Snags at the sardine can

by PAUL DAFFEY

IN 2000, English writer Simon Inglis, an architecture graduate with a severe fondness for sports stadiums, proclaimed his affection for Glenferrie Oval, the home of the Hawthorn Football Club. Victorian football fans had once described the ground wedged between a railway line and residential streets as "the sardine can", on account of its compact size. But to Inglis, whose book Sightlines offers eccentric insights into stadiums in cities from Bombay to Buenos Aires, the scale of the ground was secondary.

To him, Glenferrie is the home of a superb art-deco grandstand. After praising Arsenal's Highbury Stadium in London, the Stadio Comunale in Florence and Montevideo's Estadio Centenario as representing high points in 1930s sporting architecture, Inglis writes: "I would also put in a claim for another art-deco gem, the lesser-known but quite stunning Glenferrie Park in Melbourne."

It should read Glenferrie Oval, which is within the Grace Park precinct. Details aside, Inglis was happy to reiterate his claim for the art-deco stand during an interview by phone in his home in the London suburb of West Hampstead, which he describes as halfway between Lord's and Wembley. He said most art-deco grandstands were built in the 1920s. Hawthorn's stand was opened in 1937, making it one of the last of its kind.

Other factors nudged Inglis towards his affection for Glenferrie, such as the brown and gold of the Hawthorn guernsey, because these colors are far from the English soccer standards of red and white or blue and white. He also liked the name Hawthorn, because it reminded him of an English suburb. But mostly he liked the grandstand and the fact that the ground supported one of his central tenets: that the best sporting stadiums are immersed in the heart of the community they serve.

"For all these reasons, I developed a soft spot for it," Inglis said.

The art-deco grandstand was built by the Hawthorn City Council at a cost of pounds 17,000. According to author Harry Gordon in his excellent 1990 history of the Hawthorn Football Club, The Hard Way, the stand was a symbol of the council's commitment to the football club and its co-tenant, the Hawthorn East-Melbourne district cricket club.

Originally, Hawthorn locals called it the "red-brick stand", as opposed to "the wooden stand" behind the goals. The wooden stand had stood at the East Melbourne cricket ground, on the current site of the Jolimont railway yards. The Hawthorn city council bought the wooden stand in 1921 and ferried it by horse and cart to Hawthorn, where it was erected before the 1922 season.

Around this time, the ground was lengthened to meet the demands of the VFA - and to improve the council's bid for the football club's entry into the Victorian Football league. The wooden stand remained behind the goals until it was knocked down during the late 1960s to make way for the Dr A.S. Ferguson stand.

The art-deco stand was known as simply the red-brick stand until it was named in honour of former midfielder Michael Tuck after he had broken the AFL record of 403 club games, on 1 September 1990. Tuck was angular and lean, with a slight stoop, as he is today. By contrast, the stand that bears his name is stout at its base, with a roof that reaches commandingly towards the forward pocket. Its sweeping curves lend grace to a structure that is formidable, some would say slightly out of kilter with the surrounding modesty.

The football club itself was overly modest for decades; finals were unheard of before the Hawks eventually made it through to September in 1957, losing the preliminary final to Melbourne. Early histories claim this first final series was more than eight decades after the formation of the club. But historians such as Peter Haby, the curator of the Hawks' museum, are now of the view that the Hawthorn Football Club began in 1902 under the presidency of JC Watts, a Hawthorn city councillor.

The football club lacked a home in its early years. It played a season at St James Park, off Burwood Road, before moving on to the Richmond racecourse. In 1904, it played on the Punt Road Oval; the next season it moved on to the East Melbourne cricket ground. Finally, in 1906, the club found a permanent home at what would become known as the Glenferrie Oval.

The venue was originally known as the Hawthorn Sports Ground; only in the 1950s did newspapers begin referring to the Glenferrie Oval. The first player to lead Hawthorn on to the sports ground was Tom Ferguson, the father of Dr Sandy Ferguson, who would later become president.

Early Hawthorn teams were only fair, earning more defeats than victories in the eastern suburbs church competition, but the Hawthorn City Council signalled its ambition for the football club when it pushed for entry into the Victorian Football Association. The council's selling point was the facilities at the Hawthorn Sports Ground. The VFA was trying to expand into the eastern suburbs and agreed to admit Hawthorn, a decision that was welcomed by The Argus newspaper with praise of the club's oval. "There is no danger of gravel rash at Hawthorn," it noted.

Entry into the VFA prompted Hawthorn to change from blue and gold, colours that were already worn by Williamstown, to brown and gold. The club performed without distinction, but that failed to stop the Hawthorn city council embarking on a campaign to gain entry into the premier competition, the Victorian Football League.

Again, the council emphasised anything but performance on the field. It stressed the sports ground's location next to the Glenferrie station, and the nearby tramline along Glenferrie Road. It also stressed the council ownership of the ground, implying superior administrative capabilities, and the strategic value of having a team in the eastern suburbs.

In January 1925, VFL administrators agreed that it needed a club in the eastern suburbs and admitted Hawthorn, along with Footscray and North Melbourne. The first VFL match at the Hawthorn Sports Ground was held four months later, on May 2, 1925. A large calico sign stretched across Linda Crescent announced the occasion.

About 22,000 walked along Linda Crescent or beneath the railway line before filing into the ground for the opening-round match against Richmond, the neighbour from across the Yarra River. The coach of Hawthorn was A.J. "Joker" Hall. The players included half-forward Gil Hendrie, the grandfather of 1970s Hawthorn star John Hendrie. The club's nickname was the Mayblooms.

Richmond won by 39 points. Reports tended to shy from describing Hawthorn's football ability and instead praised the oval.

Opposition clubs considered the Hawthorn Sports Ground a quaint place to visit during the club's early years in the VFL. The footballers were more polite than aggressive. In 1943, Hawthorn coach Roy Cazaly grew heartily tired of the lack of combativeness and ordered that the club's nickname be changed from the Mayblooms to the Hawks.

Change only really arrived, however, when the club asked Alec Albiston to step down as captain-coach after the 1949 season. The Hawks committee asked Albiston to play on, with the understanding that Albiston would resume as captain while relinquishing the coaching role. But when new coach Bob McCaskill wanted to appoint war hero Kevin Curran as captain, in the belief that his courage would inspire the Hawks towards something akin to ruggedness, a crisis arose.

Albiston was devastated by the decision to back down on what he considered a promise that he would be captain. He received support from Hawthorn's star player, defender Col Austen, who the previous season had lost the Brownlow Medal on countback to South Melbourne defender Ron Clegg. Austen, like Albiston, refused to play under McCaskill.

In an attempt to end the crisis, the committee granted Austen and Albiston open clearances. Both were reportedly in tears at the Linda Crescent gates on being informed of the decision. Austen went to Richmond and Albiston to North Melbourne.

Dr Sandy Ferguson, by now the club doctor, believed the crisis reflected well on no one. On being elected president in 1953, he promised there would be no secrecy surrounding Hawthorn committee decisions. He also wanted the football club to become the ground manager at Glenferrie, a process that began by dropping the number of council representatives on the committee from four to two and, eventually, none.

During the 1950s, a camaraderie redeveloped at the oval that by now was known as Glenferrie. Under the leadership of Dr Ferguson and Jack Hale, who was appointed coach after McCaskill's sudden death in 1952, the club became a closer unit through slowly improving fortunes on the field, and through social functions.

After every game at Glenferrie, players, officials and their partners would gather in the large room under the brick grandstand, a space that now serves as the players' gymnasium, for dinner, two dozen bottles of beer, and a singalong. Laughing defender Roy Simmonds strummed his banjo and all players were expected to force their way through one song, no matter how much their performance suggested they should stick to football.

Simmonds, who remains a regular attendant at Hawthorn games and functions, said Graham Arthur, the star half-forward, sang Be Bop a Lula while ruckman Allan Woodley's favourite was Sixteen Tons. Full-forward John Peck quite fancied himself singing Let Me Go Lover.

"He was terrible," said Simmonds, still laughing. "But he had plenty of mates."

The dinners under the grandstand became an item of interest among opposition players. Occasionally, a Hawthorn player would field a question during a game at Glenferrie about the night ahead. Essendon defender Alec Epis and South Melbourne ruckman Jim Taylor would poke their heads through the door hoping to be beckoned inside. St Kilda star Neil Roberts was also known to join the fun.

"Players from other clubs used to be very envious," Simmonds said.

Glenferrie in the '50s was a musical hub. The Hawks ran on to the ground accompanied by a brass band that stood in front of the brick grandstand. At half-time, the band would march on to the ground and play to the terraces on the railway wing. Occasionally, a train driver would add to the cacophony by tooting his horn. The band would continue down towards the Glenferrie Road goals and back along the Linda Crescent wing.

Increasingly, however, the main interest was football. Glenferrie crowds rose as stars such as Simmonds and John Kennedy led the Hawks into their first finals series. In 1961, when the Hawks surged to the top of the ladder, the average attendance at Glenferrie was 24,000.

At the last home game of the 1961 season, in round 17, a record 34,500 spectators crammed around the sardine can to watch Hawthorn defeat St Kilda. A little over a month later, the Hawks defeated Footscray at the MCG to win their first premiership. About 6000 fans flocked back to the Glenferrie Oval, where barbecues sizzled and the tunes of Scottish bagpies filled the air. Trains slowed down to toot their horns.

In the following years, money pouring in from the new social club on Linda Crescent fuelled plans for expansion, but the railway line and surrounding streets made such dreams difficult to fulfill. Among the more fanciful notions, the club gave thought to building a grandstand over the railway line. Finally, key Hawks began to wonder whether the club would be better suited away from the Glenferrie Oval.

In 1964, Hawthorn audaciously sought to play home games at the MCG. League powerbrokers were taken aback, and rejected the proposal, but a year later they saw fit to grant Richmond permission to play home games at the MCG. Richmond's move coincided with St Kilda's shift from the Junction Oval to Moorabbin, making 1965 a transitional year in football.

In the opening round of 1965, Moorabbin heaved as a crowd of 51,400 watched St Kilda defeat Collingwood by a goal; it was an attendance that would remain the venue's highest. At the Glenferrie Oval, a record crowd of 36,000 watched Ron Barassi lead Carlton to victory in his debut as captain-coach of the Blues.

During that season, Glenferrie Oval was a quagmire, so much so that training on it was almost impossible. The state of the ground, as well as the desire to expand, prompted the club to look into building a stadium at Mitcham, where it hoped to share with another club.

In 1966, however, plans to move were shelved when Dr Ferguson achieved his longstanding wish and the football club was appointed ground manager. The 21-year lease put the club on equal terms with Collingwood, North Melbourne, St Kilda and Geelong, which also had control of their grounds.

Hawthorn immediately erected a brick fence along the Linda Crescent wing and began work on a grandstand in the forward pocket just over from the red-brick stand. On completion in 1968, the new stand was named after Dr AS Ferguson, who had recently stepped down as president after overseeing the Hawks' years of greatest change.

In this era, spectators at Glenferrie were delighted by the goalkicking exploits of Peter Hudson and the arrival of young stars such as Leigh Matthews and Peter Knights. The Hawks' second premiership cup was brought back to the Glenferrie Oval in 1971.

Then, in the opening round of the 1972 season, against Melbourne, a cruel blow was struck when Hudson's knee buckled about 30 metres from goal at the grandstand end. The spearhead had been in superb form, kicking eight goals to half-time, but the sight of him lying on the couch in the medical room had the effect of derailing the Hawks' season.

Ken Goddard, the Hawks' senior trainer from 1970 to '98, said supporters and officials, even players, filed through the gymnasium and into the medical room after the match, anxious to learn about the spearhead's injury. "They all wanted to know what happened," said Goddard, recalling a solemn evening at Glenferrie.

Many supporters were also solemn when Hawthorn moved its home matches to Carlton's ground, Princes Park, in the 1974 season. After a decade of debate about finding a new home ground, a shift seemed inevitable. But many supporters were angry about the shift to Carlton, whose location to the north of the city made it an unlikely choice for Hawthorn games. Some Hawks supporters, whose families had lived in the eastern suburbs for generations, refused to cross the Yarra River to cheer the brown and gold.

While Glenferrie no longer hosted league games, the ground continued to be Hawthorn's hub. Training was held on the oval and players still did weights in the gymnasium beneath the red-brick stand. Behind the stand, officials carried out their administrative duties in the club's offices.

Despite the absence of matches and crowds, renovations continued, albeit in a modest fashion, when the players built their own social room at the top of the steps that led into the administration offices. The room was furnished with a television, a couple of couches and a bar. It was closed to all but players, their partners and, if he was lucky, the odd official.

Part of the reason for the strict door policy was the limited space in the room. But mostly, said former captain and current board member Don Scott, the restrictions were put in place so that the players could relax away from the demands of the public. His favourite memory of the room was the celebrations after the 1978 premiership.

"It was a good size - very intimate," Scott said.

To maintain upkeep, players were expected to pay for drinks by putting money in a tin. As the nights wore on, which they often did, players kept dipping into the bar but forgot about putting money in the tin. In the end, the players' room was closed because of lack of finance.

While the players enjoyed their own space for a couple of seasons, the trainers' room was besieged by visitors. Like the medical room, it was just off the gymnasium beneath the red-brick stand.

Around 1970, when Goddard assumed his role as head trainer, the trainers began a ritual of cooking sausages while knocking off a couple of beers after training on Thursday nights. Before long, the smell of the snags lured players into the room. Board members ducked down from the boardroom, and coterie members slipped in from their room behind the trainers' room. "It just developed into something really spectacular," Goddard said.

Eating snags on Thursday nights became a Hawthorn ritual. Supporters would watch training before following their noses towards the barbecue. During the finals, some fans would fly in from Tasmania or Western Australia before finding their way to the snags. Former president Ron Cook told Goddard that the Thursday night ritual in the trainers' room was the soul of the club.

The barbecues reached their peak during the 1980s, the Hawks' most successful decade. During these years, trainer Bob Yeoman, a bear of a man known for his burly frame and his habit of planting a kiss on the lips of unsuspecting players, had the dual role of cooking the snags and monitoring the crowd. Yeoman was vigilant in policing the rule that the barbecues were never to be a forum for abusing players.

"Bob just had to look at you and you'd melt," Goddard said.

During the mid-'80s, players were dissuaded from eating snags when a dietician arrived at the club. The barbecues, however, continued. It wasn't until 2001, when Hawthorn fell in line with the rest of the competition and ruled that Thursdays would be the players' day off, that snags were taken off the menu at Glenferrie.

The absence of the barbecue ritual proved unsettling. For two seasons, the Hawks trained without the aromas of sizzling meat drifting around the club before, finally, in the lead-up to the 2003 season, training was restored to Thursday afternoons, starting at 4pm. Bands of supporters instantly returned to the Glenferrie Oval.

At a Thursday training session in late June, a busload of children from the Yackandandah Primary School bounced around in front of the Michael Tuck Stand. Coach Peter Schwab faced the media pack in the forward pocket, his voice being drowned out periodically by the trains that rattled along behind the railway wing.

At the base of the grandstand, half a dozen volunteers cooked 500 snags. Old-timers claim the new version of the sausage sizzle is not a patch on the barbecues that used to be held in the trainers' room, but that failed to stop current trainer Doug Polkinghorne dipping into his pocket for three snags in bread. Carrying two in his left hand and one in his right, with a strip of sauce sliding neatly down the middle of each one, Polkinghorne described the traditional Hawthorn snack as terrific.

"We won that many premierships on sausages and chips, it's not funny," he said.

Arthur Chisolm, a 72-year-old volunteer who took great care when turning his snags on the hotplate, said more sausages would be sold during the school holidays, but he was unsure how many. "We like to take it one week at a time," he said.

Premiership wingman Geoff Ablett, who now works in development at Hawthorn, led a band of excited schoolchildren in front of the art-deco stand and out through the Linda Crescent gates. The children crossed over Linda Crescent and headed into the social club, where they were invited to hold the Hawk's nine premiership cups.

Back on the oval, retired club legend Dermott Brereton, who is now a Hawthorn board member and skills coach, wrestled with young forwards during marking practice in the goalsquare. The roof of the Michael Tuck Stand stretched over spectators like a protective arm. Behind the stand, the sun lowered on another training session at Glenferrie.

Before the 2005 season, the sun is due to set on Hawthorn's tenure at the Glenferrie Oval. The club is scheduled to take up new training and administrative headquarters at Waverley Park, in a move that reflects the growing army of Hawthorn supporters in the outer eastern suburbs. The new facilities will include a running track and a cycling track.

In a nod to the Hawks' history and tradition at Glenferrie, the museum will remain open and the past players' headquarters are likely to remain at the ground. Merchandising and membership centres will also remain there. Most significantly, the club plans to continue training at Glenferrie at Thursday afternoons, replete with sausage sizzle and the cries of supporters echoing off the walls of the Michael Tuck Stand.

Supporters with a sense of history can be thankful. Without the presence of the Hawks in some fashion, the Glenferrie Oval would become simply another ground surrounded by concrete; it would surely lose its soul.

This story first appeared in The Best Australian Sportswriting 2003, published by Black Inc. (Melbourne).

The Glenferrie Oval grandstand

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