On 21/12/2011 at 02:41, Pennant St Dee said:

Macca thank you so much for post #38 & #40, this day was my first great memory as a Dees supporter and took me back to the joy as a 15 year old I had in ralising for the first time that my Team would be playing finals. Living in Perth at the time I still remember listening to the game on the radio bting my Nails as we held on and they crossed every time to the Cats and Hawks game at Geelong.

Making the GF in 1988 & 2000 provided me with great joy but this was I would love to relive that Saturday afternoon again listening to that game again, my da like everyone else in the country took the Dees up as his 2nd team that week and through the finals and I still recall him yelling Yes when they confirmed the Cats had been beaten.

Happy Memories, I hope to share teh same joy with my boys when we take off the big prize

Yeah ta Pennant - what would we do without youtube hey ?

I remember screaming out "Willo" when he snapped that goal from the pocket and when I watched the video the other day I let shriek again ! Gee Wilson could play . That roar with a few minutes to go ( Hawks beating the Cats ) is something I will never forget . Brett Lovett was fantastic that day . They all were really .

I reckon with our draw in the 2nd half of 2012 we might "Come from the clouds" again !

  On 20/12/2011 at 03:59, Macca said:

Part 2 of that round 22 clash vs Footscray

Was that an early incarnation of the forward press I saw?

2000 was great... until it ended in *many* tears

Sitting behind the goals during the 1960 GF in the rain a seeing the b&w only kick 2 goals for the day.

  On 21/12/2011 at 13:54, angrydee said:

Sitting behind the goals during the 1960 GF in the rain a seeing the b&w only kick 2 goals for the day.

Great trip home was it Angry??

Wonderful! And in 64 it was just as good. I'd love to feel that again

  On 22/12/2011 at 06:01, angrydee said:

Wonderful! And in 64 it was just as good. I'd love to feel that again

Very envious mate. The last 5 minutes of 1960 is on youtube. Check it out.

I think if we had our time again for the 90's, my 3 wishes for that decade would be: -

* Lyon to have no back problems

* Tingay to play injury free

* Schwarz to have strong knees

Definitely agree H_T.

Was an 8yr old in "64", mum drove us to G every home game and finals, sis and self yelled our guts out for our redlegs that year.........and to defeat the filth in the dying minutes..........

  On 19/12/2011 at 13:06, Macca said:

87' . We came from the clouds to make the finals for the first time in 23 years ,

Was at the Western oval when we finally "made it" and it remains one of the happiest days of my life . I've followed our Club since the mid sixties and the joy we Demons felt that day was incredible .

We were underdogs going into an elimination final against North but proceeded to smash them by over 100 points . We buttered up and gave Sydney a hiding and then there was that day at Waverley when we shouda , couda , wouda .

87' is still full of great memories however and taught me and many others that you shouldn't give up on a season too early . Such a young side as well that year .

The footy we played in '87 was breathtaking.

It's a pity we went into our shells against a side we had previously feared, and so weren't able to let it flow. But tried to force it, only to choke in front of open goals. We shot our own feet.

  On 22/12/2011 at 12:39, dee-luded said:

The footy we played in '87 was breathtaking.

It's a pity we went into our shells against a side we had previously feared, and so weren't able to let it flow. But tried to force it, only to choke in front of open goals. We shot our own feet.

'87 was about self belief in a lot of ways . A turning point from "Terrible" to "Gee , we too can play finals like footy!" . A crest of of a wave cut short but still exhilarating . Fans of other clubs remember it like we do . That makes it special in a way . We will come again .

Just on that preliminary final . Considering we were 6 wins and 9 losses at round 15 and then 7 wins and 10 losses at round 17 , any thought of taking on the reigning Premiers on the 2nd last Saturday of September was a total "Pipe dream" . Somehow we got there and did quite well .

'88 and '2000 were terrific years as well but we were never a realistic chance in those years all things considered . '90 , '94 and '98 were opportunities that we were unable to grasp .

Looking ahead , Neeld strikes me as a winner . He will deliver finals appearances for our Team . As for no.13 ...................

1987

I was fortunate enough to become a Demon supporter in the summer of 1954/5 when I was five years old and I therefore was able to enjoy six premierships over the ensuing decade.

 

If you ask me to separate them, I don't think I could (although I have few memories of 1955). The last in 1964 was pretty satisfying although I watched it inside the ABC studios. I reckon 1956 was pretty special - we won all bar two games that year. I sat in the rain at the G in 1960 and watched us keep our mortal enemies down to 2 goals in the grand final.

 

Being a Demon fan in those days was really something special. It was the bragging rights in the schoolyard, it was the pride in wearing the jumper (mine had 31 on its back) and most of all it was the fact that when you woke on a Saturday morning you knew that your team was not only going to win but it was most likely to kick arse that day.

 

There were a couple of regrets. Being so young and having parents who worked 7 days a week in a milk bar, I didn't get to see many games unless a kindly neighbour offered to take me to a game so I would listen to the games most of the time and later watch in grainy black and white when we were finally able to  afford a tv set (and in those days you only got the final quarter live).

 

The other regret was that the golden era came to an end. Ron Barassi left to captain coach at Carlton at the end of 1964 and the following year, Norm Smith was sacked, then reinstated but things were never the same again.

 

The story of Norm Smith and the legacy of his era is another story altogether. There's another thread where I've already had a little to say about that but I might put down some more thoughts over there at some stage. 

  On 23/12/2011 at 06:09, Whispering_Jack said:

I was fortunate enough to become a Demon supporter in the summer of 1954/5 when I was five years old and I therefore was able to enjoy six premierships over the ensuing decade.

 

If you ask me to separate them, I don't think I could (although I have few memories of 1955). The last in 1964 was pretty satisfying although I watched it inside the ABC studios. I reckon 1956 was pretty special - we won all bar two games that year. I sat in the rain at the G in 1960 and watched us keep our mortal enemies down to 2 goals in the grand final.

 

Being a Demon fan in those days was really something special. It was the bragging rights in the schoolyard, it was the pride in wearing the jumper (mine had 31 on its back) and most of all it was the fact that when you woke on a Saturday morning you knew that your team was not only going to win but it was most likely to kick arse that day.

 

There were a couple of regrets. Being so young and having parents who worked 7 days a week in a milk bar, I didn't get to see many games unless a kindly neighbour offered to take me to a game so I would listen to the games most of the time and later watch in grainy black and white when we were finally able to  afford a tv set (and in those days you only got the final quarter live).

 

The other regret was that the golden era came to an end. Ron Barassi left to captain coach at Carlton at the end of 1964 and the following year, Norm Smith was sacked, then reinstated but things were never the same again.

 

The story of Norm Smith and the legacy of his era is another story altogether. There's another thread where I've already had a little to say about that but I might put down some more thoughts over there at some stage. 

I became a supporter in 1956 (or so my parents told me) and once I got a jumper, also sported the number 31, despite the fact my real hero was Hassa Mann. My other favorite back then was Brian Dixon, but I think that was because he was, like myself, a Croydon boy. 

64 for me. First and only.

In those days you could take your own camp chair in and a few shredded phone books and park yourself up against the short cyclone fence, standing room in the old bay 13/14...good possie next to the flank.

For those who have witnessed a Demons Premiership, would you rank a modern-day one as better, on the same level or inferior to the ones from the halcyon days?

  On 19/12/2011 at 12:56, s-t-i-n-g-a said:

The offseason is slow...and the tread on our top 10 favourite players was a good one.

So I thought I would kick another one off with our best year as a Dees fan.

Mine was 1998. Our big names were up and about that year, Tingay, Lyon, Viney, Stynes, febey brothers...etc. it was an up and down season but we hit a superb run of form coming into the finals and were just running over teams in the final quarters and smashed the eventual premier in a final before bowing our to the Roos. It was one hell of a ride and we really could beat any team on our day.

2000 was hard to top making the GF and going to see it live but we were always up against it to get over a very dominant bombers side that year. I just felt a real buzz in 98 and thought we were a real chance with many of my favourite players burning it up.

Got into the ground just in time to see Farmer take a screamer directly in front at the Richmond end. Missed a sitter which could have set us off. North were the superior team that night. We were severely dudded with the fixturing in these finals after we 'knocked out' Adelaide.

  On 23/12/2011 at 10:38, Chook said:

For those who have witnessed a Demons Premiership, would you rank a modern-day one as better, on the same level or inferior to the ones from the halcyon days?

Yes, it's always going to be better because it is no longer just a memory. On top of that, a premiership now is a much greater achievement considering the number of teams playing, the travel involved and the pace at which the modern game is played resulting in a high rate of attrition... it really is survival of the fittest.

  On 21/12/2011 at 10:42, RalphiusMaximus said:

Was that an early incarnation of the forward press I saw?

Terry Wallace was missing from that game for some reason.