Melissa Walsh

Aside from considering important methodological aspects of popular memory and oral history, this thesis contains profound insights into notions of class and football.

Review by Rob Hess.

Walsh uses the Collingwood Football Club’s dismal Grand Final record in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, as a way to explore fan behavior, and look at how hope is maintained, disappointment absorbed, and how this might inhibit the capacity to confront and deal with poor performances.

Thoughtful analysis and reflection on the tradition of football on Anzac Day. Walsh reminds us that football in Victoria has been played on Anzac Day since 1960. She examines the difference between football on Anzac Day and the emergence of ‘Anzac Day Football’, and a mingling of commemoration, patriotism, mourning, and hero worship, as well as the tensions created by the Collingwood and Essendon ownership of this event.

Justin Charles played 90 AFL games in the 1990s and while playing for Richmond became the first AFL player to test positive for anabolic steroids and was given a 16 match suspension.