8 October 1989, Whitten Oval, Footscray, Australia
I suppose we are all here today because we believe it's better to die on our feet than live on our knees.
This spot where I'm standing now is where Ted Whitten rubbed Dick Clay's nose in the mud one day. I can remember being here in 1985 when this ground was jammed with 32,000 people watching us take on and beat Essendon. I can remember Brian Royal that day bursting through the centre and kicking a magnificent 70 metre goal. I can remember later that same year Stephen McPherson taking a screamer in atrocious conditions against Hawthorn and kicking an inspirational 50 metre goal with the greasy ball - a kick which gave us second spot on the ladder.
I was there the day that Simon Beasley marked that famous Graeme Allen short pass on the back line and won the match for us on the last kick of the day against Collingwood. I can remember too Rick Kennedy hitting someone just about on this spot - and that spot over there - and over there. Matter of fact, I think he's hit someone just about everywhere on this ground.
When I was a kid I used to come to the footy with my dad, and my room at home was full of posters of Teddy Whitten, George Bisset, and Gary Dempsey. Now I come here with my little boy, and his room at home is full of posters and stickers, just like mine used to be.
That's a part of the tradition of this club and the tradition of this town; a tradition under threat from the faceless men of the VFL. Ross Oakley is trying to tell you that the VFL had no alternative for Footscray but this merger, or extinction, but that's simply not true. They could have chosen to support us as they choose to do the interstate clubs; the financially cancerous Sydney Swans, Brisbane and the West Coast Eagles.
There are some people I'd like to pay tribute to for their role in giving us the chance to fight. They are Steve Palmer and Tim Ginnane who donated their legal services for the court challenge to the merger. And I'd like to call Irene Chatfield up here. . ."
Irene receives the applause of the crowd, then Peter continued...
Ladies and gentlemen, it is with a great deal of pride and admiration that I now ask you to welcome out onto the field the Footscray Football Team for 1990.
The players came in close-knit group, proud and defiant, other players on holiday and unable to attend had sent messages of support, as Gordon paid tribute to their courage in attending the rally.
There's been a lot of talk about the VFL banning them from coming here today. They knew their careers could be in trouble, but they've still stuck their necks out, and I really admire them for that.
Peter Gordon then introduced the Footscray Board of Directors for 1990 and announced their first decision - the appointment of former back pocket player Terry Wheeler as senior coach for 1990.
You see before you the basis for a Footscray Football Club in the 1990s. We have a board, we have a team and we have a coach. Our players are still here, ready to play for the club; they aren't scattered all around Australia, playing for other clubs. But this may be the last time you see a Footscray football team assembled at the Western Oval.
It's up to you. I'm asking members of the Footscray football community who are here today to put in hundreds of dollars today. I'm asking for people, if they can, to put in a thousand dollars today. You have a commitment, backed up by the Footscray Council, that in the event that we fail, you will get that money back. I understand that to ask people like you in these harsh economic times to part with that sort of money is a very difficult request. It will hurt. But when you think of that hurt, think about how you felt on Tuesday.
Think of how you'll feel in four weeks' time when they announce the draw for 1990 and Footscray's not in it. Think of how you'll feel at the opening game of next year when Footscray aren't there, and the knowledge that they'll never be there again. We'll be there if you're prepared to commit, and I mean each and every one of you, the sort of money I'm talking about.
The people who are offering themselves as the board in 1990 have, I believe, the blend of talent and expertise necessary to turn this place around. We've got to take it on the chin that this place has not been as well managed as it ought to have been over the last eight years. We've got to take it on the chin that not enough people in our community have financially contributed to the club.
This is our last chance. Today we have the power to keep Footscray at the Western Oval. It doesn't matter what the VFL do. It doesn't matter what Oakley does. It doesn't matter how bad John Elliott feels sitting up there watching football at the Western Oval. Today, we have the power to stop these men in their tracks and wreck their plans.
We have the power to tell them all to jump in the lake.
Tables, staffed by volunteers, were set up in strategic locations as collection points. As queues formed, a succession of impassioned speakers urged the crowd on.
New coach Terry Wheeler said that for him, the importance of the struggle was in preserving the club for future generations. He wanted his own children, Tim and Sheridan, to grow up in a community that would inspire them to value Footscray as he did.
I believe there's nothing on this earth that we own. All we do is look after it for our children.