By Luke Voogt
Grovedale’s Mavis Govan hopes to again see her beloved Western Bulldogs win a grand final, 62 years after watching the club’s only premiership live.
Mavis saw Footscray thrash Melbourne at the MCG in 1954, back when “anyone could get a ticket” and the stadium still had standing room.
“It was absolutely packed,” she said.
“It wasn’t really close, but it was good for us.”
Mavis still remembers the lead-up to the big day.
Her husband decorated the couple’s ute in blue, red and white ribbons, although he didn’t go as far as some modern-day fans by repainting it.
“You didn’t do that sort of thing back then,” Mavis said.
The 89-year-old can’t wait to see her ‘Doggies’ play a grand final again, when they take on Sydney Swans on Saturday.
She and her cousin watched the club’s thrilling one-goal preliminary final win over GWS from her lounge room last weekend.
“We made that much noise you could hear us from everywhere,” she said.
“I think we had two glasses of wine – when you’re my age you don’t drink much.”
But without fans like Mavis the Bulldogs may not have even been around to make the grand final.
When Footscray was facing bankruptcy and considering merging with Fitzroy in 1989, she volunteered at the ‘Bulldogs Shop’ to help keep the club alive.
“We did what we could,” she said.
“It was a lot more than just me that worked hard to save the club though.”
Mavis has been fan for life and a club member for 66 years.
Her husband would be down at the ‘pie shed’ at Western Oval (now Whitten Oval) every Tuesday and Thursday to watch the club’s training sessions in the 50s.
Mavis lived in and around Footscray most of her life, moving to Geelong in 1999 after the death of her husband.
She was at the MCG when Footscray lost to Hawthorn in the 1961 Grand Final and again during its cruel preliminary final loss to Adelaide in 1997.
With the Bulldogs leading by 22 halfway through the last quarter some fans had already left to buy grand final tickets, she said
Mavis watched from behind the posts as Tony Liberatore kicked what appeared to be a match-ending goal.
“It was definitely a goal,” she said.
But the umpire ruled it a point and the dogs squandered the lead, losing to the eventual premiers by just two points.
Supporting the Dogs has become tradition for the Govan family.
“From the time my grandsons could sit up in the pram my husband had a Bulldogs jumper on them and a football in their hands,” Mavis said.
She has already “signed up” her five and three-year-old great grandchildren.
“They had no choice in the matter,” she said.
Mavis reckons the Bulldogs’ hard running and ruthless pressure will give them a chance against the Swans this Saturday.
“They protect their teammates and they play for each other,” she said.
