THIS historic photograph, captured 50 years ago this October, features Carlton captain-coach John Nicholls, resplendent in his dark Navy Blue strip with Australian Coat of Arms on the collar, exchanging a hearty handshake with HRH Charles, Prince of Wales - the heir to the British throne.
The photo was taken on The Oval in Surrey as members of the Carlton and All Stars world touring teams formed a guard of honour on the hallowed Kennington turf prior to the much-anticipated exhibition match – and Nicholls later accepted a trophy donated by the Bank of New South Wales from Lord Cornwallis.
Though The Oval’s centre wicket area was roped off and the players played around it, the Carlton-All-Stars contest of Sunday 29 October 1972 was in fact the first exhibition match ever staged in old London town.
Partially obscured by Prince Charles in the photograph is the-then Carlton President George Harris, and to Harris’s immediate right, resplendent in touring party suit, is the long-haired and bearded David McKay. McKay was unavailable to play at The Oval - his jaw having been wired shut after it was broken by Richmond’s Neil Balme in the 1972 Grand Final - and as he said when he viewed the image: “I never realised I got that close to royalty”.
So what was the nature of the conversation between 'Big Nick' and Prince Charles?
“It was 50 years ago when we played, which is a long time. The Prince was quite young and it hadn’t been long since he was schooled down at Timbertop,” Nicholls said.
“I can remember thinking what a privilege it was to meet the Prince on a pretty important piece of turf. If memory serves he was introduced to George Harris by the-then Australian High Commissioner in London – Alexander Downer’s father I think it was – and George in turn introduced the players to me.
“The Prince and I then exchanged pleasantries and I introduced the Prince to the Carlton players. He was in attendance for the entire game and I don’t know what he made of it, but I think we got beaten by the All Stars who were coached by Keith McKenzie and pretty keen to knock us over."
To set the scene leading into the tour, the Carlton players under Nicholls had just savoured one of the all-time great wins, booting a record 28.9 to overwhelm its bitter rival in that ultimate contest. The ’72 GF, by virtue of the drawn second semi, was staged a week later than anticipated, on Saturday 7 October.
The following weekend, Carlton met the respective WAFL and SANFL premiers East Perth and North Adelaide on Adelaide Oval. The East Perth contest is remembered in infamy as the match in which Mal Brown went berserk, with the likes of Trevor Keogh and co. on the wrong end of Brown’s 'cut lunches'.
An injury-ravaged Carlton XVIII met the Roosters the day after the bruising East Perth encounter, and gamely went down by a point. The-then Carlton secretary and 1947 Brownlow Medallist Bert Deacon, in acknowledging the players’ heroics, noted that the club “would not be prepared to subject players to such a tortuous series again, a Grand Final on Saturday, celebrations throughout the week and then two more Grand Final-type games on the following Saturday and Sunday”.
“This is asking too much,” Deacon wrote in the ’72 Annual Report. “If this Championship series is to continue then Clubs must not be asked to play two games in two days. A week later, when players left on the Carlton-Orlando World Tour, a number were still bearing the marks of the injuries received in the game against East Perth. Even a wonderful trip overseas was not compensation for such treatment.”
On 22 October of that year, a touring party of 29 Carlton players boarded a chartered plane for the three-week World Tour, which was in part bankrolled by wine company Orlando. A further 22 players drawn from all over Australia and dubbed the All Stars – amongst them Peter Bedford and Gary Dempsey, and prominent interstate players Mal Brown, Barrie Robran and Glynn Hewitt (father of Lleyton) – also completed the flight.
Ultimately, players from both teams met in a three-match series – the first in London (through the support of the former Australian Prime Minister and long-serving Carlton devotee Sir Robert Menzies), then Athens and finally Singapore.
After completing their on-field commitments, the tourists holidayed in England for 12 days, before spending a further five days in Greece and another four in Singapore, during which time they competed in matches in both countries.
Members of the 1972, ’81 and ’82 Premiership teams will be in attendance at a reunion luncheon convened by the Carlton Football Club and the Spirit of Carlton in celebration of those famous Grand Final victories. The luncheon is to be held in the Victory Room at Marvel Stadium from midday on Thursday, August 11, 2022.
To be part of this not-to-be-missed event, you are urged to book via the following link.
