Almanac Obituaries: South Bendigo’s Bernie McCarthy passes away

Bernie McCarthy, legendary South Bendigo footballer, has died. Richard Jones pays tribute.

Almanac Footy History: Sandhurst in the 1890s – Bendigo’s Cardinals of yesteryear

Worthy of Mastermind, Richard Jones fills in all your blanks concerning Sandhurst Football Club’s record of the 1890s. [Sandhurst is the former name of Bendigo, Victoria – Ed].

Almanac Footy History: Bendigo Footy League greats inducted into AFL Halls of Fame

Richard Jones, who has a great feel for the game wherever it has been played, looks at those champion footballers who have made their respective Halls of Fame having started life in the Bendigo Footy League.

Local Footy: Sponsorship deals – always a thorny problem

Richard Jones looks back at the sponsors involved in the Bendigo Football League and the colourful names that have been given to football grounds as a result of the deals.

Fierce rivals draw at Rochy in the opening round of 1954

Richard takes us back 60 years in the Bendigo Football League in a report that includes a dominant Graham Arthur at Sandhurst and a sensation at Camp Reserve. He also delivers his tips for round 1 2014.

Footy in the 20s: East folds, three country clubs arrive

Richard Jones looks at the 1920s in the Bendigo footy league.

Bendigo footy in the Forties …. war and rationing intervene

Richard Jones offers a splendid history of Bendigo League football during the war years of the 1940’s.

Never a dull moment in central Victorian footy

Controversies and heated clashes all form part of the rich tapestry of footy in central Victoria. Richard Jones recalls a willing Grand Final of the `80s.

Yarrawalla, a proud club with a brief history: 1946-82

Formed in the wake of the Second World War, the Yarrawalla Hawks had a difficult first season, but grew through two leagues, two strips and four flags to become a side with a proud history. Richard Jones looks at the highs and lows of a club now gone but still remembered.

Footy Grounds of Tassie: a Driving Tour

Richard Jones visits some of Tassie’s finest footy grounds.

Saints walk off at Maryborough in 1993 sensation

Richard Jones re-visits an infamous incident in Bendigo football when Kennington walked off.

Ah, what a relief…bush footy’s back and all is well

EVEN though I’ve always loved summer and dreaded the looming freeze of June and July, I must say Good Friday couldn’t come around quickly enough for me this year. That’s the day when the Bendigo Football Netball League season kicked off and so it was again this year. Four-time premiers Golden Square hosted suburban neighbours [Read more]

Bye, bye beloved Age broadsheet: now only The Oz is left

Tomorrow will be a miserable one for many old journos, lamenting the down-sizing of a beloved daily broadsheet into a humdrum tabloid.

Charger: a key member of four Square premiership sides

  PETER ‘Charger’ Davey was a key figure in defence during Golden Square’s dominant Bendigo Football League period in the Seventies. His four premiership successes attest to that, and additionally he was also a vital component of Bendigo’s inter-league campaigns. He first wore the blue and gold jumper of the Square when he played for [Read more]

Merged clubs manage to struggle on

Once your footy club has gone under, not saved by a merger or an amalgamation, it’s almost impossible to revive it, says Richard Jones.