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Tom Alvin
As a member in 1983, I received the Footscray newsletter at the end of the season. The lead article was that we'd recruited a potential star, Tom Alvin from our La Trobe Valley recruiting zone. First round 1984 he is wearing a dirty Carlton guernsey!!! The guernsey was clean.
I assumed we must have had to a sell him to survive. However I just now got on a Carlton site (only in the name of educating a relative what a disgraceful club they are) which stated:
"By 1983, the 21 year-old (TomAlvin) had been tied to Footscray for a season or two, but when his contract lapsed, Carlton believed in his potential and offered him a second chance at a league football career. "
It's hard to reconcile this claim with my memory. Can anyone throw some light on what went on? How did we lose Tom Alvin?
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Re: Tom Alvin
An article by Mick Malthouse who was our coach at the time:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...for-top-clubs/
But one player's name which still makes me cringe when I hear it is Tom Alvin. When I first arrived at Footscray in 1984, I read up about this young player we had down in our zone at Bairnsdale.
But all of a sudden, this kid Alvin had gone to Carlton and was no longer a Footscray player. The Blues had flexed their money muscle.
There were a few rumblings at our club and I was a bit naive in my first year as coach, so when I was warned not to make too much of a ripple because Carlton would challenge it in the courts, I let it go.
In the end, the Blues, because they had the money and the name, got a 218-game player and Footscray, who were struggling, got nothing. If I'd had another 12 months under my belt, let me tell you, I wouldn't have been turning my cheek.
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Re: Tom Alvin
The very reason I hate clubs like Carlton because they flout the rules and think they can do whatever they want by throwing money at it.
FFC: Established 1883
Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.
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Re: Tom Alvin
Originally Posted by
bornadog
The very reason I hate clubs like Carlton because they flout the rules and think they can do whatever they want by throwing money at it.
Agreed, They make it easy don't they?
Western Bulldogs Football Club "Where it's cool to drool"
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Re: Tom Alvin
Originally Posted by
GVGjr
Agreed, They make it easy don't they?
I once worked in a family company who are regarded in the top 10 or so of the BRW rich list. When they went off to visit one of their retail stores, they just parked in a no standing area as close as they could to the store, because they didn't care about paying the fines let alone the obstruction to other users of the road. Clubs like Carlton, just don't care about the integrity of the competition let alone the rules.
FFC: Established 1883
Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.
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Re: Tom Alvin
Thanks Bulldog4life, that's the missing piece of the puzzle and interesting yet depressing reading it is too. Beating Carlton is going to be even more enjoyable knowing it. The Bulldogs must have felt like they had to kow tow to the league and that they were on the precipice to be stood over like that. We must have felt utterly unsupported by the league. Perhaps we felt if Carlton were to take it to court, this would create free agency and an environment in which we couldn't survive. Highway robbery and greed of the ugly kind.
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Re: Tom Alvin
Originally Posted by
BornInDroopSt'54
Thanks Bulldog4life, that's the missing piece of the puzzle and interesting yet depressing reading it is too. Beating Carlton is going to be even more enjoyable knowing it. The Bulldogs must have felt like they had to kow tow to the league and that they were on the precipice to be stood over like that. We must have felt utterly unsupported by the league. Perhaps we felt if Carlton were to take it to court, this would create free agency and an environment in which we couldn't survive. Highway robbery and greed of the ugly kind.
We lost a lot of good players in the 70's and 80.s due to being poor and not being able to offer good money. example: Bernie Quinlan was transferred to Fitzroy ( for money) so we could pay off some debts.
FFC: Established 1883
Premierships: AFL 1954, 2016 VFA - 1898,99,1900, 1908, 1913, 1919-20, 1923-24, VFL: 2014, 2016 . Champions of Victoria 1924. AFLW - 2018.
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Re: Tom Alvin
I think there was a lot more to it, but as Mick doesn’t go into details, there’s nothing to jog the memory after so much time. Most of the facts are hazy other than that it was definitely dirty work courtesy of the usual suspects.
I have 3 three recollections of this matter but these may folk lore rather than fact.
They are of:
1 Our club sending someone down to see Tom and his family only to find that a reptilian blue bagger (is there any other sort?) had slithered under the back door and was interviewing them in complete contravention of the rules regarding zoned players, and one in whom we had we had already communicated a very real interest;
2 Tom being offered a swag full of money to refuse to come down to us; and
3 A considerable amount of money coming our way subsequently
The biggest affront to us is not that they got away with it, nor that even now they don’t admit to their dodgy methods, but that they rewrite history and on the one hand and present us as just being disinterested and incompetent while on the other they claim the high moral ground because by implication they were the opposite of both of those things.
I believe there's nothing on this earth that we own. All we do is look after it for our children - Terry Wheeler
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Re: Tom Alvin
I hope the season starts soon so we can start wallowing in present day injustices. Between this & the 97 prelim thread and discussions about 08-10, we're only missing a thread on the 61 GF to really make ourselves feel bad.
Park that car
Drop that phone
Sleep on the floor
Dream about me
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Re: Tom Alvin
Originally Posted by
The Underdog
I hope the season starts soon so we can start wallowing in present day injustices. Between this & the 97 prelim thread and discussions about 08-10, we're only missing a thread on the 61 GF to really make ourselves feel bad.
Cheer up. 2013 is a premiership centenary for us:
Victorian Football Association
Season 1913
Final ladder
Footscray 14 4 0 155.3 56
North Melbourne 13 4 1 139.6 54
Essendon Association 13 5 0 119.4 52
Brunswick 12 5 1 132.4 50
Williamstown
Prahran
Brighton
Port Melbourne
Northcote
Melbourne City
Finals matches
First Semi-Final
23/08/1913
Footscray
3-5
4-3
5-11
7-13
55
Essendon Association
0-1
2-3
6-3
8-5
53
Result: Footscray
Venue: MCG
Attendance: 13000
Gate: £331
Second Semi-Final
30/08/1913
North Melbourne
1-4
3-8
5-12
8-16
64
Brunswick
1-1
3-2
4-2
4-2
26
Result: North Melbourne
Venue: EMCG
Attendance: 16000-17000
Grand Final
6/09/1913
Footscray
4-2
7-10
8-13
10-14
74
North Melbourne
3-4
6-4
10-6
11-7
73
Result: Footscray
Venue: EMCG
Attendance: 20000
Gate: £384
1913 premiers: Footscray
From:
http://www.thegapchessclub.org.au/vfa/1913.htm
It's definitely an omen.
They say Burt Lancaster has one, but I don't believe them.
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Re: Tom Alvin
Originally Posted by
The Underdog
I hope the season starts soon so we can start wallowing in present day injustices. Between this & the 97 prelim thread and discussions about 08-10, we're only missing a thread on the 61 GF to really make ourselves feel bad.
Post of the month! * fanfare and ticker tape*
You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. ― Epicurus
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Re: Tom Alvin
Originally Posted by
Ghost Dog
Post of the month! * fanfare and ticker tape*
I understand the pain of being close and not getting there and the feeling that we'll never win a premiership, but rather than continually reliving pain it's time to own our identity & get on with it. Enjoy the ride, both the peaks and the valleys.
Park that car
Drop that phone
Sleep on the floor
Dream about me
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Re: Tom Alvin
There's still plenty of positive stuff on here. Sure the retrospective threads are a bit of a downer, but they also provide us with a place to vent amongst sympathetic listeners. It's all good.
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Re: Tom Alvin
Carlton arrogant and conceited .
They are corrupt
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Re: Tom Alvin
Originally Posted by
The Underdog
I understand the pain of being close and not getting there and the feeling that we'll never win a premiership, but rather than continually reliving pain it's time to own our identity & get on with it. Enjoy the ride, both the peaks and the valleys.
I'm with you.
You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. ― Epicurus