Club comes to life

By Kath Gannaway
WHEN Barry Smith, one of Yarra Glen’s great footballers and clubmen, became a member of the local historical society, the seed was set for a history of the Yarra Glen Football Club.
Yarra Glen and District Historical Society secretary Helen Mann had been thinking about writing about local sporting clubs and Mr Smith provided the missing link.
Yarra Glen Football Club 1888-2008 was launched in August by former club player and current Carlton coach Brett Ratten.
The book, co-authored by Ms Mann and Mr Smith, is a 102 page history with a foreword by Ratten leading into a history which not only captures the journey of the club but provides a parallel insight into the Yarra Glen and district community over several eras including two world wars, the Depression and natural disasters,
The Yarra Glen Grand Hotel, a meeting place for the club since its beginnings, was packed for the launch.
“From 1935 this hotel was owned by Robert (Bert) Lithgow and then his son Jack Lithgow.
“Both were captains and champions of our club and VFL players, Bert with Carlton and Jack with Collingwood,” Mr Smith said.
On 8 May 1912, the hotel was the setting for the formation of a new league.
Mr Smith said the book represented more than a year’s work for himself and Ms Mann who he described as “tenacious in her research and drafts” – six in all.
Some of the gems they discovered along the way included the rules of 1892 under which a player could be reported for ‘cowardly’ play, and games which started at 4pm and finished in what was described as ‘starlight’.
Ms Mann said her co-author was the ideal information source for the book.
“He has a good memory for the stories, the yarns and the legends relating to both on and off field incidents,” she said.
“I learned to smile when he said “that’s it!” knowing he would phone again in a day or two to say he was coming around with some more notes to be included,” she said.
Mr Ratten, as always when he returns to Yarra Glen, received a champion’s welcome.
He paid tribute to the people in the room who he said had had a huge influence on him.
“If I look around at the people and the way they have held themselves and their work ethics … Big Pete (Peter Nelson) probably one of the biggest influences and I can still hear Herbie (John Herbert) bawling across the ground ‘put your head over the ball’,” he said.
He said football was about being part of the community and about the enduring friendships made along the way.
The book tells the story of the club, its traditions, people, challenges and successes, illustrated with more than 80 photographs, and lists of useful statistics.
Mr Smith said the aim had not been to write a comprehensive or definitive history of the club but to capture the spirit and culture of a great community asset.
Yarra Glen Football Club 1888-2008 retails for $25 and is available online at BookOrphanage and at the Yarra Glen Post Office.