Last night the George Harris room at Visy Park hosted over fifty past players and officials including amongst others, Percy Jones, Vin Catoggio, Jimmy Buckley, Peter Fyffe, Max Dixon, Ron De Iulio, Syd Jackson, Geoff Southby and Bill Redmond. Players from every decade from the 1940s to the 2000s were in attendance to socialise, reminisce and talk about the future of the club we all love.
Our MC for the night was Ian Robertson who welcomed everyone before David Rhys-Jones took to the stage to say a few words on behalf of the SOC executive. Before long Carlton President was at the lectern giving some insight into what had been a very eventful week at the club.
The next speaker was Rohan Welsh who gave some great insight into his recent experiences with coaching youth teams including the Oakleigh Chargers.
It was wonderful to see Sam Cranage as well. It was his first time back at the club for ten years and the past players gave Sam a warm welcome back. Sam talked to us about his time at the club and what he has been doing since. The Spirit of Carlton would love to see more and more recent past players become involved as we all have a common bond and kinship which should be celebrated.
Then it was time for Manager of Football Operations, Andrew McKay to speak and he generously gave his time to speak in great detail about the 2012 season and the clubs plans for 2013. The past players at the function were very enthusiastic in the question and answer session where Andrew fielded many insightful and interesting questions about the club.
A big thank you to Peter Fyffe for supplying the door prize for the night, some superb Glenwillow wines. We hope next years dinner can be even bigger and better and encourage all past players and officials of the club to come along and enjoy it with us.
A special mention should be made to Bill Redmond who made the trek from Bendigo via train to attend on the night. Bill played for the Blues in the 1940s and is now in his 80s and still fighting fit, a superb effort!
We thank Bill for the following feedback on the dinner:
Ken Hopper and I attended the Spirit of Carlton, Past and Present, 2nd Annual Dinner.
Ken is 88 years of age and I am 85. We both played for the navy blues in the 1940’s and I was privileged to inherit what is now the famous number 2 Guernsey from Ken.
We were introduced on the night by the M.C. Ian Robertson, and were warmly welcomed by those in attendance.
Could you be so kind as to pass on our sincere appreciation to the Spirit of Carlton Executive members for what was a wonderful evening which both Ken and I enjoyed immensely.
It is always great to revisit the Carlton Football Club, as we have both done from time to time over many years, and we hope to be able to continue to do so on occasions such as the Annual Dinner just held.
Thank you again to all responsible for the evening, the effort and the occasion is very much appreciated.
Kind regards,
W.(Bill) Redmond.