Kevin Sheedy remembers Windy Hill, Essendon’s legendary home ground

LEGENDARY Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy looks back at the Windy Hill brawl and other iconic moments from the Bombers’ old suburban home ground. WINDY HILL INTERACTIVE

GLENN MCFARLANE

3 min read

August 30, 2016 - 3:30PM

KEVIN Sheedy donned two very different sashes in his time at Windy Hill.

As a young Bomber fan almost 60 years ago, he had to leave games early to finish his paper round, and later, as a coach, he renewed his love of the red sash.

In between he wore a yellow sash when he was playing with Richmond, including on the day he was eyewitness to one of the most violent games in league history — the “Windy Hill brawl” in 1974.

“This is the heart of Essendon,” Sheedy said of Windy Hill. “And this will always be the heart of Essendon.”

The Bombers are now based at Tullamarine and play home games at the MCG and under the roof at Etihad Stadium, but there’s still a connection to the Napier St ground that housed the club from 1922.

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“We would go out there every second weekend, nine times a year,” Sheedy said of his childhood. “I’d sit under the clock in the old stand, which unfortunately isn’t there now, and we’d have to leave halfway through the last quarter because I had to get back and sell the paper (Sporting Globe).”

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Sheedy returned to the ground as a Richmond player on seven occasions across his 251-game career, including on May 18, 1974 when all hell broke loose at halftime.

Officials and fans join players in the infamous 1974 Windy Hill brawl.

As the two teams came from the field, a spark ignited, and players and officials were drawn into an all-in brawl that almost resembled a street fight.

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“Kevin Bartlett and I were halfway up the race when I looked back and saw something unfolding. I said to Kevin, ‘Are you coming back with me?’, and he said: ‘No, I’m staying here for a drink and some fruit’,” Sheedy recalled.

“By the time I got back there, having paraded around like a dancer, most of it was over. But gee, it was pretty full-on. When I look back on it now, most of my best friends were in that fight. Graeme Richmond (Tigers’ powerbroker) had eyes like he was ready to kill. ‘Whale’ (Brian Roberts) got smashed.

“If something like that happened these days, people would be rubbed out for a year.”

That wasn’t the only brawl at the ground. Essendon and Carlton come to blows in 1975.

This section of a big 1981 crowd probably wouldn’t pass a modern safety inspection.

Fast-forward seven years, and Sheedy was back at Windy Hill as Essendon’s new coach, a role he held from 1981-2007. That’s 27 seasons, for 634 games and four premierships.

“Only two people got 27 years, the great Nelson Mandela and myself,” the 68-year-old said with a smile. “He became president of South Africa, and I got sent up the Parramatta River (to coach Greater Western Sydney).”

He famously had the windsock tied down at Windy Hill in 1991, much to the disgust of the visiting West Coast team.

“They (West Coast) hadn’t paid their dues,” he recalled. “So our marketing manager at the time said, ‘We’ve got to tie it down’ and I didn’t realise what a fuss would be made of it.”

And he reckons Leigh Matthews still owes Essendon for the point post he snapped in 1982: “Dustin Fletcher got fined for shaking a goalpost, but Leigh didn’t get fined and didn’t pay for the post that he wrecked out here.”

The decision for the club to move games from Windy Hill to the MCG, and then to Etihad Stadium, was tough, but Sheedy said it needed to happen to accommodate members. But he remains happy that the ground is still being used to serve the Essendon community.

WINDY HILL

Venue: Essendon Recreation Reserve

Also known as: Windy Hill

Address: Napier St, Essendon Vic 3040

First game: May 6, 1922 (Essendon d Carlton)

Last game: August 10, 1991 (Essendon d Brisbane Bears)

Used as home ground by: Essendon

Number of games hosted: 629

Biggest crowd: 43,487 (Essendon v Collingwood, 1986)

Highest score: Essendon 29.16 (190) d North Melbourne 15.13 (103), 1934

Most games by an individual player in total at the venue: Dick Reynolds 150

Most goals by an individual player in total at the venue: John Coleman 282