Australian Football Clubs in NSW

I hope this will appeal to the footy aficionados and enthusiasts that are part of the Footy Almanac community. The book is called Australian Football Clubs in NSW and it looks in detail at some of the great players to have been recruited from NSW football clubs to the VFL/AFL.

 

The Inside Football review by Russell Holmesby states that the book is a “colourful representation of clubs across the state”- and that is true in the sense that effort was put into ensuring the book had visual appeal with a lot of colour photos and rare photos being included in the book.

The Inside Football review also states, “When you consider that names like Haydn Bunton, Shane Crawford, Wayne Carey and Terry Daniher took their first football steps in New South Wales, it can be seen that the state has made a significant input to the game.”

 

Motivation:

I think growing up in Sydney was a motivation to write the book, but one of the key factors was going to see the 2007 Ovens and Murray League grand final in the northern Albury suburb of Lavington. This to me was community footy at its best. The 14,000 plus crowd, the atmosphere, the motorcade of past-players and medal winners before the game…it just impressed me enormously to see football at this level and for it to be played in NSW.

After that match I put a lot more effort into researching country NSW football and attended Riverina Football League, Hume League and Murray League finals matches. These matches gave me an excuse to see a great part of the country anyway. If you ever want to see an undervalued part of Australia – you can’t go past the Murray River region and the Riverina…it is a beautiful part of the country.

 

Stats, stats and more stats:

 If footy statistics are your thing then this book should provide some new information for you. For example, the state of New South Wales has produced five Brownlow medallists – only one behind the power footy state of Western Australia. The state of NSW has also produced over 40 VFL/AFL premiership players – the stats of each player are included in the book.

 

So there you have it – Almanac readers…. This is a new direction for footy books – It gives a bit of acknowledgement to the grassroots footy clubs that have produced the footy stars that we all admire in the AFL. If you would like more information on this bookyou can contact me on [email protected]

Or you can find purchase details here.

 

Comments

  1. Well done on seeing it through, Miles.

    I want to go to an Ovens and Murray grand final, too.

  2. Rocket Nguyen says

    And do the Hume League GF on the Saturday before.

    4000 people crowded around a paddock at Walbundrie…

    Mrs Weppner makes the best sponge cakes in the region!

  3. Pamela Sherpa says

    I’ll look forward to reading this Miles.

  4. Miles,
    Great to see you got the book out there mate. I’m looking forward to picking up a copy when I get back.
    Cheers, Kizza

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