by Geoff McClure
| In the same way that memorabilia has now become a big part of sport, these days clubs of all types also realise the importance of their history. It certainly wasn't always that way, though, as one club in particular, Geelong Football Club, discovered not so long ago when a check revealed that, despite it being a 1897 foundation member of the league, its archives did not go back any further than the mid-1970s. |  |
In the same way that
memorabilia has now become a big part of sport, these days clubs of all types
also realise the importance of their history. It certainly wasn't always that
way, though, as one club in particular, Geelong Football Club, discovered not so
long ago when a check revealed that, despite it being a 1897 foundation member
of the league, its archives did not go back any further than the mid-1970s.
But that gaping hole in the Cats' annals has been partly filled thanks to the
unearthing of three priceless sets of books that contain the minutes of club
board meetings, dating back as far as the early 1920s. We say priceless, for the
simple fact that many of those meetings were chaired by the man after whom the
Brownlow Medal was struck, the club's famous administrator, Charles Brownlow.
That they are now back where they belong is thanks to some quick work during the
football off-season by budding football historian Rhett Bartlett, son of footy
legend Kevin Bartlett, who saw the minutes advertised in a Rick Milne
memorabilia auction catalogue and alerted AFL historian and statistician – and
life-time Geelong fan – Col Hutchinson.
The books, it has since been discovered, were mysteriously let go by some Geelong officials in a clean-out many years ago but were saved from the tip by an alert truck driver who sensed the documents might have been valuable. He was not wrong about that, Hutchinson having to splash out $1,800 on the Cats' behalf to get them returned to their rightful owners.
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The books, although not in mint condition, contain a goldmine of historical information, including in the early 1940s how at board level the Cats fought desperately to sign Ken Hands, then a 19-year-old playing with North Geelong in the local Geelong league. Not that these documents will appease Cats fans, though, because history now tells us the club's efforts failed, that Hands joined Carlton and became one of the Blues' greats in a 21 -game career followed by a six year coaching stint. |
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But no doubt the most prized documents of them all, both from a Geelong and league perspective, are the minutes of two Geelong committee meetings – in February 1923 and again six months later – when Brownlow applied for leave. Brownlow rarely did this, such was his dedication to the club and the game itself.
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It would seem now that
the sixty-two year old football warrior was not so much wanting a holiday
than he was concerned about his health. In late January 1924, the minutes
record a letter of sympathy to Brownlow's wife. |
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Where now?
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