to follow Carlton. Did you grow up following in a family members footsteps?, were they the first team you saw play?, what triggered you interest in the Blues?

My first vision of Carlton was in the 1979 Grand Final. What first sparked an interest in the Blues was just that their nickname. I thought it very intriguing that this team playing in a black uniform (even though I was watching in colour the old uniforms looked very much black to me) were called the blues, so I thought there must be an interesting story as to why it was so. The second thing that got me on side was the injury to their inspirational player, captain and coach (hope i got my facts correct here) Jezza (not going to attempt to spell his name), if they could come away with victory after losing him that was going to be enough for me to take them into my heart.

So....what's your story?

 

[wires on fire.]

'well....my name ended in -opolous, -ski, -iedies, or -ich, so i was pretty much obliged'

kouta!!! go kouta!!! christOOOOOOOOOOOO! hahaha. nah in all seriousness my nonou made me go for em one greek easter when we were cracking eggs.

 

[marcmurphy3]

My family going down my dad's side have supported the blues since the beginning of the VFL.

 

[Johnny_3]

well im of an italian bg so when my nonno(granddad) came to australia he followed carlton as it was close to where he lived and it was a woggy team. Then my dad followed em
then i did
now i still do... how sweet

 

[wires on fire.]

well im of an italian bg so when my nonno(granddad) came to australia he followed carlton as it was close to where he lived and it was a woggy team. Then my dad followed em
then i did
now i still do... how sweet

you didn't have to post, i already covered the reason for supporting carlton for 99.5% of blues fans.

 

[Effes]

4th generation fan/supporter

great grandparents grew up near the ground

 

[Corrosion]

My mother's parents support them, as do my mum and dad. Just passed on through the family.

My Girlfriend is a Carlton nut, too.

 

[Smell The Glove]

you didn't have to post, i already covered the reason for supporting carlton for 99.5% of blues fans.

Wow, I feel so honoured to be in the 0.5%!
How are Steve Malaxos, Peter Sumich, Mark Zanotti, Daniel Metropolis, David Sierokowski and Glen Jackovich doing BTW?

I followed Carlton because it was either that or a foster home.

 

[BlueDevil]

strange really rather than a father pass down to son it was uncle down to nephew dad went for the saints and well back then............ enough said (though he has had the upper hand lately) so i was nurtured into the blue army at about age 4, my uncle taught me about all the blue greats and to memorise all of our premierships and i haven't looked back since

 

[BLUEBOY1]

Before I tell my story you must put your hand on your heart and promise not to bag me...OK.

My father came from Italy in 1963 and his first 2 loves were Horse Racing and Football, since Geelong won that years grand final he decided to follow Geelong. (I bet he wishes they didn't win it).

For some reason I didn't follow Geelong, my older brother and his mate were Essen..(I can't even finish it) and made me follow them.

When I was 10 (half way thru 1986) I decided enough is enough and decided to follow the Navy Blues (for no reason) and I can say that I am very happy to be a Blueboy and wouldn't have it any other way.

Cheers

 

[Kaitsey]

Wow, I feel so honoured to be in the 0.5%!
How are Steve Malaxos, Peter Sumich, Mark Zanotti, Daniel Metropolis, David Sierokowski and Glen Jackovich doing BTW?

I followed Carlton because it was either that or a foster home.

ishchenko and rosa too. but seriously 99.5% of blues supporters are wogs. seems to be a stereotype that is true.

 

[blues4flag]

I don't know, was probably five and saw my uncle watching a Carlton game and decided to go for them .

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Came to Australia from NZ in 77 (almost 10 years old), brief stopover in Melbourne, drove over the Nullarbor and settled in Perth for a few months. Back to Melbourne briefly, then back to NZ sometime in 78. Along the way I briefly remember seeing the Roos and the Hawks playing. Came back and settled in Melbourne prior to the 79 season. Thought when in Rome, follow the VFL. 6 in my family at the time, 12 teams, we decided to choose 2 teams each. I remembered North and chose them, and thought Carlton was a regal sounding name so chose them. I think I had seen some Carlton Draught ads on TV too. I remember my Dad was Richmond and Fitzroy, my older step sister Melbourne and St Kilda (second last and last in 79) and the sister I disliked the most was Essendon and Collingwood (go figure).

I joined a local team to learn the game along with kids we knew from NZ. Turns out their family was divided down the middle, going for Carlton and North. About round 7 of 79, they took me to see North vs Carlton with both teams undefeated at the time. Outside the ground, it was time to buy a flag and everyone asked which team I was going to go for that day, that I had to choose one. The Roos flag was more attractive with the Kangaroo on it, the Carlton one plain and just said 'GO BLUES'. I remember being in the line hearing people talk about Jezza and the more I listened, the more excited I got about seeing this Jezza person play. I bought the Blues flag and supported them that day. I remember Blight being a thorn in our side that day but it was nip and tuck all day. Glendinning kicked the final two goals and the Blues went down by 4 points. I never looked back, I stuck with the Blues.

History records we won the flag that year and two more out of the next 3. I thought we were invincible. I was staying in a caravan park and the owner was supposedly a board member for the Blues. Had some pull because Harmesy and Buckley (and Lenaghan I think) came out to the caravan park and played tennis, with me keeping score for them on the umpires chair. Also Vin Catoggio came and coached my Under 12 Edithvale side for the day in 1980. Every time the Blues won, the owner would play the song over the PA system blaring it throughout the park. He would tell all the kids in the park to come to the front of the park and he would give them all an icecream if they sang the Blues song. It was the funniest thing ever to see these kids in Collingwood jumpers singing the Blues song for an icecream. My icecream always tasted extra good! He used to take us in the bus to see Blues training to. I was awestruck with the Blues and Aussie Rules in general. I remember a Blues v Tigers game in 79 at the G. Mark Maclure was on fire that day and Bruce Doull as well. The atmosphere was incredible.

Came to Queensland finals mid 1980, in time to see the Blues lose bow out of the finals. Couldn't believe it.

My Dad was hard to live with that year but after 1982, he could have throttled me ... payback was so good.

 

[Kooley]

my dad migrated from wales in the late fifties and followed the kangaroos before he met my mum, a kiwi who came here in the late sixties and fell in love with jezza and the blues. dad soon followed suit and we have been carlton supporters ever since.

i was lucky enough to play 33 games in the under 19's in 1986 & 87 under geoff southby, david mckay and then ross henshaw. unfortunately i wasn't good enough to go on any further and was given the boot at the end of 1987.
i lost touch with the blues for a while in the late eighties and early nineties but fell in love with the club again around about 1993.

my 3 kids all barrack for the blues and my partner who is a doggies supporter is slowly following suit.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

ishchenko and rosa too. but seriously 99.5% of blues supporters are wogs. seems to be a stereotype that is true.

Not a chance.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

Im a wog ... enough said.

My father grew up in the Carlton flats (as many Greek migrants did at the time) and became Carlton mad.

Its run through our entire family. Carlton is a part of us.

 

[CattyBossDog]

Good topic.


When my mother got her first job after she and my father divorced (1972), she took myself and my little brother to Coles to get a footy jumper to celebrate. I still hear the words "What about the one with the pretty red stripe?"......Argh! Nightmarish stuff!

I am glad to say I found a blue jumper with this cool plastic symbol sewn onto the front of it. My brother, being a little brother, just copied me.

The rest of my family is Essendon. 2 uncles played for them, 1 was the CEO for a while, cousins, uncles, all sorts of rellies were trainers, property stewards, on the wive's club, etc, etc, etc....all at Essendon. I was forever at Windy Hill as a kid. Damn!

My stepfather is Charlie Suttons nephew...naturally he's a doggies man.



Big footy family...Only my younger brother and I are Carlton. The rest are Essendon, and 1 Footscray supporter.



Naturally I love the fact that although Essendon have drawn level with us in Premierships, they've still won two less GFs. That ALWAYS finishes the footy arguements in my family.

 

[HBF]

What a great story ODN.

I was born in Sydney back in the early '70's and got to watching the footy as they showed the match of the day up there Live on a Saturday arvo. As the Kangas were one of the powerhouses back then and were always on TV, that was the team I chose to support, well, that's what my folks tell me anyway.

When we moved back to Melbourne in '77 (Mum and Dad moved to Sydney 5 years earlier for business), I became very good friends with my neighbour, who was a year older than me, and a Carlton supporter.

He convinced me that barracking for Carlton was better, and so I jumped ships. Best thing I ever did as a 4 year old. And the rest they say is history

 

[mediumsizered]

Looks like I'm part of the 0.5% as well. My paternal grandmother's family arrived in Australia in the 1840s. Anyway, my father followed the Blues during the time of Bob Chitty, Ken Hands, Ollie Grieve etc but I think he really showed an interest when Jim 'Frosty' Miller joined the club in the early '60s (legend has it that my grandmother used to babysit 'Frosty' when he was a little bloke growing up in Garfield). This interest was passed on to my older brother, who was my hero when growing up, so naturally I jumped on the Blues' bandwagon. My first memories are of names like Serg Silvagni, Big Nick, Cliff Stewart, Bryan Kekovich, Barry Gill and I have vague memories of John Lloyd (Matty's old man).

Whereas my father and brother followed the club with a bit of passion, I became totally passionate about them, particularly after the 1970 GF. When I finally went to my first game in 1974 (with my older brother) I was totally hooked and could think of nothing better than heading to Princes Park, the "G", Windy Hill, Arden St etc to watch the Blues in action every week.

By the time I was 15, my older brother had lost a bit of interest so I started finding my own way to the games. This just happened to coincide with the rebirth of the Blues under Jezza. I made sure I saved all my pocket money so I could afford the tram or train ticket to get to the ground, admission and of course the footy record. So passionate was I about the Blues, my science teacher wrote on my school report that my results had improved in Term 3 once the footy season had finished.

The only things that rate ahead of the Carlton Football Club, nowadays, as far as I am concerned are my wife, kids & grandkids. They're not that far ahead, though. Go the mighty Blues.

 

[as0l0]

simple - The Buzz

 

[ClayBlue87]

I was born just before the 1987 Carlton Hawthorn Grand final...

Mum is a crazy Hawks supporter
Dad is a crazy Blues supporter

They took me to the GF when i was about 2 weeks old and made a pact that whoever won that day i would support in the future. and ive never looked back.

Quite simply it is destiny that i follow the blues!!!

 

[Kooley]

I was born just before the 1987 Carlton Hawthorn Grand final...

Mum is a crazy Hawks supporter
Dad is a crazy Blues supporter

They took me to the GF when i was about 2 weeks old and made a pact that whoever won that day i would support in the future. and ive never looked back.

Quite simply it is destiny that i follow the blues!!!

32 degree day and your parents took a two week old to the footy. that's a pretty impressive effort and shows a heap of dedication.well done to them both

 

[BlueBelle]

My dad's faimly are all Navy Blue through and through so I didn't really have a choice. My mum's family are Carlton as well, except they are not as keen.

When I was younger my dad used to play footy himself and it wasn't until he tore his ACL that he started going to watch Carlton again. He always told me my first two words were, "Go Blues!" so it was inevitable that, when I was old enough, I was going to the footy with him.

I went to my first game when I was 5 years old and I haven't missed one since, except the occassional interstater but try to get to at least 2 a year.

 

[AlecDuncan]

4th generation fan/supporter

great grandparents grew up near the ground

Same here. My mum's family lived in Drummond Street. My dad married into Carlton and became as fanatical as anyone. As you can guess from the avatar, a great-uncle played for the club in the 20s & 30s. He's the first name on the #20 locker, and lives still on a few honour boards.

Another uncle was a leggy and played for Carlton Cricket Club for decades (he reckon's he just missed out on the Invincibles tour, but that's probably just something you tell the nephew - not that he was given to tall stories), so I spent days around the ground as a kid in both winter and summer, as far back as when there was no George Harris stand.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

You're a Carlton supporter first, and a wog/aussie second LOL.