Name: Janet Hogan
Carlton member years: Forever
Favourite player: Wayne Johnston, Andrew McKay, Kade Simpson
Memorable match: 1970 grand final victory against Collingwood
Lifelong Carlton supporter Janet Hogan, who has been a “member forever”, had no choice when it came to picking a football team – it had to be Carlton.
Thanks to her father’s love of the Blues, the Carlton Football Club has been a huge part of Janet’s life ever since she was a little girl.
Even when she was called “strange” at school for supporting Carlton, her loyalty to the Blues never waivered – true Bluebagger.
“I was at school when Melbourne were winning everything, and because our family barracked for Carlton we were considered very, very strange,” Janet laughed.
“Everyone in the school had Melbourne jumpers, especially Barassi ones, and then of course Barassi came across to Carlton, so then we were in trouble for that as well – it was a no-win situation,” Janet said.
Going to the footy every week was always “dad’s thing” he did with his children. Whether it was a practice match or a game for premiership points, Janet and her siblings travelled all over Melbourne to watch Carlton play.
Janet Hogan and her brother Steven proudly hold the 1995 premiership trophy.
When Janet was seven years old, her father took her to a practice match at Princes Park, and it turned out to be a day Janet will never forget.
“Of course in those days you could run on the ground in between the quarters, because it was just a practice match,” she said.
“We ran out, but then I didn’t hear the siren going because we were having too much fun.
“Then John Nicholls came up to me, and I remember only coming up to his knees, and he said ‘are you alright?’ and I said ‘yes’, and he said ‘well you better get off the ground or the umpy will get you!’ and I squealed,” Janet laughed.
“I couldn’t move, so he picked me up and shoved me over the fence,” she exclaimed.
Janet definitely wasn’t allowed on the ground during the 1970 grand final, a victory she now claims as her favourite.
“The 1970 grand final, that was huge,” Janet said.
“We were there, right up the top up of the Western Stand. All the Carlton people were in the back part and all the Collingwood people were in the front part in the same area.
“Of course in the first half all the Collingwood people were going nuts and we were all looking around thinking ‘this isn’t good!’”
“I remember my uncle, who’s an avid Carlton supporter said ‘I’m going home, I’m not sitting through this’, and once again poor old dad is trying to calm everyone down, and then of course we won – I think that was one of Carlton’s best grannies.”
Having supported Carlton through thick and thin, Janet couldn’t imagine her life without the Blues, and without football.
“It’s (Carlton supporter) just something I’ve been all of my life, the footy season comes around every year and it’s really not up for discussion, you just go to the footy.
“You don’t think about it, you just do it – it’s just part of my life.”
