The Footy Almanac Grand Final Eve Lunch gets the final weekend of the 2015 AFL Season off to a great start!

The Footy Almanac Grand Final Eve Lunch gets the final weekend of the 2015 AFL Season off to a great start
By Jennifer Muirden

Friday 2 October, 2015
Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne

I felt somewhat daunted at the thought of walking into my first Footy Almanac Grand Final Eve Lunch where I knew most people have been a member for a considerable time and are clearly already very much united. I was pleasantly surprised however to find that, for the most part, I felt welcomed into the fold. The function was a full house including locals and several members from interstate and overseas were also in attendance. It was a successful occasion to celebrate the 2015 AFL Season and, like a true footy chick, I well and truly embraced the imbibing of beer as I chewed the fat with fellow footy lovers.

Following this auspicious event, I felt moved to write a tribute to The Footy Almanac and it goes something like this…

Amazing Almanac ( how sweet the common ground )
Sung to the tune of ‘Amazing Grace’ United Methodist Hymnal Number 378 written by John Newton (1725-1807)

Amazing Almanac, how sweet the common ground,
That saved a neophyte like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was deprived, but now, I read

T’was Almanac that taught my heart to write…
And Almanac, my despairs relieved.
How much did my soul ignite
the moment I first perceived?

Through many strangers, spoils and shares…
I have already succumb.
T’was Almanac that rendered me a shooting star …
and Almanac will allow me to strum.

Aussie Rules always captivated me…
Has done so for many years
It has healed and rescued me…
No longer wet behind the ears.

So, I start afresh and impart many a tale
and perhaps a conversation piece?
I shall continue to provide detail,
and my lyric writing shall not cease.

I’ve supported St Kilda for thirty-nine years
It’s not always been much fun.
Writing gives me solace during dog days
When the off season has once again begun

Amazing Almanac, how sweet the common ground,
That saved a neophyte like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was deprived, but now, I read

About Jennifer Muirden

Jennifer Muirden has been a keen St Kilda supporter since 1978 and fondly remembers her childhood Saturdays spent at Linton Street, Moorabbin. In her lifetime she hopes to experience the Saints second Premiership.

Comments

  1. Jen certainly thrust her name in front of the selectors for the Norm Smith at the lunch, that’s for sure.

    Remarkable staying power and the constitution of an ox!

  2. Neil Anderson says

    ” Amazing Almanac, how sweet the common ground” sums it up perfectly for all of us.
    When Almanac admin asked writers what the Almanac meant to them prior to the crowd-funding proposal, these lyrics alone would have sufficed as the answer.

  3. Jen,
    How sweet the common ground, indeed!
    T’was wonderful to meet you last Friday at the lunch.
    Cheers
    Smokie

  4. Well done Jen…never much fun to be had walking into a crowded room when u don’t know anyone. And I think the public holiday meant it seemed extraordinarily long..Thursday night dinner..Friday lunch…Friday night follow on dinner post lunch ( superb red spice rd!) Saturday lunch…..saturday night 21st….and a gentle wind down Sunday Arvo backyard wine in the sun.

Leave a Comment

*