New England AFL History in the 80’s by David Deal
What follows are some important stories about football in the AFL History by David Deal.
The Cream of the Crop – 80’s style.
The 1980 Grand Final in the New England Football League. Armidale City were up against the might of North Coffs Harbour. I was co-coaching with Billy Malcolm, a revered figure from footy in the 70’s in this part of the world. Billy was a gentle giant but a beautiful kick and a dead-eye in front of goals. One of the best centre half forwards I’ve seen.
North Coffs were the raging favourites. The Coffs Harbour newspaper sporting pages carried some wonderful stories about this team in the lead-up to the ‘Granny’. Via the internet and through the newspaper archives of the time, these stories can still be traced today and read as though you were there. Any way, we had to think of a way to beat a team that threw all before them. How? We hired a bus to take to take the team and our travelling supporters down to Coffs for a Saturday to remember. Get the scene here people…..Our one bus following the long road trip from Armidale to the coast, from mountain range to the seaside, from the Great Divide to the coast. And into Coffs we ride, one little bus. I firmly believe as we arrive at the North Coffs Harbour ground that half of Coffs Harbour were there in support of their team. What a shock!! And this bought home to us just how good they were as a team.
During the week I bought every plastic football that Armidale shops had for sale. Just before starting time I got the boys to beat their hands on the plastic balls in unison. A very poor substitute for the real ‘Sherrin’ variety but a very useful tool for camaraderie and bonding prior to the game. We had teed up the boys to wear an old guernsey of any type over the top of our club jersey. We ran out onto a very well prepared North Coffs oval to the dulcet tones of ‘Sex and drugs and rock and roll’. Previously, we had arranged for a supporter dressed as a goal umpire and complete with flags to stroll across our line of entry as we made entrance onto the oval. Needless to say the plan was for all of us to meet up with the official and pummel him to the ground and leave him on the ground in an undesirable state. I have to say that Hollywood’s Academy would have been proud of his performance. The crowd was stunned. I heard comments from the visiting patrons such as. “Who are these idiots?” They were all a little distressed that here was the opposition for their all-conquering team. The North Coffs team had arrived on the ground just before we did, resplendent in their North Melbourne Kangaroos colours and singing a song a song very similar in sound to the VFL side. But our aim had been successful. We actually succeeded in putting them off their game. We matched them in every way. Well, to half-time at least. Then they put their foot on the accelerator and killed us off in the second half. Premiers for 1980. The bus trip home took about 5 hours. Two hours longer than the trip down because there were a few watering holes to visit to drown our sorrows and oh boy, the toilet stops. You wouldn’t want to know about it….
This was my swansong for footy in the northern reaches of the state and the memories from my 5 years up north were brilliant. Some very talented players and administrators. You can now follow the fortunes of football in New England by tracking down the ‘Nomads’ in Armidale. Go to the guest book and read the posts. Lots of those talented footballers still have a link in New England. Read about football in the seventies, eighties and the nineties. Don’t forget to sign the guestbook before you leave.
Coffs Harbour Bus
*Extract from David Deal’s Book – ‘Football – It’s All About the Journey’.
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