Deadline: Marcellin’s muck-up day trouble kicks off at ‘Alphonse Gangitano Oval’

The unofficial name for Marcellin College’s oval isn’t the only way Melbourne’s most prestigious schools could commemorate their colourful former pupils.

In an ironic twist, Marcellin’s muck-up day trouble started on the oval known to some as the Alphonse Gangitano oval.

Andrew Rule and Mark Buttler with the latest scallywag scuttlebutt.

Crims, lawyers and old school ties

There was trouble all round at Marcellin College recently when students who were dressed in Power Rangers outfits started playing up.

Flares and eggs were thrown, pupils were chased by teachers in cars and valedictory dinner bans were dished out.

One unkind observer noted the trouble started on the school’s oval, something which might have pleased the bloke whose name it informally bears.

We refer, of course, to the “Alphonse Gangitano Oval”, so called by irreverent former students in honour of one of Marcellin’s most infamous alumni.

Young Alphonse wasn’t one for lessons and homework in the 1970s, but that wasn’t the school’s fault. In fact, he reputedly shared a class with one Bill Birnbauer, who went on to be the highly-respected investigative journalist William Birnbauer, a natural-born enemy of organised crime.

Alphonse Gangitano outside court in 1996 Picture: Ben Swinnerton

Unlike Billy Birnbauer, Alphonse got the boot before finishing his education and did his final year at the once renowned Taylors’ College in the city, where plenty of black sheep, scallywags and slackers washed up.

‘Phonse cut a bit of a dash among the naughty gals who went to Taylors, as you might expect from the Italian stallion who became the Black Prince of Lygon St, running standover and gambling rackets.

His career was cut short, of course, when he was shot dead at his home in Templestowe in 1997 by his sometime friend and fellow Carlton Crew identity, Jason Moran.

The alternative name for the Marcellin oval brings to mind some other colourful characters and how they might be commemorated by their schools.

Let’s start with prestigious Genazzano College in Kew, which was entrusted with future lawyer and plus-size femme fatale Nicola “Lawyer X” Gobbo. Surely “Gen” should have a legal studies wing named after her.

Why not a Nick Cave music room at Caulfield Grammar? Picture: Getty

Well before Gobbo graduated from Law to become a serial informer, cheeky kids at Geelong Grammar called the spiffy grandstand at the school’s Corio sports oval the “Goanna Stand,” which was no way to thank leviathan school donor and old boy, Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer.

If Caulfield Grammar ever wanted to rebadge its chemistry wing, it would surely be named after David “McVillain” McMillan, the most famous international drug trafficker of its colourful band of old boys.

Speaking of drugs, Caulfield’s music room should be named for former Caulfield (and Wangaratta High) student Nick Cave.

Melbourne Grammar shouldn’t think it’s getting off scot-free. Its swimming pool should be named for Cam Strachan, the Grammar old boy charged 99 times with abalone poaching, a career choice that involves deep diving in dangerous waters.

When the fearless and eccentric Strachan served time in Fulham prison near Sale, he was known to one and all as “The Captain”, so it’s clear that a fine private education made him a leader of men.

Deadline knows this is true because our inside prison source was the late Andrew Fraser, former star hurdler for Wesley College.

Shame on Bandido bimbo brigade

There was a time when rugged outlaw bikies at least made a pretence of being stand-up guys who wouldn’t do the wrong thing by kids, pets and old ladies.

The Hells Angels, for instance, used to make a thing of doing the Children’s Hospital toy run, spreading cheer and teddy bears among sick kids. Santa Claus on a Harley sort of vibe.

So it is something of a shock to learn that the Bandidos’ annual gathering in Ballarat has caused sorrow and heartache among the kindly older ladies who volunteer to run a charity opportunity shop near the Bandidos clubhouse up there.

Our Ballarat spy states that last year’s Bandidos “run” cost the op shop dearly because certain unsavoury Bandido female associates brazenly passed fake $50 notes at the shop, buying nominal $5 items in order to get $45 change in genuine currency.

But that was in 2022. At this year’s recent Bandidos gathering, the bikies got into plenty of other trouble around town but the fraudulent fifties were nowhere to be seen, even if the potential suspects had plenty of fake features between them.

We look forward to hearing heartwarming news that the Bandidos are going to make a donation to the op shop concerned.

Using real currency harvested from drug users everywhere.

The Bandidos on their recent run in Ballarat.

Unintended consequences

It would be an understatement to say the family of a recent murder victim would have good reason to be angry as well as feeling the deepest grief over their loss.

We must take great care for legal reasons but it seems (allegedly) that a young bloke previously given a chance by a court to make major changes in his life did not do so.

The said fellow blubbered away, hand on heart, to a magistrate that things were going to be different if he could just be spared a stretch in jail.

It appears that promise was broken soon after, with fatal consequences for a completely innocent party. Allegedly.

Too bad, soy sad!

A car thief down in the southeast recently copped a nasty shock after picking a car he could not get to function with whatever gizmo he was using to try to start it.

He had targeted a BMW X5 SUV parked at a servo while its owner went inside to fuel up on dim sims.

The driver looked up from his succulent side dish momentarily and saw the door of his vehicle being opened.

Dimmy man bolted outside to find a twitchy fellow behind the wheel desperate to make a getaway but too rattled to do much about it.

Police said the enraged owner started jiggling his keys around, inviting the intruder to step outside and talk it over man to man.

Faced with a choice of fronting a motorist with a motive for mayhem or the police, the tea leaf kept the doors locked and waited for the cops to rescue him.

A Tooradin man, 24, has been charged with attempted car theft. But he still has his own teeth, ears etc and will look fine in mug shots.

Not connected

Deadline noted an organised crime figure busily texting as he waited for the lights to change last week.

It reminded us of the concerted efforts the same bloke went to a while back, via the phone, to befriend a respected female journalist in our town.

We contacted the newswoman in question, who assured us she was not receiving messages from him last week.

Unmaking a murder

Reports that a human skull had been sighted in an eastern suburbs lake had emergency services swinging into action over the weekend.

The State Emergency Service were getting busy and there were calls for a boat to be sent to Blackburn Lake immediately to assist police after the skull was spotted on Sunday.

It turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

Everyone went home after the “skull” was found to be part of a man-made skeleton — as opposed to a made-man skeleton, as happens when the mob take someone to sleep with the fishes.

All in all, it was much ado about a bit of plastic, no doubt something to do with looming Halloween celebrations.