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Perhaps one of the stupidest things I've read on this site. I paid for 2 memberships. Mine alone is about $700. For the first time in my adult life I will have no work after Easter, my missus' job the same. No income for my family for about 4 months. My employer has said to expect it to be up to 6 months, and they do not qualify for jobkeeper, according to the % drop in turnover rule. While there are plenty of others doing it harder than us, that membership money would keep us going for a few weeks. I will not be asking for a return, however I absolutely understand any member who does due to sudden hardship. Cheap stereotyping from club 'supporters' is the last thing anyone who is doing it tough needs atm

And thank Christ for that Moon. Even embraced by ScoMo and his mates. Even The Donald. Not a peep from the usual media bottom lickers. Funny how we have half the population who now think that welfare is well.....fair, now they are in the queue or may be. Suddenly free trade can be seen for what it is and protectionism does not look so bad. Economic growth is one thing but humanity is another. If we do not have a society that cares for one another, we do not have a society. Great to hear the AFL and clubs talking as one and supporting the unchanged state of the Clubs.

People might also find themselves in the dole queue now when 6 months ago they wouldn't have ever foreseen that. To not be understanding that circumstances have changed considerably for everyone, not just the AFL and clubs, is extremely ignorant. I haven't been impacted (yet) and hopefully I won't be - but I'm not going to guilt trip others who may be experiencing extremely tough times at the moment.

I wish you and your family all the best for the next few months.

such a stupid statement........so judgemental and ignorant of other people's situation. some may have forked out 1,000s for a family. not your usual standard adc

Well Ding, let’s remember we’re talking about Collingwood supporters here. As most people are working from home now, break-ins are virtually impossible, so if Eddie had answered “yes”, they’d have been queuing up around the block 5 minutes later, for their refunds.

I'm a long-term Redlegs member who lives interstate. I always regard my annual membership as a donation to the best football club in the world. Nothing has changed.

Any other recommendations? The Coach (1978), by John Powers More than 40 years after its publication, John Powers’ account of the 1977 season spent with North Melbourne under Ron Barassi remains the standard-bearer for books about the game. It kicks off with the start of pre-season training (on January 24!) at JJ Holland Reserve in Kensington and ends with the Roos holding the premiership cup at the MCG and singing “For he’s a jolly good fellow’’ in tribute to their coach, who had poked and prodded and pushed them all season. “I hope you’ll agree that all the hard work and … all that shit put on you by the coach … was worth it,’’ Barassi responded. Every door opened for Powers at North Melbourne and he made the most of access that writers these days gain only in their dreams. Time and Space (2015), by James Coventry ABC sports reporter Coventry turns a sharp eye to the tactics of the game, how they evolved in the face of the rule book, their effectiveness and how they continue to occupy the minds of coaches and their strategists. Deftly drawn profiles add to an immensely enjoyable read. “I don’t read much but I couldn’t put it down!’’ one VFL coach confessed after being gifted a copy. Coventry and a crew of fellow thinkers also kicked goals in 2018 with Footballistics. Rose Boys (2001), by Peter Rose In late January, 1974, against NSW at the SCG, Robert Rose took his place in a Victorian batting line-up that had Test men Keith Stackpole, Ian Redpath and Paul Sheahan in the top four. He scored 23 in his only innings of the match. Three weeks later, at the age of 22, he was involved in a car accident that left him a quadriplegic. Rose was not only playing Shield cricket but league football for Footscray, where he’d made nine senior appearances in 1973. The son of Collingwood great Bob Rose had started his career with the Magpies in 1970. In the Rose Boys, Peter Rose writes powerfully and movingly about his family, his dual-sportsman brother’s life and his death in 1999 at the age of 47. Southern Sky, Western Oval (1994), by Martin Flanagan Just as Powers shadowed the Kangaroos in 1977, Flanagan followed Footscray in 1993. Having fended off a merger with Fitzroy a couple of years earlier, the Bulldogs had risen spectacularly to 16 wins and six losses in 1992, and coach Terry Wheeler had amplified his ambitions for his team. He saw possibilities whereas the old Bulldog way was to sense problems. “I’m inviting you to record Footscray’s premiership year,’’ he had told Flanigan. But, injuries conspiring against them, Bulldogs finished ninth, and early in the 1994 season. Wheeler was unceremoniously dumped. Flanagan’s profiles of president Peter Gordon, players Steve ‘Super’ Macpherson and Simon Atkins, and veteran property steward Jack McGovern are a delight. He returned to the Western Oval after the premiership year, 2016, writing A Wink from the Universe, but from a greater distance than Southern Sky. The Greatest Game (1988), edited by Ross Fitzgerald and Ken Spillman The list of contributors includes Tim Winton, Gerald Murname, Geoffrey Blainey, Bruce Dawe, Manning Clark, Laurie Clancy, Don Watson, David Williamson, Keith Dunstan, Terry Lane, Jack Hibberd, Dinny O’Hearn, Barry Oakley, Garrie Hutchinson, Frank Hardy, Alan Hopgood and Barry Dickins. There is some literary heft in that lot. Then there is Brent Crosswell, who weighs in with an illuminating piece on his Carlton teammate Vin Catoggio. “Vinny Catoggio had been killing them in the seconds, so Carlton took a punt and made him second rover for the big match. He was a lovely little bloke, just a kid, and on top of that it was his first game, but that didn’t matter when he failed in the 1973 grand final,’’ Crosswell writes. Dickins’ tribute to Butch Gale, Watson’s recollection of big-kicking Ian Robertson playing at tiny Loch in South Gippsland and Dawes’ classic poem Life Cycle, which will endure as long as the game itself, are other highlights. Local Rites (2001), by Paul Daffey Daffey spent a year chronicling grassroots football, dropping in on clubs in the scrub and the suburbs, and emerged with stories spilling out of his back pockets. The 26 chapters deal with a club, a competition, a controversy or a character, most memorably an ageing Shane Loveless playing out his career at Nagambie, a gun for hire running short of bullets after years of prodigious goalkicking in country football (legendary Mornington Peninsula spearhead Simon Goosey plucks a few pages too). And the chapter on Nicky Winmar having a run at Warburton-Millgrove is exceptional. Daffey released a similar book last year, The Totem Poles of Ouyen United, another must-read. The Great Australian Book of Football Stories, compiled by Garrie Hutchinson Garrie Hutchinson’s ‘Watcher’ column in The Age brought him a devoted readership, and he gained more appreciative followers with this anthology, culled mainly from newspapers and magazines. It’s worth tracking down just for Herald man Robert Coleman’s rib-tickler on football fans, from the “wiseguy’’ (“he has a wisecrack, filed and card-indexed in his head, for every occasion’’) to the “ratbag’’ (“loudmouthed aggressive, uncouth, usually two-thirds stoned and a thorough nuisance to everybody’’) to “eagle eyes’’ (“observes from 200 yards away on a dull day, things the umpire cannot see from a distance of five feet’’). Look for Geoff Slattery’s masterly profile of Jack Dyer too. 1970 And Other Stories of the Australian Game (1999), by Martin Flanagan Flanagan reflects on a grand final he says was “truly grand’’, Carlton coming from 44 points down at halftime to defeat Collingwood in 1970. Key figures from the match are interviewed and their recollections are riveting; warm memories for Blues, regret for Magpies at having squandered such a substantial lead. Meeting the press after the grand final, Collingwood coach Bob Rose popped the first question. “What went wrong?’’ he asked. Seven years later Carlton coach Barassi inflicted more pain on Collingwood as coach of North Melbourne. Yellow and Black, a Season with Richmond (2018), by Konrad Marshall Marshall was fortunate on two fronts as he tailed the Tigers through 2017. Given unfettered access, he was a fly-on-the-wall observer of all aspects of Richmond’s operation. In the hands of a writer of his talent, it was always going to make for a riveting read. Then came a triumphant kicker, with the Tigers winning their first premiership since 1980, at last giving their army of supporters something to rejoice about. Yellow and Black will doubtless take its place alongside The Coach as a classic work of literature about the game. The Point of It All, The Story of St Kilda Football Club (1992), by Jules Feldmann and Russell Holmesby A history of the Sainters, a club that began in 1873 and has survived all types of threats to its existence. Despite winning only one premiership, St Kilda’s story is rich in characters, incidents and some of the greatest players in the sport’s history. The constant thread is resilience in the face of adversity. The book’s pictorial strength and visual appeal broke new ground for a football publication. Saints historian Holmesby’s Heroes with Haloes is superb too. Football Ltd (1995), by Garry Linnell Entertainingly and always stylishly, Linnell writes about football in the boardroom and the movers and shakers and (occasional shysters) involved in the transformation of the VFL into the AFL. In his acknowledgments Linnell said it wasn’t until he started as a sportswriter “that I discovered there was another game going on’’. “It was, in many ways, just as tough as the one out on the field,’’ he said. “And it was far more brutal.’’ The game has hurtled forward; since the release of Football Ltd, more clubs have joined the AFL; TV rights have soared past $2.5 billion (in 1987 Channel 7 and the league squabbled over a $3.3 million deal!); the players and their association are big players at the negotiating table; home-and-away matches are played overseas; between them clubs employ thousands of people, their coaching boxes humming with laptops … in many aspects it’s become Football Unlimited. Up Where, Cazaly? (1981) By Leonie Sandercock and Ian Turner When author Ian Turner died in 1978 he had finished seven chapters of a social history of the game. Leonie Sandercock picked up the baton and finished what was to become Up Where, Cazaly? It’s an incisive account of the growth of football from an amateur endeavour to an industry, and its standing from the viewpoint of clubs, administrators, players and supporters. A question on the inside flap is just as pertinent today: “Can the game survive its own spiralling costs, contradictions, and conflicts of interest between fans, players and officials.’’ Fifteen Young Men (2016), by Paul Kennedy In 1892 the Mornington football team was returning from a match at Mordialloc by boat when it came to grief, overcome by a wind squall. The lives of 15 vibrant men were lost, shattering a community. ABC sports reporter Kennedy got to know the story when he was a young reporter at the Mornington Leader newspaper, often taking his lunch at a memorial at the end of Main St. Years later he researched everything to it and produced an outstanding book. From the first sentence – “There. Something on the reef, near the point.’’ – it drags the reader in like an undertow. Coleman, The Untold Story of an AFL Legend (2014), By Doug Ackerly An absorbing biography of the brilliant Bomber who was grounded prematurely by a knee injury. Coleman booted 537 goals from only 98 matches, topping the league table in ‘49 (100 goals), ‘50 (120), ‘52 (103) and ‘53 (97). And then he was gone, after marking and falling awkwardly in a match in 1954. How good was he? “I would say he was as good a player as your grandfather tells you he was, and probably even better,’’ Melbourne writer and broadcaster Ackerly said. “I was most typical in that I thought, ‘Five and a half seasons, you can’t get too carried away’. But what he did … particularly in ‘52, when he kicked 103 goals in the wettest winter ever and the next two blokes on the goalkicking table kicked 103 between them …. sort of proves to me that he was just a genius.’’ ‘You’ll Only Go in for Your Mates’ (1991), by Barry Dickins A collection of columns the inimitable Dickins wrote for the Melbourne Times between 1984 and 1990, mostly about his beloved Fitzroy Football Club. From the outer of suburban grounds he takes in the highs and all-too-regular lows of the Royboys: “I smoke my Stuyvesant down to the last fitful cough of cancer to inhale the love of you, the passion you inspire, the deep and good feeling of you, the pleasure of you and the old ache of you, Fitzroy Football Club. You bastards.’’ Few have written about football with more vitality or originality than Dickins. The Roar of the Crowd (1987), by Marc Fiddian Marc Fiddian has written 112 books, many of them about the Victorian Football Association, which he covered for daily papers in the 1970s. Here he focuses on the grand finals, summarising matches and recording the premiership teams. It’s an invaluable reference for fans of the old VFA, as is Fiddian’s hard-to-find The Pioneers and his histories of long-lost clubs like Oakleigh and Geelong West. The Straight Dope, by Chip Le Grand (2016) Le Grand untangles the mess that was the Essendon Football Club supplements scandal, no easy task considering all the claims and counter assertions made by the various parties. He researched the bags out of it and set it all out in pin-sharp prose. The Straight Dope won the prestigious Walkley Book Award in 2015. The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers (1992), by Russell Holmesby and Jim Main First published as The Encyclopedia of League Footballers, the so-called “Bible of footy’’ has never been out of print, receiving regular updates, the most recent in 2018. Every player who has appeared at league level is listed, with his games tally, jumper number and date of birth. There is little doubt the book has embarrassed a few old-timers who like to say they played “one or two’’ games, the mists of time their cover. Soon after the Encyclopedia’s publication one former VFA player who had regularly bragged of making one senior appearance at Hawthorn under John Kennedy fell silent when it was pointed out his name was missing from the bible. The Hafey Years (2011), by Elliot Cartledge A richly reported and well written account of Tommy Hafey’s flag-filled time at Richmond. A battling player, he became a legendary coach, his 248 games in charge bringing 173 victories, and the 1967, ’69, ’73 and ’74 premierships. His players loved him. “He wasn’t strong tactically but in terms of communication, leading by example, caring and loyalty, you’d give him ten out of ten,’’ asserted Ian Stewart. Loose Men Everywhere (2002), by John Harms Wherever he travelled – and through his childhood his family seemed to traverse more ground than Michael Tuck – part of Harms’ heart was with Geelong, following the fortunes of the fitful Cats. His writing hums with humour – that is the Harms way — as he relates how football put its fix on him. He decided he wanted to play and “come flying past on the wing like Micky Turner and burst clear and send a thirty-metre handball to some teammate on the run.’’ Play On, published in 2015, collects Loose Men Everywhere and his two other outstanding books, Memoirs of a Mug Punter and Confessions of a Thirteenth Man. AND SOME MORE NOTABLES ■ My Journey (2014), by Jim Stynes with Warwick Green ■ From the Outer: Watching Football in the 80s (1980s), by Garrie Hutchinson ■ Comeback: The Fall and Rise of Geelong (2016), by James Button ■ Heart of the Game, 45 years of Football on Television (2001), edited by Michael Roberts ■ The Mighty West: The Bulldogs’ Journey from Daydream Believers to Premiership Heroes (2017), by Kerrie Soraghan ■ Jock, the Story of Jock McHale, Collingwood’s Greatest Coach (2011), by Glenn McFarlane ■ Game for Anything: The Tommy Lahiff Story (1999), by Ken Linnett ■ Barassi, The Biography (2010), by Peter Lalor ■ Roar, The Stories Behind AFL W (2018), by Samantha Lane ■ Murphy’s Lore (2015), by Bob Murphy ■ Fabulous Phil, the Phil Carman Story (2017), by Matt Watson ■ Champions All (2016), by Matt Zurbo ■ A Salute to the Great McCarthy (1970), by Barry Oakley ■ Cakewalk: The Inside Story of Collingwood’s 1990 Premiership (2010), by Michael Gleeson ■ Electrifying 80s (2019), edited by Russell Jackson ■ Barassi, The Life Behind the Legend (1995), by Peter McFarline ■ Saturday Afternoon Fever (1999), by Matthew Hardy ■ A Game of Our Own: the Origins of Australian Football (1990), by Geoffrey Blainey ■ Playing On (2015), by Michael Sexton ■ The Temple Down the Road (2003), by Brian Matthews ■ Polly Farmer: A Biography (1994), by Steve Hawke ■ The Red Fox, the Biography of Norm Smith (2008), by Ben Collins ■ King Richard, the Story of Dick Reynolds (2014), by Dan Eddy

I won't be seeking a refund either - at this stage. But if someone has lost their jobs or stood down without pay and pay for memberships for husband, wife and kids I can understand why $1000-$2000 might be seen as more important spent on groceries and bills instead of season tickets for games that won't happen.

This was what is known as a "media beat-up". A Ch 9 employee baiting another Ch9 employee in a news segment to promote Footy Classified to be shown later on that night. Ed knew exactly what he was doing.

Will his kids also ask him why he left North Melbourne to play for Adelaide? Not sure I'd be listening to Wayne Carey if I were Gil.

Respectfully disagree. He could easily have said said that "yes we will refund if requested, but we also worry about the clubs financial situation if too many people make that request" or something similar. Instead he did a Donald and attacked the questioner. If he actually meant it when he said "we are here to help financially stressed members" then my example was much closer to the truth than his answer. The question was straightforward, and he lost his mind.

we should get both blockbusters as it is still our turn. this years non event can't possibly count no sharing required though i don't like the way it has turned into 2 one year, zero the next year loop. So, we could share one next 2 years then revert to 1 per year so income is consistent year to year

Someone once wrote Roo's (as in Paul Roo's) and I nearly called the police.

Didn’t you get Pert’s latest email?! Announced our new training and admin base is at Casey!!!! They couldn’t get what they wanted in the MCG area so had to bite the bullet and move the club to Casey. Potential for home games at Casey as well.

I'm no fan of either Jones or Eddie, but Eddie was quite correct in what he said. What really got my attention was Eddie looking and sounding like he's had 6 coffees too many.

For someone that's been in the media and PR for 30 plus years McGuire really needs some media training....!

A lot of those up there is highly recommend especially The Coach, Football Ltd and Time and Space Id add Urge To Merge by Ian Ridley The Grand Old Flag by Lynda Carroll Grand Finals Vol 1, 2 and 3 (2 is the best ) The Phoenix Rises by Ross Oakley (hire it from the library or get it at a 2nd hand shop tho) A Game of Our Own by Geoffrey Blainey The Last Quarter by Martin Flanagan - includes his book about the 1970 GF, Souther Sky, Western Oval and The Game in Time of War Also Every Game Ever Played, I have the 1992 edition that covers up to the 1991 season (probably no longer in print but was the bible for me as a kid)

Yep and after ahhhh how many years........56 you can find some positives??? Give me a break. The amount of bungling, shocking draft selections,inability to develop players.. Over many many years ,Has meant we are almost still STILL a basket case!! Oh tell me that the 20 or so points we lost to West Coast 2 weeks ago was an aberration!! We were MILES of the pace. Look carefully at some of the players who STILL can get a game!! Spare Me!! Sorry!! Goody aint the answer and u can write of this year. Make no mistake we are still Pretty GOD damn ordinary!!

How's his luck? Holds the record among current players for most games without playing in a final. Gets to that number (196 games) and then has two knee reconstructions preventing him from breaking that record and reaching 200 games. Starts a career as an assistant coach with the Collingwood AFLW team only to find that most, if not all, assistant coaches lose their jobs because of the Covid-19 downturn. I confess to having not been a fan of his when he played with us, but since he left I've grown to appreciate his attitude to life. If anyone in the footy world deserves a break, it's him.

Like many here I will continue to pay my membership as it's currently well within my capacity to do so, but equally understand if people have to make hard decisions to support their families in times of finacial stress, that football club memberships could and probably should be one of the first things to go. What would be nice though is for the club and/or AFL to recognise and reward the suport of those members who remain faithful with some kind of token gesture like free access to premium/reserved seating and/or increased access to the players. I know my youngest son for instance would be absolutely stoked to get a phone call/face time call from Max Gawn, Tommy Mac or any number of his other favorite players and maybe it could also have a positive impact on for the playing group as well.

Unfortunately they’re both right.

Charles before injury could have been a champion. Fast, agile and knew how to kick a goal! What could have been, we didn’t manage or treat injured players well back then.

The old die (redistributing wealth), universal basic wage of $1500 fortnightly, nationalisation of the private hospitals and now free child care! As I've said before: coronavirus has managed to do what Bernie Sanders could not!!! (albeit in Australia)

Showed promise early on, similar to Lloyd Burgmann. Like so many, able to do some good things but played in a terrible team. The young guys were sacrificed on the altar of mediocrity. So many were Coodabeens.

Does anyone else remember Gary Byers? Also, we had a Minton- Connell on the list in '64. He didn't play firsts, but would he be Simon's father, and ? Peter Hudson's uncle.....oh no....perhaps we could have secured Huddo, if he'd become a regular at the Dees. We used to have quite an association with Tassie. Remember Jungwirth? (can't recall his first name.)

Who remembers Paul Prymke? Gun CHB who won best first year player in 94 then did his back before reaching 50 games. Could have been a famous name...

this is the bad news message before they announce that the afl will be going 'full bernie' and taking all revenue in the game, distributing it evenly between 18 clubs in order for them to survive about time the afl went full socialist rather than the half-measures of salary cap, soft cap, and other some restrictive measures

If I were the Victorian clubs, I’d be looking at playing some form of competition this year between themselves. If travel is restricted for another 6 months, it’s something they ought to consider. Help keep the competition alive. No crowds, played on suburban grounds like Moorabbin, Casey, Vic Park etc.

Congratulations to Karen Paxman, Daisy Pearce, Libby Birch + Kate Hore, who have been named in the AFL Women's All-Australian Squad. ? ?: https://mfcde.es/3aEBspv

Great acting by both on the 9 news for a Footy Classified promo. They would have both walked away and slapped each others back on such a great job and cant believe the press they both got for 9 news and footy classified.

Good question, although I wonder what might happen if we find out that "adult-oriented advertising" has the highest revenue-per-click. "I only click on it for the Demonland revenue" will be the 2020 version of "I only buy Playboy for the articles"

Yes we're all quite aware of how disappointing we've been since 1964 (I've been a supporter since 1960 ) . But when I read certain posts that are just constant negativity I scratch my head and think, is this person a MFC supporter or just a MFC detractor ?

Sure - and maybe the players can take a bigger whack as well to share some of the burden. I'm not talking those on minimum wage - those who are earning $300k plus a year should be foregoing everything above that in the interests of ensuring the ongoing financial viability of the competition.

If Andy Maher has heard something from a reliable souce, I'd bet that it is just one of the contingency plans being put in place by the AFL. I would hope that an organisation like the AFL would have plans for all sorts of eventualities including re-starting the season as early as possible (say,mid-June) as well as re-starting it as late as possible. Or not at all, of course.

TARZAN GLASS!! One for the ages!!!

No they are not "fair weather supporters". Many are people in dire circumstances in an economic disaster that, at this stage dwarfs the great depression. They showed their loyalty by signing up now they have more important priorities like toilet paper and life's basic necessites

Quality Bloke and yet another example of MFC s inability to develop players Ahhhh!!

I think Coco may have been Neil Roberts, another Brownlow Medallist from St Kilda who won it the year after Brian Gleeson.

They were probably arguing with a mirror. Wham! Bam! Pow!

All he had to say was "yes, but we would prefer you didnt ask" or "No, but we would prefer you didnt ask" Instead he was a smart [censored] once again. Bloke is unable to control his temper.

What a rude arrogant pig McGuire is...

"Healy off, Ellingworth on."

I really used to enjoy watching our forward recruits and wanna-bees. One of them kicked 11 goals in one game! At the 'G, in front of adoring crowds so hopeful that we had obtained a real winner. His name was Ray Carr, I think.

Rod Owen played some great footy for Melbourne as well, albeit before injury, 19 goals from 9 games in 1991. Steven Clark, ex Essendon, played some bloody good footy in his 21 games, 18 of them in 1991.

Jeff Hilton was one of my favorites 'had potential' type players for a bit and was good for a bit of bash, crash and snagging a sneaky goal here or there. He had games where he would really turn it on, get off the chain and play like a champion.

"obscure ex-Demons" Ans: Who was Darren Cuthbertson.!