SPORTS: Stranger than Fiction - Does Footy Maintain The ANZAC Spirit?

The People's Game

There is still a footy shaped hole in our hearts, so the boys from "The People's Game" are back to try and fill it with a retrospective look at our great game!

On the agenda this week:

"THE UNWATCHABLES" - Footy and the ANZAC Spirit
In 1960, the VFL played footy on Anzac Day for the very first time.

At Brunswick Street Oval, Fitzroy upset Carlton by 7 points, and at the Junction Oval, Melbourne beat St Kilda by 24 points. More than 65,815 people attended the two matches. The boys explore footy's journey from accidental ANZAC Day matches to a modern day military tradition.

"THE REWATCHABLES" - The "First" ANZAC Day Game: Round 4, 1995 Collingwood vs. Essendon

In 1995, a new tradition was born when Collingwood and Essendon met on a Tuesday afternoon at the MCG in front of 94,825 fans. It remains the second highest home and away crowd in league history. (The 2020 Anzac Day clash would have been the 25th instalment.) This "traditional clash" is the one that has endured, despite attempts by the league to place other matches on Anzac Day - first, between Sydney and Melbourne for the Barassi Cup, and later, by having St Kilda play in New Zealand. The boys recap this classic match between two "old foe" clubs, and examine how the footy public has embraced footy's place on ANZAC Day.

FOOTY BOOK CLUB: The Short Long Book

Anzac Day 1995 is also remembered because of an incident that occurred with three minutes to go, when Michael Long was racially vilified by Damien Monkhorst Two years on from Nicky Winmar's famous gesture at Victoria Park, Long made a stand that forced the AFL to introduce penalties for on-field racial discrimination. In his biography of Long - The Short Long Book - Martin Flanagan writes that the stand was the AFL's "Mandela moment". That book, published in 2015, is our book club read for the week.