LAST week I mentioned Waverley Park in Time Out, which brought memories of my younger years flooding back to me.
It may be unfashionable to say now, but I loved Waverley Park.
The big bench seats, where everyone sat near you with enough regularity that you could say hello while you arrived to watch a bit of the reserves match before the firsts.
It’s such a stark contrast to the stadiums that you go to now, where you sit in anonymity each week, suspended 100 metres up in the air.
Here is a little poem dedicated to the memory of the greatest stadium in the east.
Ode to Waverley
Oh Waverley Park,
Out there on your own in the east.
Public transport only by bus,
Took two hours at least.
With your vast, open stand,
Full of long, bench seat,
You are perfectly formed,
For Arctic winds to meet.
Your car park so muddy,
In the driest of droughts,
Always an interesting place,
Full of young and old louts.
With only one exit,
The line to get out,
Was longer than the queue,
To knock Stephen Milne out.
And who could forget,
The V-shaped scoreboard,
Replayed events in yellow,
When players marked and scored.
You saw some great times,
Like when the lights went out,
And Angry Anderson’s pink Batmobile,
A highlight no doubt.
But the biggest celebration,
In 1996 you did host,
When the Saints won the Ansett Cup,
People climbed the point post.
There were so many things,
That made you what you were,
And different to today’s grounds,
It is you that I prefer.
Every week at the same time,
The same people would meet,
The forward pocket on the right,
On the wide, yellow seat.
In front of us would be a mother,
With her son and a knitted rug,
Behind would be an old bloke,
Several beers he would chug.
Waverley, Waverley,
Your name said where you were,
Not like Etihad, Colonial or Telstra,
To you we knew what to refer.
And now you barely remain,
But a section of the stand,
And you are mocked by most circles,
Like a Cher cover band.
But despite your misgivings,
Freezing conditions 100 k from the city,
I will still remember you fondly,
Through this little ditty.