Thursday 28th March, 2024

Introduction

This chapter has a collection of streaming videos of some of the most exciting games in the history of the Footscray Football Club. These videos are fairly large in size due to the video length and the quality that has been retained. The streaming videos will gradualy load depending on the speed of your internet connection. It is recommended that you allow a portion of the video to load before you start playing it to ensure there are no interuptions to the stream while the video loads.

To watch the following videos you will need the Flash plugin installed. If the footage appears then the plugin is already installed on your computer and you can click the ‘Play’ button to watch the video. If you don’t have flash installed you can get it by clicking this link.

Whilst most of these games conclude triumphantly, it has to be said that sadly not all have a happy ending. One match takes us to the final siren and unfortunately a victory for the bulldogs did not occur. The scores have deliberately not been given, what is the point of disclosing them? So hang around and find out for yourself. If you can’t wait- go to the AFL Tables Website http://stats.rleague.com/afl/afl_index.htm the dates of these games are here with the action, so you can find the results comfortably through AFL Tables.

COMMENTATORS NOTES

The commentator’s names are written and in the order of when you hear them individually first speak. With the Carlton v Footscray game of 1985 Peter McKenna is the first voice though at the actual match itself Jack Edwards is the first chap commentating. Don Hyde is there at the 1964 game with Essendon at Windy Hill and then nearly 20 years later he can be heard at the Footscray v Collingwood (Gubby Allan) epic of June 1984. Younger people may be unaware that Clarke Hansen is the father of Ashley Hansen the 2006 Premiership player with the other team with West in its name. Geoff Raymond had also been a newsreader on the ABC; Mike Williamson was one of the best football commentators of all time. What a pity that 1976 was the last season that he called games for Channel 7, not that I had any problem with Peter Landy, he was a top commentator.

The comrade of initially Mike Williamson and then later Peter Landy is one FNWB idiosyncrasy, the great Lou Richards and his first given name. Christened as Lewis Richards, so being the ‘different’ site that it is, FNWB refers to him as Lew Richards, the same spelling as the late great Australian tennis player Lew Hoad. Lew was a great commentator as well as Mike and Peter- and like those two he also had a great voice for the footy replay.

Although nothing to do with the Footscray Football Club, the Liverpool clips have been included to reflect the comments of Peter Landy from the Hawthorn v Footscray game at Princes Park in April 1983. “It’s like Liverpool at F. A. Cup time” he exclaims as Sons of the Scray is sung with great gusto at that game, with the match still in progress. The 2nd clip is the actual F. A. Cup Final of 1971, though there are more goals scored in that particular game. The first clip from 1964 from the BBC Panorama documentary has to be included- it is one of the great sporting scenes of all time- the site of 65 -70 year old blokes back then in 1964 singing Beatles and Dusty Springfield songs! These men would be 110 years old today! So that is why they are positioned there just underneath the Hawthorn v Footscray game of 1983- all others are in chronological order.

So sit back and enjoy- and there is always more to come.