https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au The complete history of Australia's greatest sporting club Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:13:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.21 https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/dane-swan/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:02:40 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/dane-swan/ In the years that followed, Swan made incredible improvement to the point where he became the 2011 Brownlow Medalist, and earned the label of ‘untaggable’ from many commentators. A strongly built midfielder who is dangerous if released to half forward, Swan’s unique ability to repeatedly out-sprint his opponents, allowing him to power from contest to contest, made him Collingwood’s most consistent player of the Malthouse-Buckley era. Criticised earn on by some for his occasionally errant kicking, Swan’s disposal was soon considered to be as good as any other. His barrel chest meant he could hunt down the ball at the stoppages and explode away from them courtesy of his deceptive pace. Far from a front runner, Swan averaged 84.4 tackles between 2007 and 2011. He also had ability to make himself a threat in attack, be it around stoppages, outrunning his opponent when the side’s in possession and when isolated one-out where his underrated ability overhead made him the complete package. After a disappointing and injury-plagued 2014, he returned to stellar form in 2015, running second in the Copeland Trophy. He began the 2016 campaign well, starring during the NAB Challenge, only for a rare foot injury suffered minutes into the season opener against Sydney to end both his season and his career.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/nathan-buckley/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:01:59 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/nathan-buckley/ He overcame the burden of expectation and from his earliest days was central to the Collingwood game plan with strategies built over his magnificent kicking in after behinds were scored. Under state of origin rules he was bound to the Allies team and at times in these games it seemed that he was one of the few men who could build passion about the concept. Collingwood jealously guarded its hottest property and was relieved when he re-signed with the Pies after Port Adelaide had tried to woo him back to Adelaide when his contract ran out at the end of 1996. Similarly at the end of 1999 Collingwood made no secret of the fact that it wanted to sign him for life. Buckley had to work against a public perception in his early years that he was self-centred and arrogant, but to the contrary his coach Leigh Matthews said that early in his career he tried to short-pass too often. Buckley has also admitted that he tried to hide his own feelings of insecurity behind a facade of self-assurance. When rumors were flying in 1993 that he would cross from Brisbane to Collingwood, the Magpie players gave him a hard time when the teams met. As a result Buckley played his worst game for the year. Ironically one of the players giving him a serve that day was Craig Kelly who later became his manager. Even when Buckley became captain of the Magpies in 1999 he realised that he had to tone down his on-field criticism of teammates and remain positive and at the start of 2001 took part in a special leadership course to modify his approach. If the football public needed any reminder that Nathan Buckley was one of the most talented players in the AFL competition it came during the international series played between Australia and Ireland at the end of the 1999 season. Buckley, the captain of Australia, adapted better than any other Australian player to the vagaries of a lighter, round ball. In 1999 Buckley was Collingwood’s leader in more ways than one. Despite missing five games after he fractured a jaw, Buckley was a runaway winner in the club’s best and fairest award and finished equal third in the Brownlow with 20 votes. His powerful kicking, strong and clearcut ball handling and possession winning ability were a constant menace against opposing sides. Buckley was in sensational form for most of the 2000 season, then injured a knee against Port Adelaide in Round 13 and although he missed just the one match, his form tapered. Even so, Buckley’s extraordinary ability to win the ball saw him dominate many games and he eventually polled 18 Brownlow votes, just six behind Melbourne’s Shane Woewodin. He won All Australian honours for a fifth consecutive year and as expected, romped away with Collingwood’s best and fairest for 2000. He was so dominant as a player that the fact he came third in the 2001 best and fairest made news in its own right. Over the summer of 2001-2002 Buckley reduced his weight to 90 kg after having usually played at 95 kgs. He later led the Magpies brilliantly in their narrow 2002 grand final loss to Brisbane. His consolation was a Norm Smith Medal as best on the ground. Buckley had a wonderful 2003 season, culminating in a Brownlow Medal triumph. He polled 22 votes to share honours with Sydney’s Adam Goodes and Adelaide’s Mark Ricciuto. Buckley also led the Magpies to another grand final in 2003, but again they went down to the Lions. The Collingwood star was again selected as an All-Australian in 2004 and he won his sixth Copeland Trophy adding to the best and fairests he won in 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. In 2004 he began fairly well, but a hamstring injury sidelined him for the best part of two months. Despite the setback he still ran seventh in the club championship and was an effective player. The hamstring problems re-occurred early in 2005 and there was even doubt over whether he would continue, but he came back strongly in the second half of the year. By 2006 his role had been modified with more time on the bench and less on the ball, but he remained a potent force and the man to whom Collingwood looked when things were going badly. Buckley retired when it was clear to all that his body was finally wearing down in 2007. After two years in the football media, Buckley became a key cog in Collingwood’s coaching succession plan when, in July 2009, it was announced he would learn the ropes for two years as an assistant to Mick Malthouse before taking the reigns in his own right in 2012. While the intention was for Malthouse to remain as Director of Coaching, he left the club after his coaching tenure ended after the 2011 Grand Final. Buckley led the Magpies into a Preliminary Final in his first year at the helm before guiding his young side into the Elimination Final the following year.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/peter-moore/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:00:41 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/peter-moore/ https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/len-thompson/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:00:08 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/len-thompson/ reallyset him apart – was his agility. He moved like a rover at times, and his ground play and ball skills were astonishing for one so tall. He could pick the ball up on the run, sidestep, handball beautifully, short pass or kick long. He could do it all. If you doubt this, search YouTube for footage of Collingwood’s 1973 preliminary final over Richmond and look for his first goal, about halfway into the opening term. Max Richardson taps the ball out to him and Thommo speeds away from Tiger wingman Francis Bourke and sinks a long goal from centre half-forward. Then remind yourself that this bloke is nearly 200cm tall – and he’s playing like a midfielder. Despite his placid nature – Thommo really was the classic gentle giant on the field – he had an unhappy knack of courting controversy. The most famous instance of that, of course, came during the 1970 pre-season, when he and Des Tuddenham went on ‘strike’ for a few weeks in a fight for better pay and conditions, sparked by the club’s decision to spend big on WA recruit Peter Eakins. The strike was front page news for weeks. It was eventually resolved, but the pair’s actions left a bitter aftertaste. To make matters worse, that 1970 incident set a trend: seemingly every second year or so Thommo would threaten to leave, or announce he was leaving, if his latest wage demands weren’t met. The result was that, despite winning three more Copelands in the 1970s and the Brownlow Medal in 1972, Big Len often felt that he was resented by some fans, and certainly by some officials. That feeling was exacerbated when Collingwood pushed him out at the end of the 1978 season. He had finally been named skipper that year but Tommy Hafey decided to off-load him as part of a major clearout at season’s end. Thommo desperately wanted to stay and become the club’s first 15-year player since Lou Richards, but instead he had to end his career at South Melbourne, then Fitzroy, eventually finishing with a grand total of 305 games. He returned to Victoria Park briefly in the mid-1980s as part of the ill-fated New Magpies regime. Len Thompson’s stellar career stamps him as one of the greatest Collingwood footballers of all time. Yet he still felt there was resentment towards him even after retirement, and he admitted to feeling uncomfortable or ‘on edge’ at club functions. But all that changed after Eddie McGuire took over as president. His whole-hearted attempts to bring disenchanted former players back into the fold had perhaps their greatest success with Thommo, who finally found his way back to widespread acclamation in the early 2000s. When he died of a heart attack in 2007, aged just 60, the club mourned. But Thommo’s journey with Collingwood wasn’t quite finished yet. In 2014, his Brownlow Medal and three of his Copelands were donated to the club by an anonymous benefactor. They now form part of the club’s archives, where they will forever remain as testament to an extraordinary and yet perhaps still undervalued career. – Michael Roberts]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/des-fothergill/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:58:17 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/des-fothergill/ wunderkindof the late 1930s, Des Fothergill. Just consider this: he first played for Collingwood as a 16-year-old in 1937, introduced into a star-studded Premiership team that was on its way to another Grand Final. Despite the big names around him, and despite missing six games, he won the Copeland Trophy in that first season. By the age of 20, he had played four seasons of senior football – and won the Copeland in three of them. In the last of those seasons he also won the Brownlow Medal. In the entire history of the Collingwood Football Club, only the mighty Albert Collier – with one Copeland and a Brownlow – has even gone close to matching that start to a career. No wonder then that, after just Fothergill’s second season, Magpie president Harry Curtis made this bold prediction: “I feel certain that in Des Fothergill, Collingwood has one of the greatest players of all time. In fact, I think he is going to develop into the greatest player Australia has known.” In the end, the only things that stopped Curtis’s prediction coming true were the Second World War, the lure of big money in the VFA and Fothergill’s close friendship with Ron Todd. Des Fothergill started his football life as the best possible advertisement for the club’s famed schoolboy competition that started in the mid-1930s. These were games played between local school teams as curtain-raisers to VFL matches at Victoria Park. Fothergill had been born in Northcote but raised in Preston, and later captained both the cricket and football teams at Collingwood Tech. That school was part of the curtain-raiser competition, and seconds coach Hughie Thomas noticed his domination there – especially after he won the Bruce Andrew Cup in 1935 for best player in the final match between combined schoolboys from Collingwood and Footscray. The next year, aged just 15, Fothergill played under Thomas in the Magpie seconds. Sure enough he won the team’s best and fairest and goalkicking awards, bagging a handful of five-goal hauls along the way. At the same time he was also blitzing them in cricket, already having played with Northcote’s senior XI in district competition The boy was a sporting freak. But some officials, including Jock McHale, still harboured doubts about him, wondering whether his strong-hipped, low-to-the-ground build would make him too slow for senior football. So Fother started the 1937 practice matches in the early games for those considered furthest from senior selection. He starred in one, being best on ground. A few minutes later, he was sent into the second match when another player failed to turn up. Despite playing back-to-back matches without a break, Fother kicked a lazy 10 in the senior match and was best on ground there too. He got his chance six games into the 1937 season – he remains the eighth youngest Collingwood player – and by the end of the year was the club’s youngest-ever Copeland Trophy winner. A year later newspapers were already describing him as ‘the kingpin around which the team revolves’, and he was the club’s best player in the 1938 finals, stunning critics with a trio of outrageous performances: six goals in the semi against Footscray, five in the preliminary against Geelong and four in the Grand Final against Carlton. All this and he’d just turned 18. Years later, Fothergill would come to be likened to a more recent Magpie hero, Peter Daicos. He certainly shared Daicos’s low-slung build, innate understanding of the game, and his ability to create space where none existed, or to twist and turn out of trouble with deft movements – a dip of the shoulder, a little swerve to one side, a fraction of increased speed. He also shared Daicos’s near-perfect kicking and unerring accuracy in front of goal, whether with snap kicks or long, direct shots (he kicked more than 50 goals in five of his six seasons at Collingwood). He played mostly as a half-forward or rover, and wherever he was stationed he was simply magical to watch. But there was nothing ‘showy’ about the way Fothergill played. Not for him the more elaborate and fancy evasive techniques of his equally dangerous teammate Alby Pannam, or the high-flying athleticism of his great friend Todd. Instead there was a quiet, cool, precise, almost ruthless feel to the way Fother would take a game apart. He was perfectly balanced, and played with the unhurried movements of one with time to spare. Like the very best players, he made everything look so damn easy. He wasn’t outrageously quick, but he made up for that with sublime elusiveness. There was no more difficult player to mind in football. He read the play beautifully, and had the happy knack of being able to get on his own when the ball was heading towards him. Hec de Lacy, in the Sporting Globe, branded him ‘the brainiest player in the game.’ “He plays football with a minimum of effort – without a trace of flashness or an atom of selfishness,” he wrote. “His football is effortless – yet to opponents terrifying in its deliberateness. He moves to the seat of the action, acquits himself with a minimum of movement, does his deadly work, then drifts on.” In 1950, Richmond’s Jack Dyer wrote: “He had the uncanny power of seeming to know just where the ball would land. It was amazing – Fothergill even seemed to be waiting under the miskicks! Sometimes he was like twins, even triplets. He seemed to be everywhere at once, and his anticipation was uncanny. I have never seen his equal.” Unfortunately for Collingwood, young Des was also a pragmatist. At Collingwood’s annual meeting in 1939, Camberwell approached him with a huge offer. Rather than just dismiss it out of hand, Fother said he’d think about it. That was a bad sign. At the end of that year, Ron Todd succumbed to an even more generous offer and joined Williamstown. Todd and Fothergill were something of an odd couple – Todd loud and almost brash, Fothergill quiet and shy to an almost ridiculous level – but they became the best of mates, sharing a love of horses, footy and socialising. During the 1940 season, they’d often be seen at local dances and functions together, including many run by the Williamstown Football Club. So it was no surprise when Willy made Fothergill a huge offer just days after he’d won the Brownlow. This time, Fothergill said yes. The Magpies were devastated, but the fans perhaps even moreso. Partly because of his youth and partly because of the thrilling, ultra-fair way he played, Fothergill was the darling of the Collingwood crowds. So there was widespread dismay at his departure. He was, of course, far too good for the VFA, and in his only season there won the competition’s two top awards by a huge margin. Fothergill then joined the army but in 1944, while playing services football in the Northern Territory, badly injured his knee, army doctors later having to remove two pieces of bone. There was major excitement and anticipation around Collingwood when it was announced that Fothergill would be coming back for the opening game of the 1945 season. He was almost a stone heavier, and his knee injury had been widely reported, so expectations were tempered. But Fother kicked five that day, 62 for the season and won the Herald’s award as best player of the season. Next year he went one better, topping the league’s goalkicking table with 63 goals. It had been an extraordinary return. But Fothergill hurt his knee again late in that 1946 season. He tried to go on in 1947 but had to retire after just three games (in which, incidentally, he’d managed to kick five, four and three goals while on one leg). He was still only 26. His cricket was less affected. He made his maiden first class ton late in 1947 and ended up playing 27 games for Victoria, frequently being mentioned as a Test hopeful with his aggressive batting and handy leg-spin. He also played 149 games for Northcote and was named in that club’s Team of the Century. But that mattered little to the Collingwood football fans who had seen the last of their idol. His move to the VFA, the intervention of war and the advent of serious injury all contrived to deprive football of Des Fothergill’s best years. But based on the evidence of his first four seasons, and what he was still able to achieve in his second stint, it seems that Harry Curtis may well have been right: if fate had been kinder, we might well be talking about Des Fothergill as the greatest Collingwood footballer of them all. – Michael Roberts]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/marcus-whelan/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:58:05 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/marcus-whelan/ Argus. “Not only Collingwood supporters, but followers of every club, have no quarrel with the choice; rather, it is applauded everywhere,” said the paper. The Brownlow win had some unexpected side-effects. The extra attention brought more focus, and the year after his win the magazine Pix carried a double-page pictorial spread branding him “the most handsome man in football”.  That year he also did some ads promoting the beef drink Bonox. “The way to keep fit for football is to drink plenty of Bonox,” he was quoted as saying in the ads. “That’s the stuff to put beef into you. Bonox is always served at half-time during the big matches.” The attention wouldn’t have bothered Whelan, who had little time for that side of things. When he wasn’t busy scoffing Bonox at half-time, he remained focused on helping out his team wherever he could. And as brilliant as he was in the middle, sometimes that meant serving elsewhere. Indeed over his career he would play everywhere from half-forward to full-back. “It does not seem to matter to Marcus Whelan where he is placed,” wrote the Sporting Globeduring his breakout 1934 season, “for his half-forward displays are equal to those he has given in the centre. His marking and ground play were faultless.” When Jack Regan missed games with a dislocated elbow, Whelan took over at full-back – and of course did brilliantly. And it was there that he moved permanently late in his career, after the war ended, where his judgement, composure and lovely long kicking were still valuable weapons. The war, sadly, had deprived the game of Whelan’s class for three whole seasons, from 1943-45. But even when he returned after such a tough and lengthy time out of the game, he still carried all the quality he’d shown throughout his career. He quietly retired from the game early in 1947, after which he coached St Kilda seconds for a year, then played and coached in Carrum. One of his brothers, Jim, had trained with Collingwood in 1937 but never made it to the seniors. Another brother played senior footy with Bacchus Marsh, and a cousin trained with Carlton. The family bloodlines extended even more directly to Marcus’s son Shane, who played 20 games for Collingwood in the late 1960s. Marcus Whelan remains one of only nine Magpies to have won the game’s highest individual honour. But even more than that he is remembered as one of the classiest players ever to have pulled on a Collingwood jumper. – Michael Roberts]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/harry-collier/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:57:42 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/harry-collier/ The Sporting Globe. “In addition, he could take and give hard knocks.” Harry was not particularly fast but he was elusive, rated as a master of blind turning and twisting. He also had excellent skills, being a superb ball-handler and a good kick with either foot who was particularly dangerous near goal. His anticipation was superb, and his judgement of the ball off packs especially good. Supporters and players of the fifties would later liken the great Bob Rose to him, and that is indeed a hefty compliment — for both players. Collier was wonderfully consistent, playing his first 100 games in a row and always playing well in the big matches. His outstanding performances were rewarded with the Copeland Trophy in 1928 and again in 1930, the same year in which he would retrospectively win the Brownlow Medal. He frequently represented the State and won numerous club awards. His dedication to Collingwood was further demonstrated by the special award given to him in 1935 for his remarkable achievement of missing only one night of training in ten years. Perhaps his greatest reward came when he succeeded Syd Coventry as captain. He was an ideal choice; respected, inspirational and levelheaded enough to know when to settle his players down. Collier’s vice-captain was his brother, and the two provided an outstanding leadership team. They looked after young players on and off the field, made sure they got a kick in their early matches, tutored them in the skills of the game and basically imbued them with the club spirit. When the two led the Magpies to the 1935 Premiership over South Melbourne it provided Harry with one of his most treasured footballing memories. Its aftermath, though, led to one of his most embarrassing. Coming home from the post-match celebrations, Collier drove his car into Archbishop Mannix’s fence. He hurriedly backed the car up and drove away, but in doing so left its bumper bar wedged in the fence. As well as having to later apologise to Archbishop Mannix, the Collingwood captain had to endure the embarrassment of fronting up to the Kew police station to retrieve his bent bumper bar. After winning flags in his first two years as captain, Harry led the team into losing grand finals in the next three. In 1938 however, he was not there to join the battle on grand final day, having been controversially suspended for a massive 14 games for belting a Carlton player. The sentence was manifestly unjust, but even a 2500-strong petition did not succeed in having it reviewed. If anything the incident made Harry even more popular with Collingwood supporters. His gameness, pluck and feisty nature had always made him a favourite at Victoria Park. So, too, had his down- to-earth attitudes, his unquestioning loyalty to the club and his willingness to give anything for its success. All of which made it even harder for Harry to accept when he and his brother were told to retire shortly before the 1940 season. Harry, Albert and the rest of the players had — perhaps unwisely — become involved in the 1939 club elections. They publicly backed the existing committee against a challenge group, arguing that stability was in the best interests of the club. With their help the committee survived, but only months later “thanked” the Colliers by telling them their services were no longer required. Harry was deeply hurt by the decision, but would later return to the club as long-serving committeeman and talent scout. Collingwood’s fortunes slumped dramatically without the Colliers. But that’s not surprising; rip the heart out of any body and it will have trouble functioning. And Collingwood did lose part of its heart when it lost Harry Collier. For years he had been central to the soul and lifeblood of the team, epitomising all that is famous about the Collingwood Football Club. In his later years he became a sort of symbol to the younger generations of what the old-timers meant when they talked about the famed Collingwood spirit; in the form of Harry Collier that spirit could not have had a better standard-bearer. – Michael Roberts]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/albert-collier/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:57:39 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/albert-collier/ The Sporting Globe that Albert Collier was the best follower he had seen. In his new role of protector and team leader he played a brand of football that made him even more important to the team’s fortunes. He was possibly the most valuable footballer in the competition. He won the Copeland Trophy in 1934 and again in 1935, was a regular Victorian player and also won other awards including one from radio station 3KZ for the most popular player of 1937. Off the field Albert was something of a rough diamond. There was not a lot of polish about him but he was a straight, no-nonsense bloke with a kind heart. He would call a spade “a bloody shovel”, and it did not pay to get on his wrong side. He was also viewed in some quarters as a bit of a rebel, and was an early defender of players’ rights off the field as well as on. Most of the players idolised him. By 1938, though, injuries started to take their toll. He missed most of the season with a knee injury which later required surgery, and was troubled by the same complaint in 1939. After the final practice match of 1940 the Collingwood committee decided Leeter (and Harry) should retire. Albert was bitterly disappointed by the decision, as he still felt there was some football left in the old legs yet. He played 11 games at Fitzroy in 1941, then had a successful coaching stint with Camberwell in the VFA before coaching in country centres Kyneton and Sea Lake. In 1960 he again hit the headlines when he lay in a bulldozer’s path to prevent trees from being knocked down on the Carrum foreshore. If that had happened during Albert Collier’s playing days there would have been plenty of opponents prepared to wager that the bulldozer might have come off second best. Brilliantly talented, super tough and inspirational in equal measure, Albert Collier had it all – and he still stands as one of football’s all-time greats. – Michael Roberts]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/syd-coventry-snr/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 11:57:26 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/syd-coventry-snr/ Sporting Globe noted in 1927: “Syd seems to be electrical in his movements and a mass of energy, unsparingly throwing himself into the vigorous ruck work. Those strong shoulders of his are never idle, and he literally forges his way through anything. He takes some terribly hard knocks, but gives them back equally hard”. He was a magnificent high mark, with a good spring and splendid anticipation. When the ball hit the ground he was not lost either, and was seldom beaten by other followers in a race for the ball. He was a long drop or punt kick, and was described as having “the kicking power of a healthy horse”. He wasn’t too big on handball or short passes: whenever he got the ball he tended to boot it as far as possible. Syd was also an exceptionally smart footballer. He often had to carry the Collingwood ruck almost single-handedly, and he learned to perfect the art of playing a kick behind the play. He would rarely venture beyond the centre and would regularly rack up possessions through his astute positioning and reading of the play. Another big punt kick and the ball would be back deep in the Magpie forward line. Those footy smarts really came to the fore in the second phase of Syd’s career, when he was named Collingwood’s captain. The appointment came in controversial circumstances, when Charlie Tyson was dumped just days before the start of the 1927 season, but the controversy was quickly forgotten as Syd had his best ever season, not only winning the Brownlow Medal and the first ever Copeland Trophy but also impressing everyone with his leadership. “Syd is the all-round menace whose shrewd direction from all parts of the playground has often brought victory to the Magpies in the last few minutes of a winter afternoon,” wrote Table Talkmagazine in 1927. “He has won matches time and again by his tactical aplomb at critical moments. To the Collingwood Football Club, Syd Coventry is an ideal mixture of Napoleon and Nelson, with a dash of Caesar and Alexander the Great.” Brother Gordon had always seen these qualities in Syd, saying that he seemed “born to lead” in football. Certainly, no man did more as a player and a leader to inspire those Magpie teams. His determination, fearlessness and will-to-win frequently lifted the team to greater heights, and his in-game acumen turned many a contest. “A few words from him, if we were not shaping like winners, usually had the desired effect,” said one former teammate. Syd was a highly marketable footballer, advertising shorts and boots that carried his name, and even a tonic to cure boils! But his exalted standing in the game owed as much to his exceptional personal qualities as it did to his abilities as both a player and a captain. He was warm and kind, admired and loved by colleagues and opponents alike. He had a delightful sense of humour and was regarded by most of his former colleagues as a great man. He was also ridiculously modest, as Table Talknoted in 1927: “Adoration by the broadside never stirs his phlegm: the worship of a million plevendors would be nothing to him. Even when sweet ladies scream his triumph from the stands and fences there is not a trace of pink in his marble brow.” The tributes upon his retirement from the playing fields were as fulsome as they were warranted. “He has been the idol of the football-loving public of Collingwood,” wrote theAustralasian. “He has been to the local football club what Jack Ryder has been to the cricket club – an inspiration to those under his command. His motto was manliness and sportsmanship, and he retires with everybody’s good will.” Table Talkagreed: “Syd Coventry commands respect because of his even temper, his general sportsmanship and his fine rearguard courage in many a gloomy scene… he is the epitome of the athlete as the average Australian admires him.” The Argustribute ran along similar lines: “The game has had many champions, many fine sportsmen, but none has shed greater lustre on the sport than this man from Diamond Creek, who at the age of 35 years leaves the game he has adorned with the knowledge that he is admired and respected by all who take an interest in football.” After his retirement, Syd spent an unhappy and largely unsuccessful couple of years as coach at Footscray (a club he had tried to cross to several times earlier), before coming ‘home’ to Victoria Park and taking up a vice-presidential role in 1939. In 1950, the club was thrown into tumult following the committee’s short-lived and ill-advised decision to appoint Bervin Woods to replace Jock McHale as coach. A full-scale revolt followed which saw long-serving stalwarts Bob Rush (treasurer), Frank Wraith (secretary) and Harry Curtis (president) all forced out, and the club torn apart by internal fighting. Once more Syd stood up for his beloved Magpies by agreeing to become president. In what has become an often-underestimated part of the Syd Coventry story, he used all his personal skills and good standing to help bring the club together after one of the nastiest episodes in its history. It’s debatable whether anybody else stepping into that position at that time could have turned things around so quickly. Two flags followed during his time as president. But just as importantly there was huge growth in both the operations of the Social Club and the development of Victoria Park. By the time he retired from the post early in 1963, the club was in excellent shape off the field. That ended Syd Coventry’s official career at Collingwood. But his name and legacy endure to this day, as a byword for what it means to be a ‘great Collingwood person’. He was, and always will be, one of the true icons of the Collingwood Football Club. – Michael Roberts]]>