The latest instalment in Vin Maskell’s tangential series. Are the Dropkick Murphys a bunch of punk-folk frauds? None of their names are Murphy and I doubt any of their songs are about that once noble expression of grace and distance, the Australian Rules drop kick. The Boston-based band of seven sing about work and unions, [Read more]
Search Results for: Vin Maskell
Home is where the grandstand is
December 23, 2010 by 9 Comments
VFL club Williamstown won’t be playing at home next year due to major works on the 80 year old grandstand, and on the playing surface.The Seagulls ‘home’ ground for next year, for six games, is at arch-rival Werribee’s ground. The three other ‘home’ games will be at Torquay (vs Geelong), Keilor (vs North Ballarat) and [Read more]
My Favourite Drop Kick. Part three.
December 17, 2010 by 3 Comments
Vin Maskell continues his occasional series Nashville songwriter Paul Craft wrote Drop Kick Me Jesus in the mid-1970s. It became a minor country and western hit for a bloke called Bobby Bare in 1976. Wikipedia describes the song as the world’s ‘only Christian football waltz’. One doubts not too many people would dispute such a [Read more]
Between a rock and a VFL grand final
September 15, 2010 by 1 Comment
by Vin Maskell After Williamstown’s lame loss last Saturday in the VFL preliminary final against Northern Bullants I went looking for a big rock. I figured if I banged my head against a big rock long enough the memory of the game would disappear. So I went down to the Williamstown ground and found a [Read more]
My favourite drop kick. Part one
September 9, 2010 by 3 Comments
My favourite drop-kick. Part one. ON MONDAY evening, 26 June 2006 I sat down to watch a profile of musician Shane Howard on the ABC program Australian Story. The program focused almost entirely on Shane Howard’s once-troubled personal life rather than on his achievements as a singer, songwriter (remember Goanna and Solid Rock?) and activist.
Book Launch: The Family Behind the Football
July 16, 2010 by 9 Comments
By Vin Maskell The Family Behind The Football by Syd Sherrin was launched at the original Sherrin factory in Collingwood on Wednesday evening, 14 July. Guests included Ron Barassi, Peter McKenna, Ray Shaw, Heath Shaw, Alan Didak, Ken Fraser, umpire Denis Rich and members of the extended Sherrin family. I played a key role in [Read more]
Book Review: Football for Boys
April 26, 2010 by 4 Comments
Book: Football for Boys Author: Alan Scott Publisher: Golden Press, Potts Point, 1971 Reviewer: Vin Maskell The perfect drop-kick I probably think of Essendon’s Barry Davis more than I think of any other footballer. I think of him every day, when I glance up at the 1971 book Football for Boys, which has pride of [Read more]
Sports Book Reviews
Welcome Almanackers to the Footy Almanac sports book review page. A love of sports literature is what the almanac is all about. Side-stepping the all too familiar news-focussed approach to sports writing, dominated by hardball gets and hard facts, the almanac yearns for the personal, the opinionated, the impressionistic and, yes goddamit, the literary too, [Read more]
Little Voices
May 5, 2009 by Leave a Comment
by Vin Maskell We drank tea in the kitchen on the hill Listening to the players wandering Looking for their football in the fog. The kettle boiled, the whistle blew The steam from the cups Caressed our faces. Below in the white still darkness The players kept calling: Nicknames and coaches’ orders. A [Read more]
Almanac Footy: Western District Football Wrap – Hampden League Preliminary Final
September 23, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Koroit win their way into the Hampden League Grand Final with their win over South Warrnambool in the Preliminary Final reports Dandy Andy.
Almanac Footy: Western District Football Wrap
June 24, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Dandy Andy reviews last weekend’s results from the major country leagues in Western District of Victoria football.
Almanac Footy – Western District Football Wrap: Round 4 and Round 3
May 5, 2025 by 6 Comments
More updates from Victoria’s west by Dandy Andy sees the return of a former Docker and Sun as well as a shock loss to a reigning premier.
‘Boyhood memories linger for old champ…’ by KB Hill
July 20, 2023 by 1 Comment
Mark Browning is the only player to play 100+ games for both South Melbourne and the Sydney Swans. KB Hill caught up with him recently.
Almanac Teams: Forty Winks; Obscure 40s (1980- )
August 1, 2022 by 4 Comments
Last week’s controversial skipper gets another run today in Rodney Boyd’s obscure Number 40s side along with a couple of interesting Asian connections and a player who did a reverse Scott Pendlebury.
Almanac (Footy) Memoir: Grossman – Remembering the Battle of Bushfield
June 2, 2021 by 7 Comments
As a young man celebrated Australian sports writer Ron Reed played senior footy at Dennington where he was coached by South Melbourne premiership player Don Grossman. The Dennington Dogs went on to win the premiership. [Terrific memoir – Ed]
Saints 1940 – A Premier combination: the Patriotic Premiership
May 27, 2020 by 3 Comments
In 1940 St Kilda Football Club won the Lightning Premiership. Allan Grant tells of the players in that squad and wonders what might have been.
The sad demise of trooper Le Brun by KB Hill
April 25, 2018 by 1 Comment
Shared with the Footy Almanac by KB Hill, this is the tale of Norman Le Brun, coach of Wangaratta’s historic 1937 premiership. A mere three years later, his career would be put on hold when he enlisted in the army…
Urging AFL to care about people more
July 20, 2017 by 1 Comment
Our Japanese correspondent Yoshi takes issue with the AFL putting profit before fans.
New award for FIDA footy film
September 7, 2015 by 1 Comment
Road To Glory, the short film about Williamstown Seagulls FIDA team’s 2014 premiership, has won a third award.
The First Drop Punt? Recent research from a kick historian
June 26, 2015 by 13 Comments
Jim Johnson is fascinated by kicking styles in Australian football. Here is some of his research.
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