WAY BACK in another age, the game was evolving from its tenuous beginnings.
There in the 1860s, 1870s and 1880s, aspects of the new competition such as memberships, paid entry, and boundary fences, were still evolving.
There in the 1860s, 1870s and 1880s, aspects of the new competition such as memberships, paid entry, and boundary fences, were still evolving.
We accept these as standard today, but back then they were still working their way into the collective structure of the game.
The surrounds of the Melbourne Cricket Ground were once fertile ground for stall holders of all sorts, from hot food carts to ‘three-card tricksters’ and everything in between, motivated to ply their trade by the extra traffic generated through the new football games.
Given its location at this time, the Melbourne Football Club had a great deal to handle.
The Club had been granted permission to use a ground located outside the main MCG arena - known as the ‘gravel pit’.
It was rough and certainly not at playing standard, but when further permission was sought to enclose the ground with fencing, and to put down proper turf, trees were planted in the vicinity.
The stall holders, however, proved to be less of an obstacle, cleared out of the way before one game by a group of charging players, led by one of the most significant figures of the game - HCA Harrison.
Such incidents gave extra colour to the infant game of Australian football, and showed the determination of the playing collective to cement its place in the hearts and minds of all.
Keeping outside forces beyond the boundary lines was a challenge.
Even when grounds were enclosed, and ticketing issued, many schemes were utilised by those unwilling to pay for the privilege. Crowds littered the branches of trees outside boundary lines, clustering into the upper branches for a better view.
Young children ducked between the legs of paying patrons to gain free entry, and even the roofs of stands were regarded as optional seating for eager spectators who were not quite so keen to pay for the privilege of watching the game.
This, of course, continued until well into the next century, as unimaginable as it is in this era of extreme caution.
Travelling right back to the beginning, these early decades are a world apart from the streamlined methods used in the competition today, complete with huge concrete stands, barcoded memberships and regulated seating.
Trees, also, are kept at quite a distance from the main arena.
However, the passion for the game remains the same as it was from the earliest days, and the pioneering spirit of 150 years ago is an integral part of the Club, and the competition.
