Carlton's Princes Park ghosts a magical history tour

It's been 10 years since Princes Park was last used as an AFL venue, but the stories of Carlton's famous old ground and the supporters who flocked to it continue to emerge.

Indeed, they've been emerging on a weekly basis over the off-season as Carlton historian Tony De Bolfo and digital media manager Luca Gonano have taken Blues fans on a trip back through time on a "Ghosts of Princes Park" history tour.

Carlton historian Tony De Bolfo is taking Blues fans on "Ghosts of Princes Park" tours.Credit: The Age

Recently, as De Bolfo was recalling how 63,000 people somehow crammed into the place for the infamous 1945 "Bloodbath" grand final between Carlton and South Melbourne, the tour group standing on the very spot where South's Jack "Basher" Williams flattened Carlton star Ken Hands, an elderly gent piped up: "I was here."

When De Bolfo asked where, the man pointed to a spot on the wing. "There was an old peppercorn tree to the right of the old press box," he said. "I was in it, third branch up."

A memorable Princes Park moment: Craig Bradley's running goal in 1994.

On this night, as we join the last of the tours for the summer, there's plenty more reminiscing to be had, some memories fonder than others.

De Bolfo takes the assembled crowd over to the spot where North Melbourne star Malcolm Blight famously lined up for goal after the siren to get the Roos home in 1976. "I was in the social club that day," recalls one fan, lamenting what happened next. "It just kept going and going," she says of Blight's kick.

We're not quite the "85-90 metres out" commentator Mike Williamson breathlessly told Channel Seven viewers on that day, but far enough to embarrass all of us invited to have a crack at re-creating the moment. The sense of time and place, however, even nearly 40 years later, is palpable.

Contemporary Carlton players Dylan Buckley and Dennis Armfield pop out to say hello to the group. Like all the players, they've already done the tour, now a part of the induction process for anyone joining the club, with the Blues being told that learning the history of their club is as important as what's going on in the present. And there's a lot to learn.

Robert Menzies watches a Carlton-Footscray match from his car on a special platform.

As the group walks around the once-hallowed turf with darkness creeping in, De Bolfo has a story not only for every nook and cranny of every old grandstand, but seemingly every blade of grass, video man Gonano providing the accompanying footage of the more famous moments on a portable screen as we're taken to the spots they occurred.

We stand on the outer side half-forward flank, right where in 1994 Craig Bradley, after a long run around the Princes Park wing, checksided an amazing goal against West Coast from near the boundary line.

We move on to the wing where De Bolfo recalls the famous shirtfront applied to Carlton legend and then captain-coach Alex Jesaulenko by Collingwood's Stan Magro in 1979, "Jezza" KO'd and carried off on a stretcher. That individual battle was lost. But the Blues won the game. And that year's flag, against the same opponent.

Then it's on to the forward pocket at the famous old Heatley Stand End, where Peter Bosustow famously took the mark of the year in 1981, climbing high over Geelong's John Mossop and teammate David McKay.

De Bolfo regales the Carlton faithful with a story about how the week before, Bosustow had listened to fellow Mark Maclure praising another courageous grab from Blues' star Ken Hunter. "That's got to be mark of the year," Maclure said. "No it isn't," shot back the famously confident "Buzz". "I'll take that next week." He did.

The Heatley Stand, to which Carlton in their glory days of the early 1980s so often unleashed a torrent of goals, is a particular source of nostalgia for Blues fans.

It was the regular vantage point for former Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies, who after suffering a stroke in 1971, was afforded the benefit of a ramp built at the edge of the grandstand for his chauffeured car to drive up into the ground and still allow the incapacitated dignitary a superb view of the action.

De Bolfo, unable to resist a quip, is unable to confirm whether the driver was instructed to toot the horn when Carlton scored a goal, in accordance with local football tradition.

Robert Heatley had been a former Carlton player and later president of the club who died in the 1940s. Our tour guide points to a group of seats in front of the nearby Gardiner Stand. That's where Heatley preferred to sit, able to watch the ball sail through the goals at post height right in front of his name.

When his grandstand was finally demolished in 2008, Heatley's then 78-year-old grandson David Adams arrived with a wheelbarrow to cart away some red brick souvenirs.

The tour finishes with some footage from the end of the last AFL game played at the ground in 2005 between Carlton and Melbourne, skipper Anthony Koutoufides ceremonially handing the match ball to Blues legend John Nicholls. Of course, there's an anecdote to go with that game, concerning former president John Elliott, who'd been invited back for the occasion.

A habitual smoker, Elliott had fought a running battle all day with a security attendant attempting to implement the "no smoking" policy. As the game reached its conclusion, the "bluecoat" arrived back on the scene with an army of official support. Elliott waited until the final siren rang, calmly lit another cigarette, and announced defiantly: "Sorry, but this ground is no longer an AFL venue."

It doesn't seem that long ago, but in May even that moment will be a decade old. Which, De Bolfo says, makes the business of passing on the stories and deeds from the old days at Carlton's old home even more important.

"There's a whole generation now who have no understanding of what this ground means," he says. "So many supporters who were here for that last game will tell you part of the reason they love Carlton is because of Princes Park, and that whole ritual of coming to suburban football.

"If the older, foundation clubs don't celebrate their histories, they're no different to GWS. What these clubs are built on is what they were, and I think it's important to recognise that and remember it."

And as football continues to march into the future, perhaps it's a movement that is gathering a little momentum. Richmond fan John Green and a friend, for example, have created a website, richmondtigerlandwalk.com, which is a self-guided walking tour around the suburb exploring the links to the Tigers' old Punt Road home.

Carlton fan Nick Katiforis has brought his 10-year-old daughter Stephanie along for this tour of Princes Park, now officially known as Ikon Park. Like everyone else, he feels more than a little nostalgic when it's finished.

"The beautiful thing was you'd come to the ground and stand in the same spot and you'd have the same characters around you every week yelling the same things," he says. "It got to the point where you felt like you knew them, it really did feel like family."

Stephanie says the tour has been a great experience. "I know about Jesaulenko's mark, but I didn't really know a lot until tonight. I learnt a lot."

Says Nick: "The reason I brought Stephanie tonight is because she's lived through the darkest period in Carlton's history and it saddens me for her. I want her to understand that Carlton, as much as it may not be the most loved club, is a fantastic club, and this place has given a lot of people a lot of happy memories. I'm sure they'll happen again one day. Unfortunately, it won't be here."

De Bolfo recalls a personal highlight, an interview he conducted a few years back with the famously reclusive Bruce Doull, who'd agreed to speak on the proviso the interview took place one evening at Princes Park with nobody else around.

De Bolfo spoke to the man known as the "Flying Doormat" in front of his old No. 11 locker after a quick stop outside, where the Heatley Stand once stood, for a look across the ground.

Having stared off into the distance for what seemed an eternity, Doull was asked by De Bolfo what he was thinking about. "I'm wondering why there still aren't games of league football played here," he responded.

Doull has always been a man of few words, but on this occasion, it could be safely assumed, he was speaking for many thousands of Carlton supporters.