IN the lead-up to the 50^th anniversary celebration of Carlton’s drought-breaking 1968 Grand Final victory over Essendon, loyal and long-serving Member and supporter Paul Brush has shared precious newspaper articles meticulously pasted into his scrapbook through the weeks and months of that historic season.

Fading sepia clippings from The Sun, The Herald and Footy Week, together with the distinctive pink pages of the long-gone Sporting Globe, cram Brush’s ’68 folder – one of many chronicling the on-field fortunes of his beloved Blues.

“1968 is very vivid, because I was new to Australia,” Brush said this week. “I came to Australia from England in ’65, and latched onto the Ron Barassi thing and Carlton. Everyone else in my family went with St Kilda in ’66 but I had the last laugh.”

Brush’s newspaper offerings tell a tale of triumph over tribulation, when coach Ron Barassi’s players prevailed on an afternoon in which severe cross-winds (ironically predicted for this weekend’s Carlton-Essendon contest at the MCG) reduced the League’s September showpiece to an ugly scrap.

For Jack Clark’s Bombers, eight wasn’t enough, with their final scoreline of 8.5 (53) to Carlton’s 7.14 (56) history-making in the sense that no League team before or since has lost the big one having kicked more goals than its rival.

In flicking the pages of the scrapbook, Paul’s memories of September 28, 1968 come flooding back. As he said, “your initial years of support tend to stick in your head”.

“For my kids ‘Kouta’ (Anthony Koutoufides) was everything, but for me it was ‘Jezza’ (Alex Jesaulenko), (Brent) Crosswell and (Garry) Crane,” Brush said.

“I was 15 in ’68 and I was at the Grand Final, standing beneath the old Southern Stand in the front row with Mum as Dad was working. The day was windy which ruined the match. I can remember a Carlton player, Garry Crane, I think it was, hitting the goaline with a shot that bounced back into play. I thought we were gone then as nothing was really happening.

“I know that I was totally engrossed in the game, I can remember the shot on goal that Geoff Bletyhn missed, and I also remember hearing the final siren. That night I head back to the old ground, which in those days was quite novel and I can remember shaking hands with Ron Barassi, Ian Robertson and Neil Chandler.”

Paul kept his Carlton scrapbooks going through the Premiership seasons of 1970 and ‘72, quite literally filling the pages of his glorious youth – until 1974 when John Nicholls retired as a Carlton player.

But for Paul the memories endure . . .