Introduction
A Favourite Not Forgotten – the football biography of Geelong’s John Haygarth
- Published 2019-02-23 11:16 - (71778 Reads)John Haygarth was an exciting Geelong footballer in the fifties. This article is the story of his football life, including his controversial departure from Geelong in 1959. The article includes an interview with John and photographs from his personal collection.
Cheer, Cheer on Our Camberwell - Tricolours, Wells, Cobras - Part One
- Published 2018-10-12 10:39 - (5201 Reads)Ken's book-length (three-part) celebration of Camberwell Football Club and its uniquely fascinating history.
A tour de force, meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated. Completed with the technical and research assistance of Michael Riley. Dedicated to Thelma Baker - she whose heart beats true.
Part 1 - From the Junction to Nashville 1886-1941
Cheer, Cheer on Our Camberwell - Tricolours, Wells, Cobras - Part Two
- Published 2018-10-11 17:53 - (7873 Reads) Ken's book-length (three-part) celebration of Camberwell Football Club and its uniquely fascinating history.
A tour de force, meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated. Completed with the technical and research assistance of Michael Riley. Dedicated to Thelma Baker - she whose heart beats true.
Part Two - Cock of the Walk to Rock Bottom
Cheer, Cheer on Our Camberwell - Tricolours, Wells, Cobras - Part Three
- Published 2018-10-08 12:59 - (11653 Reads)Ken's book-length (three-part) celebration of Camberwell Football Club and its uniquely fascinating history.
A tour de force, meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated. Completed with the technical and research assistance of Michael Riley. Dedicated to Thelma Baker - she whose heart beats true.
Part Three - Camberwell Football Club 1960-1994: Doldrums, Revival, Triumph, Demise
Football Unlimited – Tim Hogan’s Guide to the Great Australian Game
- Published 2018-06-15 15:28 - (2174 Reads)It slowly dawned on me that Hogan’s book – a vast store of information emanating from a great variety of disparate sources, places and periods – was in fact a guide to Australian football’s collective memory.
CATAPULT – On Top And Loving It (1950-1956)
- Published 2017-10-07 09:01 - (6366 Reads)GEELONG IN THE FIFTIES
CHAPTER ONE:
After struggling for success in the immediate post-war period, Geelong Football Club had risen to the top of the VFL ladder by 1951 and dominated the competition for several years. This article describes the fortunes of the Cats in the period from 1948 to 1956 and is the first of three detailed articles tracing Geelong's rise, fall and rise again in the decade of the fifties.
CATASTROPHE – Winning the Wooden Spoon (1957-1958)
- Published 2017-10-06 13:59 - (4198 Reads)GEELONG IN THE FIFTIES
CHAPTER TWO:
This article is a continuation of Ken's forensic examination of Geelong Football Club's matches in the 1950's. Here we see Geelong plummet to the bottom of the VFL ladder. A neglected period of Geelong's history.
CATACOMB – Struggling Along in the Gloom (1959)
- Published 2017-10-05 17:57 - (3898 Reads)GEELONG IN THE FIFTIES
CHAPTER THREE:
The story of Geelong continues. After two years at the bottom of the VFL ladder the Cats began to rise again. Thirteen-year-old Ken was ready with his notebook and pencil. Here, displayed before you, are all the facts and figures of a more promising year.
Statistician extraordinaire 1956-59 (Eat your heart out Ted Hopkins!)
- Published 2017-02-13 18:03 - (7537 Reads)Sit yourself down in a cosy chair in front of the fire and transport yourself back to 1957 and experience the joys of an 11-year-old Geelong supporter and his statistical exercise book. Ted Hopkins never did it like this.
Geelong - Season 1956
- Published 2017-01-21 21:28 - (8568 Reads)Francis Doherty - you beauty!!
- Published 2016-10-29 18:09 - (3968 Reads)Francis Doherty never soared like Alex Jesaulenko to take a breath-taking mark in a VFL Grand Final but he has managed to produce something equally exciting – the most breath-taking book about football memorabilia in the history of the game.
Footy Stats – A Short History
- Published 2016-07-05 20:00 - (2171 Reads)Football statistics are a key part of the modern game, but statisticians around the country have innovated since the 1920's in finding categories and perfecting the art. This article gives an insight into the history of Australian Rules football statistics.
Ted Hopkins – ‘The Stats Revolution’ (a review)
- Published 2016-07-05 07:00 - (11720 Reads)PART THREE OF ‘CATS STATS AND THE STATS REVOLUTION’.
A Review of 'Ted Hopkins, The Stats Revolution'.
The Ballad of Lindsay White
- Published 2016-03-06 14:59 - (5086 Reads)There are few old-timers who can still remember Lindsay White, Geelong's champion full-forward of the forties. To keep White's memory alive and to celebrate his amazing career, Ken Mansell has written another fine football song. Here Ken explains why he was inspired to compose 'The Ballad of Lindsay White'.
Willy's Will-O'-The-Wisp: Football Memories of Mal Macpherson
- Published 2016-03-01 19:52 - (2744 Reads)Malcolm Macpherson played for VFA club Williamstown in the 1940’s. Making his debut in Round One of the 1946 season, he soon became one of the Association’s most dangerous and effective small forwards. Aged 85 when this interview was conducted, Mal Macpherson recalls in vivid and acute detail some of the highlights of the VFA’s ‘Golden Era’.
Reaching Back With An Old Roy Boy - A Portrait Of Frank Dear
- Published 2015-09-12 15:10 - (4062 Reads)Classic Football Landscapes
- Published 2015-09-12 14:41 - (3736 Reads)(The editors of this website are very grateful to Dr Keith Martin, Emeritus Professor and Senior Lecturer in Art History at the University of East Gippsland, for the following contribution).
By Dr. Keith Martin OBE
The Ballad of Haydn Bunton
- Published 2014-12-06 09:07 - (10772 Reads)The 'Ballad of Haydn Bunton' was written (words and music) by Ken Mansell in August 1999. It was released as a CD, with vocals performed by Ken and the late Peter Bell, in July 2003.
This article about the song was originally published by Ken around 2003 in a variety of sources and is republished here due to its relevance to the site.
Raymond Morris - National Museum of Australia
- Published 2014-03-13 19:25 - (6463 Reads)Raymond Morris is a New Zealand artist and photographer who visited Australia in the late 1950's. We are delighted to have received permission to post some of his photos here. For more of Raymond's fine photos, please have a look at the National Museum of Australia's flicker page. This contains a wonderful collection of 226 of Morris’s photos taken during his Australian travels.
Interview with Harley Boyles 21-Jun-2010
- Published 2013-11-16 19:23 - (22118 Reads)Harley Boyles is the son of photographer Charles Boyles. In 2010, then in his eighties, he was interviewed by Ken Mansell for an article about his father. The article, now titled From Tripod to Website became one of the first published writings on Boyles and his work.
The original interview notes have been made available through the permission of both Ken and Harley and provide a fascinating insight.