Matteo Vasarelli has seen a lot of change in the 67 years since his arrival from the old country – but his Italian accent and equally rich affinity for the old dark Navy Blues remain the constants.
Matteo’s tale can be told on the strength of the Vasarelli family’s thoughtfulness and generosity in availing his Carlton seasons tickets and membership medallions to the club’s archive. Last week, on a visit to IKON Park, Matteo, younger brother Carlo and daughter Lisa completed the handover, appropriately enough by the museum showcase.
As Lisa explained: “Mum and Dad are moving, they’re downsizing, and we found Dad’s Carlton’s season’s tickets cards and club medallions in the cleanup. I thought it such a waste not to pass the items onto the club and we welcome the club having them”.
Over the clinking of cappuccino cups at Café 1864, Matteo, who originally hailed from the province of L’Aquila in central Italy, cast his mind back to his arrival in Melbourne at the tender age of 14, a time when Carlton and VFL football was strictly territorial.
“Dad had already been in Australia for two years to get established when I came to Australia with Mum, my brother and two sisters in September ’56 – the Melbourne Olympic year - and we moved into the house at 1 Wilson Street, North Carlton. It was just a dropkick from the ground,” Matteo said.
“A chap named Jack Sheridan lived in a house on the other corner across the road at No.2. Jack was a scientist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and he supported Carlton, so he was the one who influenced me to follow the team.”
By his own admission, and having booted the round ball in his hometown, Matteo knew nothing of Australian Rules. That all changed in the 6th round of 1957 when Carlton met Fitzroy on the old Brunswick Street oval. That afternoon the visitors emerged six-point victors with the late Don Nicholls booting four off a half-forward flank.
“I went down to North Fitzroy to see Carlton play the Lions at Brunswick Street. They opened the gates, I went in and I loved the game. I mostly loved the marking and the way they scored goals when so many games of soccer were nil-nil,” Matteo said.
“I worked most days in the building industry from then on, but I still found time to see Carlton play on Saturdays – and I was there for all of Carlton’s winning Grand Finals since 1968, except 1987. I had a ticket for that game, but I gave it to my old boss at Collingwood Tech because he was a mad Carlton supporter and he was on his last legs.”
Matteo’s younger brother Carlo, who later served his newly adopted country as a conscript in the Vietnam War, was similarly infatuated with Carlton culture.
As a kid, Carlo played kick-to-kick with the local kids in the quaint North Carlton streets “and they were all Carlton supporters” - and such was his passion for all things Princes Park “that whenever Carlton lost I wouldn’t buy a paper or talk to anyone for a week”.
But in the days of Nicholls, Silvagni and his all-time favourite Jesaulenko there were more wins than losses for Matteo - and when asked what the Carlton Football Club actually meant to him, the response made perfect sense.
“Whenever things went wrong I forgot all about them when I was at the footy,” he said. “It was an outlet”.
Why do you support Carlton? Is it driven by family, or, as with Matteo Vasarelli, fate? If you have a story to share, please contact tony.debolfo@carltonfc.com.au.
