Country club in focus: Olinda-Ferny Creek

by PAUL DAFFEY

FORMED

ACCORDING to research by 1950s back pocket player Arthur "Choofer" Charteris, the Olinda Football Club was formed in 1908 and disbanded in 1914. Ferny Creek formed a club in 1910 and disbanded in 1933, paving the way for Olinda to reform the next year. In 1939, Olinda merged with Monbulk for one season. After the Second World War, in 1946, the Olinda-Ferny Creek Football Club was formed.

LEAGUE

Olinda and Ferny Creek played in the Mountain District Football Association in one form or another from the competition's inception in 1910 until 1939, when the Olinda-Monbulk combination played in the Ringwood District Football Association. From 1946, when the Olinda-Ferny Creek club was formed, it played in the Mountain District Football League. In 1965, the club started in the third division of Melbourne's Eastern District Football League. It joined the Yarra Valley-Mountain District Football League in 1986, beginning in the first division.

GUERNSEYS

After Olinda and Ferny Creek joined forces in 1946, the club wore South Melbourne's white with a red "V". A few years ago, complaints from mothers who were tired of washing predominantly white guernseys prompted an update to a design that featured white lightning bolts on a red background. Given the enormous rainfall at the top of the Dandenong Ranges, where the club is based, mothers have approved of the lycra guernseys that have replaced woollen jumpers in recent years.

NICKNAME

Olinda-Ferny Creek has always been known as the Bloods.

PREMIERSHIPS Since 1946, the club has won flags in 1965 (EDFL division three), 1978 (EDFL division three) and 1988 (YVMDFL division two).

NEAR MISSES

In 1913, Ferny Creek kicked a disputed goal that won the club the grand final against Boronia. When a rematch was ordered, Ferny Creek refused to play and Boronia was awarded the flag. In 1919, Ferny Creek was incensed when Monbulk won the flag after avoiding penalty for playing an unregistered player in six games. The club's protest was to sit out the 1920 season.

VFL/AFL PRODUCT

Andrew McKinnon (Carlton 1989-90).

STAR PLAYERS

Graham O'Donnell, the father of former Essendon captain and current Brisbane Lions assistant coach Gary O'Donnell, played a handful of games for Geelong and North Melbourne before finishing his career at Olinda-Ferny Creek. In 1978, when he was 40, Graham O'Donnell was a member of the Bloods' premiership team in his final game. During the mid-1980s, Olinda-Ferny Creek featured the Cooke brothers, Michael and Robert, in the key forward positions. Michael famously played two senior games at full-forward for Hawthorn, the 1975 second semi-final and grand final, before returning to local footy. Robert was said to be just as talented, but preferred fishing.

GROUND

Olinda-Ferny Creek has always played at the Olinda Recreation Reserve, which, at 450 metres above sea level, is the highest ground in the competition. "Choofer" Charteris said there were many games in the 1950s when heavy fog forced players to relay the scores from goal umpire to goal umpire. The cold prompted many players to take a nip of whiskey or green ginger wine at three-quarter time.

SNOW REPORT

"Choofer" Charteris said one or two games in the 1950s were stricken by snow, but not nearly enough to warrant the extraordinary percentage of former footballers from the Dandenong Ranges who claim to have played at Olinda as light flakes fell to the ground. Gary Woodcock, a 1980s ruckman and the current secretary, is unable to remember one match at the Bloods' oval during which snow has fallen. "Playing in the snow at Olinda is a myth," he said. Last month, just after players had left the field following the senior match against Mount Evelyn, a sprinkling of snow began to fall.

WET AREA

Traditionally, the Olinda Recreation Reserve featured a slope from goal-to-goal, from the golf-course end to the clubrooms end, as well as a slope from wing to wing. "Choofer" Charteris said that, in the 1950s, spectators would drift towards the centre of the ground if the ball became trapped in the dead pocket. "It was one of the best-drained grounds in the league," he said. After the ground was levelled off, however, the drainage was hopeless. In 2000, the Bloods played at Kilsyth as the Yarra Ranges council worked on improvements. After the first game in 2001, it was apparent that the ground was no better and the Bloods moved back to Kilsyth for another year. Now, in its third season since returning to Olinda, club officials claim the renovations were pointless.

From The Age.

australianrules.com.au

Disclaimer