It’s all about mateship: Edwardstown legends reflect as Towns prepare to mark 100 years
When it comes to what the Edwardstown Football Club means to them, Peter Dabinett and Ian Carter don’t need to think twice.Mateship. The club celebrates its centenary and a new $8.8m upgrade.
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When it comes to what the Edwardstown Football Club means to them, Peter Dabinett and Ian Carter don’t need to think twice.
Mateship.
While the premierships — and the honour of being named club “legends” — are obviously special, it’s the personal bonds they’ve forged at the Towns in the last half-century that have created the longest-lasting ties.
“I’ve made my lifelong friends at Edwardstown Football Club,” Mr Carter, 73, who started as player at the Raglan Ave ground in 1967, says.
“And they’re still my friends — we mix socially and go away together — and we’ve made friends with opposition players. It’s been one of the great social aspects of my life.”
The club’s first paid bar manager (“It was a top job — I got about $100 for 80 hours a week”), the Glenelg East local captain-coached the club’s B grade side to the 1971 flag and played on until he “did my shoulder” in 1978.
Mr Dabinett, a 280-game triple premiership player with The Towns who is embarking on his eighth year as club secretary, is quick to agree.
“I moved here with my parents from the country ... and didn’t know anyone in the district,” the 73-year-old Trott Park resident says. “I started here in 1963 and like Ian, all my lifelong friends are pretty much through the footy club.
“I was pretty lucky my wife has allowed me to do what I do here. She might get a bit cranky at times with the amount of time I spend here but she’s never said ‘No, you can’t do it any more’.”
The pair said being named as only two of three “legends” by the club was a great honour — the third is Gary May — but one that underscored how much time they’d spent there.
And as the South Plympton club prepares to celebrate its centenary this season in a new-look home — with an $8.8m upgrade of the Edwardstown Soldiers’ Memorial Recreation Ground nearing completion — the two club stalwarts expect more memories to come flooding back.
Renowned sports historian and author Bernard Whimpress is writing a history of the club, based on committee meeting minutes, annual reports and fresh interviews.
The early documents reveal how Ern Smith was moved to create a football team in the district after being “perturbed about the young men, who at night walked the streets or congregated under the shop veranda”.
Mr Smith became the first secretary of the 1919-formed club and the Mid Southern Football Association, which also included teams from Happy Valley, Reynella, Clarendon, Mitcham, Blackwood, Sturt and Brighton.
Several competition changes — and 19 senior flags — later, the Towns are today an integral part of the Adelaide Football League, where its A grade side competes in Division 4 after finishing third last year.
Mr Dabinett said Edwardstown was proud of its strong junior program — with 10 boys and five girls teams taking to the field this season — and its legacy of producing AFL footballers.
Power star Hamish Hartlett and his brother Adam, Western Bulldog premiership player Caleb Daniel, Jordan Russell, who was drafted by Carlton in 2010, injury-plagued Magpie forward Sean Rusling and former Power and Fremantle midfielder Danyle Pearce all had their first kicks at Edwardstown.
“In fact Adam Hartlett, Jordan Russell and Sean Rusling were all selected in the same draft (2004), which is quite an achievement,” Mr Dabinett said.
“And this is where Caleb (Daniel) first put on his helmet — and I think it’s probably the same one he’s still wearing today,” joked Mr Carter.
Mr Dabinett urged all former Edwardstown players to head down to the club during the season to share in the club’s celebrations — and check out the upgraded ground.
“We’ve got quite a few functions planned during the year — including past-players days and a gala ball — and we’d loved to see as many as possible get involved,” he said.
Work on the multimillion dollar upgrade is entering its final stages, with an official public opening earmarked for April 13.
The revamped Raglan Ave precinct will feature a resurfaced velodrome, two-storey sports and community clubrooms with function areas and a canteen.
The makeover has also included a new spectator mound, cricket nets and storage areas, improvements to the memorial grounds and carparking.
Marion Council directed $4.8 million to the project, with the Federal Government contributing $4 million.
Football, cricket, cycling and lawn bowls are played at the 4ha precinct.
Football Club secretary Peter Dabinett said the ground had been a hive of activity since the end of the last football season when construction work started.
Pre-season football training has taken players from Panorama High and Forbes Primary school ovals to locations as diverse as the beach and Brownhill Creek.
For further details about Edwardstown’s centenary activities and to indicate interest about obtaining a copy of the history book, contact the club via its website at edwardstownfc.com.au
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