SA FOOTY PHILosophy 2009 #12 - The Way It Was 1977

[PhilH]

A colleague at my day job (yes I do have work outside of football) recently cleaned house and came across some old SANFL Football Budgets which he left me to look at.

Three weeks later I am still pouring through them as many memories come flooding back of 1977, the league centenary year and my first full season of football awareness.

So let me take you back exactly 32 years to the Football Budget for Round 16 1977.


1) FIRST IMPRESSION

There are no fancy logos or typesetting on the colour cover but the Budget comes in a handy A5 booklet, costing 30c. The rest of the 52 page publication is in black and white.

The cover picture is an action shot of Norwood v Sturt at Football Park with Phil Gallagher tackling Colin Casey. How ironic that the careers of those two is still being played out at West Lakes today in their roles with the SANFL.

Football Park lies in the background of the shot maybe 40% full with no roof on top of the outer.

The back page is an ad for the Savings Bank of South Australia and their Special Purpose Savings Passbook Account. The picture shows a man in a black full necked skivvy looking lovingly at a new Kingswood.


2) NEWS OF THE DAY

The main page 3 story headlined “Peace restored with Affiliated Leagues”, reports that a dispute regarding interstate clearances and country permits between the SANFL clubs and affliliated leagues had been settled.

There was also a note that “due to the introduction of the two umpire system” each umpire would be names on the team pages rather than by a number code.


3) PLAYER PROFILES

The Budget contained four profile pieces, these consisted of an article, “personality profile” and large photo. These seem to be aligned with milestone games.

Featured in this issue were
- Fred Phillis, celebrating this round his 250th game, the first for any Glenelg player
- Bulldog Ian McKay who won the 5KA and Sunday Mail “Rookie of The Year” award in 1975 playing his 50th.
- Another Tiger Peter McInerney who was playing his 50th and lists his favourite signer as Fleetwood Mac and most admired sportsman as Dennis Lillee.
- Finally Sturt rover Rob Barton who was playing his 100th match, his favourite TV show was MASH and Willessee At Seven and his favourite singer Neil Diamond


4) INTERSTATE GAME

As was the case 32 years later South Australia was scheduled to play Western Australia in Perth. There is an Ad for a WA v SA supporters trip. The package involves leaving the “Adelaide Air Terminal” at 9.10pm Friday night, two nights accommodation in Perth, transfers to the hotel and the game plus admission tickets.

All together the cost was $262.30 for singles $253.30 for twin share, a very expensive weekend relative to the value of money and the cost of flights today.

Also on interstate games the NFL Ardath Cup is about to reach its climax.
Port Adelaide and West Perth were scheduled to meet on Tuesday Night the loser picking up $5,000 the winner going into the semi final against East Fremantle. Norwood and Sturt will meet in the other semi also on a Tuesday Night. Semi Final losers receive $10,000, the runner up $21,000 and the champion $50,000.


5) ADVERTISEMENTS

Almost of as much interest as the football are the ads from yesteryear.

Some examples include
- Amscol promoting its new S.A. Footy ice block, in the state red blue and gold colours.
- Remember the jingle “Nobody can like Canberra can”? There are plenty of Canberra TV ads encouraging fans to to make the switch to colour from black and white.
- Mariners Restaurant at West Lakes Mall has a Sunday smorgasboard which sets Adults back $6 each and Children under ten just $2.
- Casserley and Mitchell Real Estate, mentioned because the business is still going strong today.
- You can earm up to 10.5% with the a term deposit with the Hindmarsh Building Society
- Professor Julius Summner Miller promotes the “clean engine, cleaner air” that comes from New Ampol petrol.


6) PROMOTIONS

- There are certainly no shortage of promotions to keep readers interested.

For example, I’m not totally sure how this worked in practice but you could win $20 by matching your selection of the Football Park game best on ground player with that voted by the Media in the Beneficial Finance Football Award.

Thanks to Chris Fisher’s Sporting World at West Lakes you could enter the “Name The Player” competition and win a pair of puma shoes or boots. All you have to do is look at the action photo with one players face blacked out, make a guess and you are in the running,

Then if you are under 16 and complete the Norlee Football Crossword you could win a Norleee Centenary Crew Sports Bag.

If you were the Kelloggs Lucky Football Shopper, portrayed in the Kelloggs Corn Flakes mug shot taken at Para Hills Foodland then you would have won a $30 hamper. Congratulations also to Burnside’s Julie Austin who was the Caltex Girl of The Week snapped when supporting Sturt at Football Park the previous week.


7) OTHER BITS & PIECES

- The first thing that strikes you when you look at all the action photos is the lack of badges and logos clogging the jumper. Every team has the SANFL 100 year logo on it & a couple have club logos on the other breast but that’s it, not a sponsor to be seen.

- The Coke Centrefold is West’s Bruce Stevenson in the Blood’s black and red vertical stripes.

- There is a nine race meeting at Morphettville with all results due to be posted on the scoreboard at the SANFL grounds.

- Socially around the ten clubs, the Peckers and Double Blues Bingo are heavily promoted. Meanwhile North are having a Roosters Walkathon, South are going American with a 4th of July celebration, everyone seems to be running a raffle and Sturt and Glenelg are promoting their $4.95 LP’s,

- As for the football this week the schedule had Central and Woodville at Football Park (catch The Big Replay on Seven at 6.30pm), Glenelg & North at the Bay, West and league leaders Port at Richmond, Torrens taking on Norwood at Thebarton and co-tenants South and Sturt at Adelaide Oval in the other Channel Seven game.

- South Adelaide looked likely to win the Coca-Cola Mini League premiership with 10 wins from their 13 games played, a 3 game lead over second placed Sturt. The leader at the end of the minor round will be crowned Mini League Premier and receive a gold cup. The previous week the Panthers had defeated Glenelg 0.2 to 0.0.

- The senior team lists are very basic with just the full name and number for the league and number, surname and first initial for the reserves.

- Of the 10 club logos only Glenelg’s remains totally unchanged today later with some minor alterations made to the Port Adelaide one in 1997.

- There is no mention anywhere in the budget about radio coverage of the games.

Finally for those feeling a little old reading this, mention is made of Charles Cornwall who made his league goal umpiring debut in the South v Sturt game at the ripe old age of 40.

The overwhelming feeling from going back to 1977 is the extent of change that has occurred on and off the football field in those 32 years. It makes you wonder what future football fans in 2051 would make of today’s SANFL. Hopefully there will be enough history retained to tell that story.


Phil Herden

[Big Phil]

Another great PHILosophy Mr Herden, an enjoyable read as always...

Not being born for another 4 years, it is interesting to hear how the old Budgets looked from this era, muat try and get my hands on some and have a look first hand...

[am Bays]

Like you Phil 1977 was when I "discovered" footy. Fortunately I have half a dozen Budgets from that year courtesy of a Great Aunty whose son had made his debut for the Bays in 1976.

[Voice]

Very interesting to me as those budgets are the same age as I am. Gee 77 was a great year

[bulldogs]

sounds like a great read. that year was my first GF live. i wish the old man didnt throw all our old budgets away be some great reading.

[Sojourner]

Someone else will probably be able to give better details, yet I am sure there is supposed to be a second hand dealer on Unley road that has some of the old budgets and things like this for sale? Can not remember the name off hand though?

[bayman]

who remembers the videos that came out with the same title ''the way it was 19??''

i think ch 2 or the sanfl (or together) release a similar type of product

[leggies]

Someone else will probably be able to give better details, yet I am sure there is supposed to be a second hand dealer on Unley road that has some of the old budgets and things like this for sale? Can not remember the name off hand though?

Toss of a Coin. Also, the Kings Park Antique store near Maccas at Cumberland park has a fair bit of SANFL stuff too.

[Wedgie]

Why were Sturt playing home games at Adelaide Oval and not Unley that year?

[godoubleblues]

excellent times, I was going to the footy at this time as a young teenager
I have a heap of budgets at home from 1975 thru to 1981
great for a bit of a nostalgic look back

[CK]

Great times for me. While I was present at the 1975 Grand Final, I am too young to remember it, but 1977 is around when memories get a bit clearer for me, albeit still very young at the time.
Watching "The Big Replay" of the game that you had been to that afternoon, with the likes of Peter Marker, Ian Day, and in later years Rick Keegan and the like.
The ads for the banks make great reading nowadays, with savings rates then, more like home loan rates about 12 months ago.
The ads at the time from Focus Video, selling state of the art VCR's, with either the VHS or Beta options, all with handy remote controls that had cords approx 40cm long from the machine.

Amscol Ice Creams in club colours...now there's memories of hot afternoons at school

The saturation coverage SANFL got around that time was great. My clearest memory of 1977 is when Channel 9 broadcast live from Alberton Oval the night before the Grand Final and conducted an interview with Russell Ebert and some other Port players - all of whom were in the club bath, and somehow everyone keeping a straight face.

[JK]

Great stuff Phil, only thing missing was the Big Replay jingle (you know "Todays the day for heroes, for giving the best that you can, for winning and losing and saying "Good onya" It's all in the game ...)

77 is just before my time (sadly 78 was too, although I recall euphoria at home) ... They were certainly the years I've always looked back upon as the Golden Era of footy in this state (along with the 80's), understandably those with greater memories could suggest such an era started in earlier decade(s).

[finn]

weirdly enough as a norwood supporter one of my clearest early football memories is of attending the 1976 GF between ports and sturts (as my grandma would say). we sat immmediately behind the fence on the northern end's outer half forward flank and i was amazed to see a long line of people being led inside the boundary to sit on the ledge and grass. directly in front of me teetered a middle aged woman wearing a brown fur coat and long skirt kept on getting stuck in the grass because of her heels. i remember thinking what would happen if the play went too close.
i also got a plastic footy that day.

i do remember quite a bit of the 75 and 78 flags as well. bless mike poulter and his afro.

[rd]

Why were Sturt playing home games at Adelaide Oval and not Unley that year?

That particular game was South's home game hosting Sturt in 1977. I remember the game well. I was still at high school and that Saturday morning had been to the optician to collect my first ever set of glasses. Remember going to Adelaide OVal that afternoon, sitting in the John Creswell stand watching Sturt belt South and I COULD SEE AND READ the scoreboard !!

And I believe the Wdv/CD game that day at Football Park was when John Roberts kicked 16 goals and that match was only covered by Ch 7 because Wdv the week before had a rare win over Norwood and Ch 7 thought it was about time they gave the Wdv fans a replay - and they jagged the Roberts 16 goals game !!

Loved your article Phil - great read - worth entering into the SANFL Awards for 2009 actually...

[Dog_ger]

Ah Memories

[76er]

As a lad I would always take those budgets home and read them cover to cover. A more basic print but from memory more in them. I particularly remember the Looking Back segment. And loved 3qtr time called lemmon time. When my boys were losing it was always nice to read of them comming home with a wet sail to snatch victory 15 years previous. There were 3 years reported on i think. Was it 5, 10 and 15 years ago?

Todays are nice and glossy but a little thin. Not as much money aavailable for the SANFL I suppose. What are the Records at AFL games like? Just wondering.

[Strawb]

Great write up Phil H. I remember buying the old budgets off a friend and reading them cover to cover. For me it was like damn i wish i could go back and watch this game and seeing the past champions names on the page just made me feel that in 1993 i missed out on the golden era of the SANFL.

[SnappyTom]

...
The overwhelming feeling from going back to 1977 is the extent of change that has occurred on and off the football field in those 32 years. It makes you wonder what future football fans in 2051 would make of today’s SANFL. Hopefully there will be enough history retained to tell that story...


Phil Herden

Great write-up Phil.
Not sure how 2051 relates to this, as it's 42 years from now - but I'm sure your maths will improve in your 70's!

ST...

[Brucetiki]

Todays are nice and glossy but a little thin. Not as much money aavailable for the SANFL I suppose. What are the Records at AFL games like? Just wondering.

The AFL Record isn't as glossy as the Budget, and are easier to get battered and torn. A couple of decent articles, a comprehensive preview of one game, and the scores of all the state competitions (they used to include the ladders for the VFL/SANFL/WAFL but stopped this year). It's about twice the size of the Budget and costs $4 ($7.50 pre-season, $6 for QF, EF, SF, PF).

So whilst the Budget looks nicer and easier to keep in good condition, the Record has more articles, information etc.

[Mr66]

1975 thru to 1981
great for a bit of a nostalgic look back

THE best era for football.
SANFL,VFL,WAFL and VFA as well.
A golden era which has sadly passed us.