In the aftermath of Wednesday night’s formal opening of the $19.5million Visy Park redevelopment, Carlton’s supporters, members and former players alike have been steadily filing through the doors of the state-of the-art premises, among them the fondly-remembered premiership backman of 1968 and ’70, John “Ragsy” Goold.

On Thursday, Goold and his son Jock made the very pleasant diversion from their home in Camperdown in Victoria’s south-west, to the place where Dad once represented the might Blues through a 108-game career spanning eight seasons.

It was an unscheduled but welcome visit, as Ragsy conceded.

“We’d just dropped the dog off to be operated on, and Jock said to me, ‘Dad, can you take me to the museum?’,” Goold said.

“I said to him “To hell with the museum - I’ll take you to a real museum - come to the Carlton Football Club’. I just love Carlton, I will do anything for Carlton, it was no different in my prior life and it’s the same for my future.”

Father and son then completed a tour of the premises, taking in the players’ locker room and Goold’s old no.11 locker, which also carries the names of the club’s first 200-gamer Rod “Wee” McGregor, together with Jack Hale, Laurie Kerr, Bruce Doull and Earl Spalding.

Along the way, he bumped into an old teammate Sergio Silvagni, who was himself taken on a tour by the club’s Player Welfare Manager Rod Ashman.

“While I did run into a couple of museum pieces like [Sergio] Silvagni, the premiership cups and the old number 11 on the locker, all my derelict relics are gone, and what my boy and I have just witnessed and experienced is a wonderful, new, pristine structure,” Goold said.

“To walk in and see them [the 1968 and ’70 premiership trophies] sitting there makes you very proud. I’m just disappointed that ’69’s not sitting there as well, and as I said to Serge, ‘It’s only because of your bad kicking that we didn’t win it!’.”
 
On venturing into the great space which is the players’ new warm-up area/gymnasium, the captivated former player proudly declared “This is Carlton!”.
 
“This place is a credit to Dick Pratt and his family to have the vision. It’s put Carlton where it should be, in giving the players the best opportunities with the best facilities,” Goold said.

“We’ve nowhere to hide now. It all comes down to the players’ own internal attitudes for success. They can’t ask for much more from the members, the old players, the committee and the Pratt family . . . this is just wonderful.”