Irene Chatfield - The Woman Who Saved A Football Club!

I did this interview back in 2009 with Irene Chatfield after she'd been awarded Life Membership of the Western Bulldogs.Fitting really, as without Irene, there would be no Western Bulldogs!

Hi Irene & thank you so much for your time.

No worries Barry.

Let’s start at the beginning. How did you come to be a Bulldogs supporter?

Mum barracked for Footscray & Dad barracked for Carlton. They had an agreement that if they had a boy he’d support Carlton & any girls would support Footscray. My sister Judy & I are both mad Bulldogs supporters but for some reason my brother Clive (deceased) barracked for Richmond.

Where did you grow up?

My parents owned a milk bar in Fitzroy & we lived there until I was 2 years old. We then moved to Altona. For some reason the sea air wasn’t good for my Dad’s health so we moved to Upwey when I was 8 years old.

Did you go to watch the Bulldogs while you lived in Upwey?

My word I did. From the age of 11 I used to regularly travel on the train to watch the boys play. I joined the cheer squad when I was 15. I’d say I went to about 15 games a year.

When I was 18 I bought a car and never missed a game from then on. I used to park in Gordon Street & come in the gates near the scoreboard & I’d sit with my Mum & sister about where the 50 metre line would be today on the ‘Dougie Hawkins Wing’ side of the ground. You would see the same people every week & get to really know them quite well.

I can still remember the day Teddy retired. I jumped the fence after the game & people everywhere were crying. It was as though everyone knew an era was about to finish. I still reckon Teddy should have kept on playing.

Now, not many people know this, but you are very lucky to still be with us, aren’t you?

Yes, my word. I was involved in a very serious car accident on 27^th July 1969.

What happened?

I still don’t know to this day. They reckon it might have been sun glare that caused me to drive off the road. All I can remember is braking extremely hard.

I had only been married 8 weeks & lived in Lysterfield. There were many back roads then & I was travelling along one of them when I ran off the road, just missed 3 trees & was thrown from the car. In those days seat belts weren’t compulsory, so I wasn’t wearing one.

Sounds like you were very fortunate.

Yes, had I hit one of those trees I would have been killed. Also, had I not been thrown through the front windscreen I would have been killed as the car was crushed after I was thrown out. Also the car just missed landing on me.

I was lucky that 3 young kids, just 18 or so, saw something shining & came to investigate. They couldn’t believe it when they found me. They wrapped me in a blanket & drove me to the Ferntree Gully Hospital.

I was then transported by ambulance to the Box Hill Hospital. In the ambulance my heart stopped beating, but fortunately the ambulance officers were able to revive me.

Seems like you had unfinished business.

Yes, I firmly believe in fate & it wasn’t my time to go back then.

How long were you in hospital?

I was in a coma for 6 -7 days. They didn’t think I was going to make it & my family were bought in to see me not long after I arrived, thinking it might be the last time they see me. My husband didn’t handle it too well & was in a state of shock seeing me like that. He never really recovered & it ended our marriage.

What were the nature of your injuries?

I had severe head & eye injuries. The micro surgeons operated for 8 hours to save my left eye. I was cut to ribbons by the glass & had many severe lacerations on my legs, including a gaping hole where the racing mirror sliced into me. I was fortunate that I was wearing a red, white & blue jacket which was absolutely shredded. I had 200 stitches in my head which was caused by the rear vision mirror & 400 stitches in total. At the time the local paper reported that I was dead.

Irene, I knew you had a car accident, but never realised the extent. You were very fortunate in a number of respects. I bet you thanked those 3 teens when you recovered.

You know, they dropped me off & left. They didn’t want any publicity. I tried to track them down to say thank you. I put ads in the local papers but couldn’t find them About a year later I was in a cake shop & talking to the lady serving me saying how I wanted to find the boys & thank them. Would you believe the Mother of one of those boys was behind me in the queue waiting to be served. I at least got to say thank you.

Let’s get onto matters footy, tell me how you got involved in the fightback of 1989.

I was at home minding a friend’s young son. At the time I was in the kitchen doing the dished when he screamed out that there was something on the telly about Footscray & Fitzroy merging. I thought this was bullcrap; Nick Columb had recently assured the supporters about the club’s future.

I didn’t sleep at all that night. First thing next morning I got on the phone & started ringing talkback radio. None of them wanted to know me except for Neil Mitchell’s producer, Clark Forbes. He picked up the passion in my voice & said he would call back at 8.30am & put me on the air with Neil. I remember telling supporters to leave their jobs & get down to the club & protest to save the club.

After I got off the radio I headed straight down to the club & there were people everywhere crying & chanting. Some even left & went to VFL house to protest.

I kept up a constant vigil at the club in the ‘pink room’ at the Social Club.

I noticed a group of men in suits talking with Dennis Galimberti & asked my friend Carol Lidell who they were? I just knew they had to be lawyers.

Did they approach you?

Yes, they wanted to know if I was a member of the club. I said ‘is the Pope a Catholic? Of course I’m a member.’

One of the men, Stephen Palmer said that he believed he’d found a loophole that allowed a member to challenge the VFL’s decision if members hadn’t been informed beforehand.

At first I thought it only needed me to go into Slater & Gordon’s office in Footscray & sign some forms. I was dressed in jeans & hadn’t done my hair so I got the shock of my life when they told me I was going to court. I was petrified as I hadn’t been to a court since my divorce & it was only a little one, not the Supreme Court.

Did you understand all the legal jargon?

No, not initially, as I said I thought I was only signing forms. Anyhow they eventually told me that if I lose the court case I’d have to pay the legal costs & the forms I signed were to hand over my assets if we lost.

A lot of people seemed to think I would lose my house if we lost. This isn’t true as I didn’t have a house. If I lost I was going to lose my Superannuation Life Insurance, my car & possessions.

Did that worry you?

Hell yeah! But I though what the hell! I’m a battler & my club is a battling club, I can always start over again.

The judge was good & didn’t follow football so he couldn’t be swayed with his love of one club or another. Anyhow he asked us to return the following day, so I dressed appropriately & had my hair done.

In the afternoon the judge said we had 21 days to raise $1.25M. I thought to myself ‘this will be a piece of cake’.

Jo Hall from channel 9 bailed me up for an interview as I left court & I headed straight to Footscray. Neil Mitchell was there I put me to air where I was able to encourage people to come to the rally on the Sunday & bring as much money as they could.

Did you think we’d get so many people to the rally & raise so much money?

I didn’t really know what to expect to be truthful. I thought we might get a decent crowd, but nowhere near what we got & my God I’ve never seen so much money in all my life.

I knew then that we’d win.

Who did you find out we’d eventually won?

I got a telephone call from Dennis Galimberti who told me Peter Gordon had been contacted by Ross Oakley & told him we had raised the money.

How did you receive the news?

How do you reckon? I balled my eyes out. Not long after Rob Astbury from channel 10 news came to my house. He took one look at me & said, ‘you know, don’t you?’ He was wonderful to me that night, I know he has done the wrong thing in the past with other people, but we was truly wonderful to me that night.

Do opposition supporters recognise you at the football?

Yes, all the time. Nearly all of them are positive in their comments to me & say that what I did back in 1989 helped all Melbourne clubs survive, not just Footscray & you know what? I truly believe that.

Now, I’m going to ask a stupid question as I know if I don’t stop you, I could be here all night. But who are some of your favourite players, in no particular order?

• Doug Hawkins – I just love Dougie. He’s the ant’s pants. He’s always got time for a chat & goes out of his way to help. He always thanks me for what I did back in 1989, especially if he’s had a few drinks.
• Leon Cameron – A thorough gentleman at all times. He’s so friendly & nothing’s too much trouble.
• Daniel Giansiracusa – A young guy with a big future & treats people with the utmost respect.
• John Schultz – Like me, he just loves this club. Nothing’s too much trouble for him & he’s always around the place. A real gentleman.
• Jim Edmond – He’s so thankful for what I did & always reminds me. Very polite too.
• Ted Whitten – A star! A legend. I remember when I was awarded the #1 female ticketholder down at the Williamstown ground he gave me a wink, shook my hand (nearly broke it too) & said, ‘welcome to the club’.
• Ian Bryant – A really nice man & always spoke to the supporters.
• Kelvin Templeton – A very smart man & a champion player who could do it all, like he did that day against St.Kilda when he kicked 15 goals.
• Scott Wynd – Another true gentleman. Nothing’s too much trouble & he always helps out when he can.
• Steve Wallis – A great guy. I love Wally, he’d do anything for you & he’s just so polite.
• Tony Liberatore – I was babysitting Dennis Galimberti’ s children the night Tony won the Brownlow. Dennis & his wife came home & Dennis took me back to party with the boys. Tony came up to me & apologised to me as he’d forgotten to thank me in his victory speech. That meant a lot to me. I wish Tony success, but wish he didn’t say bad things about the club.
• Brad Johnson – Johnno’s a bit like me. Happy all the time, a smiley little person.
• Chris Grant – A star on & off the field. You know, if he was out there this year, we might have won the Premiership.

Anymore? Just kidding!

Now, another highlight for you; congratulations of being awarded Life Membership last Thursday at the AGM.

Thank you, it was a real honour. I received a letter from Cam Rose saying that the board wished to honour me with Life Membership & could I make it to the AGM?

I bet you cried when you got the letter.

Yup, balled my eyes out, then put the letter in a frame & went to the club to show the Admin Staff & let them know, ‘hell yeah, I’ll be there.’

That must have been a wonderful night for you.

It was, not only to receive a wonderful framed certificate, but to hear David Smorgon say so many nice things was terrific, but you know what really made the night special?

No, what?

Afterwards Daniel Cross came up to me & said ‘congratulations, it was well deserved & the players appreciate what you did’. He didn’t have to say that, but he did & I’ll never forget that.

Before we finish, look into your crystal ball & tell me what you see for 2009.

Well, the younger players will step up, so will the senior players & I truly believe we’ll win the Grand Final.

I hope so.

Me too.

Thanks Irene, it was nice to chat with you & it was an honour for me to be at the AGM to see you receive your Life Membership.

Thank you & I was so pleased that you were able to make it.

I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.