Way back in the late 1960s I developed a passion, an addiction, to the Parramatta club.
It made little sense.
Sure, they were my local team, but they were hardly the successful proposition that attracts young kids as supporters. I was too young to be influenced by the semi-final years of the early 1960s, and Ken Thornett at his peak was already becoming a story I was told rather than witnessed.
Yet, as my mates who grew up in Parramatta heartland were adopting the Dragons, the Rabbitohs or Manly as their teams, I was getting around in a hooped Blue and Gold guernsey.
Obviously there was something influential in my father following the club. I’d gone to the footy with him. During school holidays he’d taken me to his workplace where I met Parra players like Bob O’Reilly and Barry Rushworth who were his workmates. Keith Campbell bought my father’s truck when he moved on. That sort of stuff impacts a young kid.
Naturally, I wanted to play for the Eels and be like these heroes. It was only a lack of talent, fitness and dedication that restricted me to a few years of junior rugby union instead.
However, this addiction of mine still flew in the face of logic.
A winning team or the presence of a champion, flashy player or two is the metric which normally attracts young fans to a club. This was foreign territory out at Cumberland in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There were no Eric Grothes, Jarryd Haynes or Semi Radradras back then. Even family trips to the footy became scarce.
Yet this is when the obsession really kicked in. I lived about a half hour walk to Cumberland Oval and started taking myself to the footy. Often with a mate, sometimes not. And it’s only lately that I’ve made sense of it.
The footy at Cumberland – low on comfort, high on character.
It was being part of that match day gathering of Parramatta supporters that summoned me back to that dustbowl surrounded by splintered seats and bare hills each week.
Back then, it was a shared hope of better days. There was also the shared woes of another loss. The euphoria of an unexpected victory was a high that only supporters of clubs who genuinely knew bad times could truly understand. Importantly, there was also the humour and laughs that I’ve only ever experienced in a footy crowd.
Some things change – some stay the same.
At The Cumberland Throw, we’re a microcosm of present day supporters.
A couple of us are old enough to remember what a Parramatta Premiership feels like.
Others are either too young, or were not even born, when the Eels last experienced success.
But, like the times of my childhood, we all know how it feels to be part of a footy crowd on match day. The shared experiences of the highs, the lows and of course the laughs.
The colour and character in the Parra crowd.
The Cumberland Throw has afforded us the privilege of getting to know a vast and diverse range of fellow Parramatta supporters. From the very young to the very old, across a range of ethnicities, those living in the district to those out bush, interstate and even overseas. Those who throw their hard earned into sponsorship, membership, occasional matches, subscription television or simply a Parra shirt or jersey.
I’ve met many who could claim the title as the number 1 Parramatta supporter, but to them it’s nothing special. They travel interstate, overseas, or they even travel vast distances just to attend home matches. They follow the Eels junior representatives to every game. They collect memorabilia – common and rare. Their homes, their cars, become a shrine to the Blue and Gold. You don’t hear about such supporters because it’s just what they do.
As supporters we witness this shared passion every week of the season. Obviously, being at the grand final victories (and even the losses) has been special for me. But seeing the thousands of Eels supporters in Melbourne last year was almost as memorable.
Eels supporters are unique.
Our support, like I learned as a child, is illogical. We only need one hand to count the premiership successes in a seventy year history.
But, as we assemble at Penrith this afternoon, or tune in on TV, radio or the Internet, it will all make sense.
It’s about a shared experience and a passion for that Blue and Gold jersey. And we have the coaches, the players and the staff that understand and share our passion.
It’s going to be a brilliant year. Enjoy the 2018 ride.
Go you mighty Eels!
Eels forever!
Sixties
Hey Sixties,
We share a similar commencement support date and that has afforded many highs and lows as a supporter as with you.
I’m so pleased that the kit for this year are blue and gold hoops AND white shorts. I think it looks a standout and hopefully that’s how the eels will play this year.
Thanks to you and the rest of the TCT crew for your outstanding training reports, interviews, analysis etc. I check everyday for a new snippet and have tipped many who want to read eels news delivered by true eels fans.
cheers
Appreciate your support of our work mate.
Love the new jersey too.
Great article Sixties. I was 13 when the Eels won their first premiership. I was a kid growing up in Western NSW and had no connection to Parramatta. I had other family members supporting Manly, Easts, Cronulla, and Norths and have no idea why I picked the Eels. I suspect I was attracted to the blue and gold colour combination. I can’t imagine my life without the footy. I get so much joy out of being at the games (win or lose) and love being part of the passion and camaraderie of the Blue and Gold Army.
It’s just a game, and yet more than a game. I can see that’s what following the Eels means to you Susan – and I’m sure plenty of Parra fans get that.
Hi sixties, That was a great article. I started following the Eels in 1964 and I remember well getting to Cumberland oval at about 10.30ebery game day to get a seat in that rickety old stand on the Eastern side of the ground. We got season tickets when we moved to Belmore for those few years.
Goodness June. You could have at least said hello!
Wonderful recollections 60s. Being a Marist Brothers Boy, becoming an Eels fan was just what you did. Indirectly my footy experience became a family experience which we all shared for many years from the early sixtys.
Wins were few and far between but celebrated with great enthusiasm. I recall a family discussion after each win where decisions were made who would buy The Telegraph, The Herald, The Sun and The Mirror. The need to read every word written about how our Eels triumphed was massive.
How spoilt are we now days with mass media and internet coverage.
Season 54 starts today for me and I cant wait.
Thanks TCT.
Lets go Eels.
Gazza, my entire pocket money was spent on newspapers, Big League, RLW and for one season – The Rugby Leaguer (Geoff Gerard’s Mag)
Left me cash poor but Parra/footy rich.
June – we had a similar match day come the mid 70s. The whole family started attending again, so my brother and I had season tickets with the job of running with a blanket to lay on the grandstand bench for Mum, Dad and our youngest brother.
Good times.
So true Sixties..Becoming a Parramatta supporter in the sixties was an addiction, couldn’t get enough of it..and always clinging to the hope “that this year will be ours”.
Loved every minute of the tribalism and the enduring friendships which remain to this day.
Love my Parra, and am so excited by what I am seeing this season..Can’t wait till kicko-off today.
Spot on mate. In 1964 i.got a whopping great splinter in my arse from those old wooden seats around the boundary. Never thought about taking it.out as it connects me to those Halcyon days. Now that’s BLUE and GOLD.
How bad were those benches Whitey! Maybe there will be a weird E Bay item on line when you eventually shuffle off this Earth!
Kick off, well second half kick off, wasn’t the best.
But footy means moving on after a loss and rocking up the next week.
I’ll be there.
Great blog Sixties.
I saw my first game of footy while at the Royal Easter Show in March 1963. I was up in the bell tower above one of the RAS stands and I could see half of the adjoining SCG.
What I saw that day was a team of red and whites scoring try after try against a team of blue and gold.
That day my DNA changed colours to blue and gold and have remained that way ever since.
For the record St George beat us 51 to 2 in the first match of the day of 1963.
From memory I think we made the semis that year only to be knocked out by…..St George.
A guy called Reg Gasnier scored two tries against us that simply couldn’t have been scored by any other footballer on the planet.
A day never goes by when I’m not getting on to TCT to check out the latest. The supporters of other clubs should be so lucky!!!
Keep up the superb work guys!
B&G DNA – history shows that the Eels were one of the few teams to challenge the Dragons in the height of their 11 year reign. They were just too good for everyone.
Thanks for your support.
The combination of hope and camaraderie. Early sixties for me also and I have no idea why. We were watching a TV game (I think Channel 9 used to televise the second half of matches live?) and said to my Dad “If Parramatta win all their remaining matches can they make the top 4? ” Much guffaws of laughter from my brother who said they had no chance (I think it was a spoon year). I then asked him if he could take me to watch the Thornett’s play, which he did and that was that. I would still rather sit at old Cumberland Oval than a modern pristine stadium. As June says above, gates opening at 10:30 and then the race to the old Grandstand. Sitting in front of Jim Porter’s aunty was a joy (very funny woman and very attractive). The low of 1976 and the joy of 1981. This year feels like a 1981 year
Hi mate, I have memories of the second half telecast being on the ABC with Reg Gasnier doing commentary. But it could have been channel 9.
I would not swap my years at Cumberland for anything – but it had a time and place for me – and that was as a young fella. I’m looking forward to the new digs now.
Hi Sixties
An absolutely amazing blog going down memory lane.
Been a Parra Supporter since 1972
And I got to say confidently, I have never seen the joint in better shape
and the near future very bright
Good on you Gaz. Today was a tiny hiccup for this season.
It’s on again next week.
Hi Sixties very similar memories; I’m a little younger than you. Those wooden seats; think we sat in the stand maybe once? Costs were hard for a family of 6…but they were food days; we shared the sugar coated peanuts; my old man kept the try / goal talllies and of course scrums / penalties when they were earnt. I was lucky to see the GF 76/77 on tv and be in my early teens during the GF wins 81-86.
Like other Sydney clubs barring a couple we’ve had our share of tough times and i mean tough times; that’s why we as supporters have hope; like the older generation lived through before the 81 GF win.
We only hope the next one is soon enough…..
Peanuts – in the shell and sugar coated!!!
I was one for keeping tallies too back in those days, and I kept a strange collection of stats for each club, such as the movement of “imports” in and out of first grade, accumulative penalty counts and lower grade top points scorers. We have Champion Data for our stats these days, but for footy nerds back then, the program and a pen were staples for match day.
Sixties,
You have lived my childhood. Very similar memories.
Enjoyed sharing it today. Plenty of footy stories from a lifetime of following the Eels.
Nice article sixties. Like you I didn’t start following the Eels while they were any good. It was sometime around the late 80s for me. Following this club is character building, but I’m also sure it’s why I’m not quite right in the head.
Too funny Pou!
It truly is both character building and sanity testing. But doesn’t it make those better times so much sweeter!