In a weekend interview with the Herald Sun’s Glenn McFarlane in the lead-up to “The Ultimate Rivalry” with arch-foe Carlton, Collingwood Chief Executive Gary Pert appeared to be somewhat grey in articulating why those of the black and white persuasion have such a deep-rooted antipathy towards those of the dark Navy Blue hue.
“When we ask players and supporters why they hate Carlton, sometimes they don't know, but they just know that they have to,” Pert was quoted as saying.
Ask Carlton supporters though, and they’ve got a hunch that maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the Grand Final outcomes of 1915, 1938, 1970 (courtesy E. Hopkins), 1979 and 1981 – that’s more than a quarter of the record 16 premiership cups currently on display in the Visy Park foyer, each one of them at Collingwood’s expense.
In fact, you’d have to go back to October 1, 1910 (first Saturday in October, not the last Saturday in September) to the one and only time the Blues lowered their colours to the Carringbush in the big one, and as one wag recently suggested, “the last time Carlton lost to Collingwood in a Grand Final the Dead Sea was just crook”.
To put that particular match into some historical context, you’ll be interested to learn that 1910 was also the year in which;
- Harry Houdini completed the first certified successful series of flights in a powered aircraft over Diggers Rest;
- the VFL introduced the free kick;
- Andrew Fisher was elected Prime minister;
- George V ascended to the British throne;
- the first Zeppelin airship went into service over Germany;
- Jack Johnson knocked out Jim Jeffries to retain the word heavyweight boxing title
- Mark Twain died;
- neon lights first appeared at the Paris Auto Show; and
- Geelong was proclaimed a city.
Hopefully this article goes some way to clarifying the pathological hatred leveled at this club by Magpie types, as the two teams brace for “The Ultimate Rivalry” (aka “Carlton-Collingwood CCXLVI”) come 3.20pm Sunday.
Follow Tony De Bolfo on Twitter: @CFC_DeBolfo
