BOOK REVIEW: Review of "FITZROY", by Dyson Hore-Lacy (2000)

Fitzroy farewells fans, 1996

I could introduce this review by saying this is the book the AFL does not want you to read. However, at the end of the day, the AFL is now far too powerful as a Stalinist authoritarian regime in the Australian sporting landscape to care about websites such as mine or books such as this one. This book is absolutely depressing from the viewpoint of a traditional football supporter and from the viewpoint of a person who admires fair-play and decency on the football fields and in the corporate boardrooms. It discusses the last few years of Fitzroy FC as an AFL club and then discusses in detail the demise of Fitzroy and the enforced merger with Brisbane Bears. It is written by Fitzroy's then President, Dyson Hore-Lacy, four years after the events in question. It chronicles the proposed merger with North Melbourne to form the North-Fitzroy Kangaroos which was thwarted by the AFL at the last minute because it preferred the Brisbane merger for "strategic reasons". We see here the AFL coming to power as an authoritarian body with new corporatist-managerial type leaders who had taken full power over from the club presidents based on recommendations contained in the Crawford Report. At the end Hore-Lacy and his board were rendered even more powerless because creditor Nauru Insurance Corporation put the club in receivership and called in Michael Brennan as administrator (not the West Coast footballer). Brennan apparently was bullied by the AFL and he broke his fiduciary and legal duty by not accepting the North Melbourne merger even though North had offered to match Brisbane's offer in all respects and the North merger was the one accepted by the Fitzroy directors and preferred by most Fitzroy supporters. Initially it was to be called North Melbourne-Fitzroy Kangaroos with a mixed jersey. Then North supporters objected and finally the compromise North-Fitzroy Kangaroos name was accepted by both parties with the word "Melbourne" removed. This is an interesting name as it is open to multiple interpretations. Fitzroy FC people could have interpreted it as referring to North Fitzroy the actual suburb while North Melbourne people of course could have interpreted it to refer to the old North Melbourne club.

Home @ Brunswick Street Oval

We read of the AFL's desire to destroy Fitzroy as a club and force merger. Then we read of the AFL forcing the Brisbane merger rather than the North Melbourne merger for "strategic reasons" (as then AFL Commissioner John Kennedy Sr. said). Firstly the AFL introduced a rule giving Brisbane and Sydney access through the draft to uncontracted players which decimated Fitzroy's playing stock. Secondly, the AFL, completely unreasonably, forbid Fitzroy to play some AFL matches in Canberra, although it later permitted North Melbourne to play games in Canberra, Sydney, and Gold Coast, and allowed Hawthorn to play games in Tasmania. We read of Ross Oakley's rude comment (p. 132) that it would not allow "their worst product" (Fitzroy) to be sent up to Canberra, an offensive statement made against a foundation VFL/AFL club with eight premierships and which had made the final-five several times in the 1980s. It shows how the AFL was viewing clubs and players merely as "products for sale" in the 1990s, and it wanted to determine which products were sold in which markets. We read of the AFL's authoritarianism by continually demanding Fitzroy directors provide proof of solvency, a very difficult thing to offer positive proof of. The wishes of all the Fitzroy directors and most of its supporters to merge with North or stand-alone were completely disregarded by the AFL. The AFL cares about nobody but only about revenue dollars, marketing, vision, and the strategic plan. I urge football people not to contribute more of their hard-earned money to the AFL but to support second-tier football instead (SANFL, VFL, WAFL, etc.).

The Fitzroy Football Club still legally exists to this day. The Fitzroy Reds play at the old Brunswick Street ground in the amateur league and play in the 1950s-70s Fitzroy jersey. It is a pity that the club could not be represented at the higher VFL level and this may happen in the future. Ironically one of the terms of a possible Collingwood merger had been that Fitzroy play as Fitzroy in the reserves which now means the VFL competition. Perhaps this offer should have been accepted? While the AFL is the clear Darth Vader here, Hore-Lacy's board appeared to be genuine in its actions but was just outbullied and outsmarted by the AFL working in conjunction with the club receiver Mr Brennan and Brisbane Bears (and with the anti-Fitzroy Melbourne media in the background always ready to pounce). The club could only have held on for a few more years with yet another white knight.

Fitzroy Reds @ Brunswick St (amateurs)

However, the structural problems of moving to a higher stage of brutal capitalism within the AFL industry were always going to exist. When West Coast and Adelaide entered the competition with lots of money, supporters, members, and sponsors it was clear that the smaller Melbourne clubs would suffer the most by comparison. Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and perhaps Richmond could compete with the bigger interstate clubs but the smaller clubs in Melbourne could not. Smaller Melbourne-based clubs today are being funded by the AFL to a significant extent. It appears that AFL policy has changed and it is no longer coercing or even encouraging mergers. However the AFL's arrogance and authoritarianism continue on unabated. Only the tactics on the ground change. The AFL's reason to see Fitzroy merge was so that Port Adelaide could enter the competition in 1997. One of the funniest parts of a depressing book is the proposed merger of Port Power and Fitzroy as the (wait for it) Port Power Lions or, as Hore-Lacy says, the "power lines".

I like the front cover cartoon picture of a lion hanging on a cross in Christlike fashion with a black-suited person with a football for a head (the AFL) shooting arrows at the lion's chest. Although I think it is usually unwise to apply religious analogies to secular contexts, I support the use of the cross here as the picture perfectly sums up the situation of the Fitzroy Football Club. The AFL should apologize to Fitzroy FC and its supporters, the vast majority of whom now no longer follow AFL but have gone across to support Melbourne Victory and / or Melbourne Storm and / or other teams in other codes. The AFL does not deserve their support or their dollars. Its behaviour was completely reprehensible. Might does not make right [by Jack Frost, 2 January 2014].

PICTURE GALLERY: East Perth FC cheer squad, 1982-88 (courtesy David Lockhart)

East Perth cheer squad, 1982 Reserves 2nd semi-final, Subiaco Oval (courtesy David Lockhart). David Lockhart writes on Lost WAFL Facebook page that he was the leader of this group which operated over the years 1982-88; had up to 40 members at one point; was funded by the club; knew the other cheer squads; and participated in State of Origin cheer squad a few times.

East Perth cheer squad banner, 1982 Reserves Grand Final, Subiaco Oval (courtesy David Lockhart)

East Perth cheer squad, 1983, Perth Oval (courtesy David Lockhart)

East Perth cheer squad banner, 1983, Perth Oval (courtesy David Lockhart). Even as a West Perth fan it is impossible to disagree with the sentiments expressed on this banner! If Yakka filed a libel case I'm sure a knowledgeable judge would throw the case out of court!

East Perth 1978 premiers, Subiaco Oval. Not directly related to the cheer squad but I'm sure East Perth fans will forgive me for posting this picture here (which is "borrowed" from the EPFC's official Facebook page).

PICTURE GALLERY: Fat Pam's West Perth cheer squad, northern end, East Fremantle Oval, 8 August 1981

This cheer squad stopped operations at the end of the 1983 season but continued to make the banners for players to run through in 1984 and following years. Although I never met her, the leader of this group was allegedly a legendary figure known as "Fat Pam".

NEWS: 1981 WAFL Grand Final Budget, Claremont vs South Fremantle, sold for AUD43.00 on Ebay, 6/11/2013

NEWS: 1981 WAFL Grand Final Budget, Claremont vs South Fremantle, very good condition, sold for AUD43.00 on Ebay (auction ended 6 November 2013)

Other WAFL-related items won by Ebay auctions recently:

1968 WAFL Second Semi-Final Football Budget, Perth versus West Perth, winning bid AUD20.50 (auction ended 10 November 2013)

1969 WAFL Second Semi-Final Football Budget, West Perth versus East Perth, winning bid AUD20.50 (auction ended 10 November 2013)

WAFL-related items recently sold as normal purchase (not via auction) on Ebay recently:

1990 West Australian Football Register, 28th and last edition, sold for AUD34.00 by gardenvalecollectables

1988 Football's Who's Who, published by Indian Pacific Limited on behalf of West Coast Eagles and WAFL, sold for AUD14.40 by phils_time_booksellers

Mal Brown & Mongrels I've Met, by Mal Brown and Brian Hansen (1994), sold for AUD8.00 by taroona123

The Footballers, by Geoff Christian, 1985 edition, hardcover, sold for AUD45.00 by bobwardell

Set of 4 WAFL Football Budgets from 1990 & 1991, sold for AUD44.00 by gardenvalecollectables

PICTURE GALLERY: Farewell to the old Claremont Oval

Claremont Oval Legends Game, 26 October 2013. In this pic are Darren Kowal (7 Gold), Michael O'Connell (23 Blue), Brendan Green (21 Blue), Colin Barnett (17 Blue), Darrell Panizza (40 gold), and Graham Moss (25 Blue) (photo courtesy Lost WAFL Facebook page)

Graham Moss with the 1981 premiership cup (photo courtesy: Lost WAFL Facebook page)

Field of Dreams: Kieran James at the centre of Claremont Oval on a dreary winter's day dreaming he was Mossy or perhaps Boucher

(all Claremont Oval pictures taken on 16 August 2012)

PICTURE GALLERY: Glenelg cheer squad, versus Port Adelaide Magpies, Alberton Oval, 11 August 2012

PICTURE GALLERY: Port Adelaide Magpies cheer squad, versus Glenelg, Alberton Oval, 11 August 2012 (SANFL)

BOOK REVIEW: Review of "Fev: in My Own Words" by Brendan Fevola and "Fev Unauthorised" by Roger Franklin, review by Jack Frost

Those people who spend a lot of time passing through domestic airports and/or spend a lot of time in the bookstore sections at Big W will have seen not one but two books about colourful and talented ex-Carlton full-forward the one and only Mr. Brendan "Fev" or "the Fevolution" Fevola. If you didn't manage to pick up one or both books this review might give you some points to consider. Both books were released in 2012. The unauthorized book "Fev Unauthorised" by Roger Franklin appeared first and then came the authorized book "Fev: In My Own Words" by Brendan Fevola with assistance from Adam McNicol. Franklin's book is extremely patronizing in tone and emphasis, painting Fevola as an idiot loser with zero ability to control himself and who contributed little of a positive nature to the game. It is little wonder that Fevola wanted to write his own book. Franklin's book gives you little insight into the man himself precisely because it was unauthorized and had no direct access. It relies on rehashed media quotes and continual moralizing. It is basically a scrapbook of past media articles on Fevola with a moralizing voice-over added. This is probably not really a surprise to anyone. The book gives the media's perspective on Fevola with events only being deemed of interest if they were at the time picked up by the media. There is little new on offer in Franklin's book. Franklin's book is totally media-centric and assumes that people exist for the media primarily and that the media has the right to cast judgement on those it covers. It does not critique the media's role in the Fevola story and pretends that the media was not partly responsible for blowing up Fevola's misdeeds out of all proportion so that the media might use the man for its own profit-making activities (and then cast him on the rubbish heap when he was no longer useful). There is very little in Franklin's book about the actual games of footy Fevola played because that was of less interest to the media than his off-field misdemeanors! The whole Fevola saga is a sad indictment on the role of the media in modern western society and reflects as badly on the media as it does on Fevola.

Now we come to Brendan's own book. This book is much more interesting on a number of fronts. For the most part Brendan is honest and upfront and I did feel that I somewhat knew Fevola the man after reading this book. However, I must say it is something of a strange book. McNicol's role as ghost-writer was clearly very significant. He and Brendan play a politically-correct straight-bat to all incidents of misdeeds, glossing them over, offering a brief apology, and then moving on. If Brendan had been as self-controlled and PC as McNicol is here he would still have his AFL career today. It is amazing to think that Brendan is still only 32-years-old! Some incidents are not discussed at all such as Brendan's extra-marital affair and the Lara Bingle photo scandal. Readers wanting detailed accounts of these events should read Franklin's book instead. Brendan's book is charming and sweet as most footballers' autobiographies are but amazingly it comes across as rather dry in parts.

Legendary Narre Warren resident Corey Delaney

First we get an introduction to Fevola's grandparents and parents and the story starts in earnest (pages 17-33) when the family moves into their new home at Narre Warren, an outer-suburban dormitory suburb in Melbourne's south-east made famous by Corey Delaney, the 16-year-old who in January 2008 wrecked his parents' house through a huge party when they were away (see "House-party teen shows no remorse", The Age online, 14 January 2008, http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/i-had-the-best-party-ever/2008/01/14/1200159328902.html). Narre Warren came to represent "the sum of us", the mindlessly dull suburbia of endless carpet warehouses, drive-thru fast-food outlets, and identical houses that we have created for our alienated young people at the outskirts of every Australian city. Brendan Fevola was also a product of Narre Warren for better or for worse. We really get a flavour of the culture of the area and the local junior football club where Brendan's dad Angelo coached the team. Sadly Brendan says this was one of the few times he got to see his dad who had already divorced. He recalls feasts at McDonald's after winning vouchers for best-on-ground, fooling around with some future AFL stars, and playing bedroom and street football games with neighbour and future Richmond player Chris Newman. We read an end-of-year coach's and captain's report by Angelo and Brendan Fevola and Brendan comes across as a nice, respectful boy who just couldn't concentrate for overly long periods. His legendary bad body language when the team was going badly was present even back then.

We follow Brendan into the Dandenong Stingrays and then he gets drafted by Carlton. We read of a classic Narre Warren New Year's Eve party on the night of the Carlton versus Collingwood 31/12/1999 millennium match where Brendan kicked 12 goals. Narre Warren seems to have been a huge party-town.  Had this party been held in 2009 rather than in 1999 we are sure that young Corey Delaney would have made a special appearance! After this the book gets less interesting. Brendan and McNicol stay away from controversy where possible and even when it isn't really possible. Instead we follow Brendan's and Carlton's progress year-by-year game-by-game through the terrible years of the 1990s when the club was mostly fighting out out for wooden-spoons. All of this is somewhat dry reading as nearly a decade is covered game by game. Carlton fans would be interested but this was a depressing decade indeed for the proud club. In the first half of the 2000s club legends such as Steve Silvagni and Craig Bradley finally leave (in 2001 and 2002 respectively) and then Denis Pagan arrives at the end of 2002. Stephen "Sticks" Kernahan is an imposing presence in the background and in the boardroom throughout the story. Like with respect to all Carlton legends people act as if he had never retired! Carlton's legends just play on forever, taking marks and backhanding opponents in endless boardroom machinations cheered on by the ghosts of past supporters. No wonder Kernahan didn't want to return to South Australia!

The book aims to subtly highlight Brendan's good points such as his love and concern for children and the disadvantaged and the respect he showed to coaches, especially Denis Pagan, when other senior players were shamefully setting up meetings with the club's leadership in order to depose Pagan. Brendan avoids sticking the boot in during the down years at Carlton when the club was punished for its salary-cap breaches and the players suffered huge pay-cuts and had to even buy their own footballs just for the club to survive. The draft system's terrible problems, where Carlton and Melbourne played for a priority draft pick and fans cheered for the other club's goals, suggest that this system really needs to be thrown out of our game. If you have a salary-cap why do you need a draft? European soccer doesn't need it. If the salary-cap is working properly then the competition is already fair. Brendan also is very positive about club saviour, the late Richard "Dick" Pratt, and respect flowed in both directions there. One of the book's goals is to show you Brendan's good points (at first I typed "pints" which might have been a more appropriate word to use here!) I conclude that the book succeeds in doing this although it is quite obvious what is being done. Brendan glosses over the fire extinguisher incident at the Victoria University dormitory as if it was just harmless fun. The 2009 Brownlow Medal night is glossed over quickly on pages 252-257 on the grounds that he just couldn't really remember it! By contrast, Franklin gives a minute-by-minute commentary of Brendan's behaviour on pages 114-137 of his book (the whole of Chapter 8). At 10:25pm, Brendan did this, at 10.28pm he did that - how ridiculous! That is five pages (Fev's book) versus 23 pages (Franklin's book)! We want to believe that Brendan sees the error of his ways but he keeps doing the same things over and over again in life. He has recently been made a bankrupt as a result of gambling debts. He does not properly address how his actions have hurt and disrespected his family and close friends. Brendan was given hundreds of chances. The sad thing is he was not a bitter or cruel or revengeful or hostile person - he just lacked self-control and could not think outside of the moment. The worst things he was blamed for he never actually did such as smashing bottles at the pub in Melbourne and flashing at the woman in Brisbane. Franklin is quite happy to condemn him just for the crime of being Brendan! He really suffered by belonging to the era when AFL footballers do not need outside jobs to keep them grounded and accountable to the broader community. If only Fev had followed Pagan's advice: "if you are out after midnight you are sure to get into trouble".

The book ends with Brendan's firing by the Brisbane Lions (which was doubly unfortunate as he had a good relationship with the senior players there especially Jonathon Brown and Luke Power) and traces his games with Casey Scorpions in the VFL and the senior club at Narre Warren. Overall a very good and worthwhile book. If you take Franklin's book and Fevola's book and aim for a midpoint around 30-40% of the way away from Fev's book you will get a reasonably accurate picture of his life and career. McNicol did a great job in moderating and controlling the tone of the book and adding many statistics from the on-field events. The only laughable aspect was Brendan's blasting of Jason "Aker" Akermanis for being a "motormouth" and "smart-arse" (page 268) when self-control was never Brendan's strongest point. Overall, Fevola's case was a sad one as he was a great talent who was pressurized, mocked, hated, harassed, and left for dead by the media. There have been plenty of worse people. I'm happy that Brendan is giving something back to the game at the lower levels rather than withdrawing into himself out of bitterness; this deserves respect and our best wishes. PS Brendan, congratulations on being named in the Italian Team of the Century! I give Franklin's book 5/10 and Fev's book 8/10 [by Jack Frost, 8 October 2013].