Palman Qui Meruit Ferat
New Fitzroy book - The Other Side of Smith Street
5.30 pm Tuesday 29th June 2010
June 18th 1892 was an auspicious day in the history of the Fitzroy Football Club. Not only was it the day of the first game between Fitzroy and Collingwood played at Victoria Park, but it was 14 years to the day before the birth of Percy Mitchell, who became one of the club's most noted officials and 46 years to the day before champion player Kevin Murray was born. June 18th 1892 was also auspicious because the day marked the first win by Fitzroy over their arch enemies and close neighbour Collingwood. Indeed Fitzroy and Collingwood were to clash 215 times between 1892 and 1996 with the Roys winning 79 of them, losing 132 and drawing four times.
Now the latest item for all Fitzroy supporters to add to their growing Fitzroy library is the a detailed account by Marc Fiddian about thie long standing rivalry between the Fitzroy Football Club and Collingwood over one hundred and four years of competition. Divided by Smith Street, the close neighbours were to become particularly fierce rivals for their entire history of first in the VFA and then in the VFL-AFL.
It's all here. Fitzroy's 1905 and 1922 Grand Final wins, Collingwood's Coventry's 17 goals against Fitzroy in Round 12 of season 1930, Fitzroy's highest ever score against Collingwood in 1945, Fitzroy's heart-breaking one point loss in the 1981 first semi-final and Paul Roos' last gasp kick to seal victory at Princes Park in 1992. And sadly of course the account of the very last time Fitzroy and Collingwood met in Round 16 of the 1996 season on Sunday July 21st, when a broken Fitzroy lost by 40 points is also present.
For any longtime Fitzroy supporter who saw many Fitzroy - Collingwood clashes over the years and indeed for any current supporter or player of the Fitzroy Football Club now playing in the VAFA, this book will be a valuable account of the long and illustrious history of the Club we hold so dear.
"The Other Side of Smith Street" is published by Raccoon Tail Books. It is available from the Fitzroy Shop for the cost of $30 (incl GST).
