Peter hopes for history repeat in grand final
Peter Dell is hoping history repeats itself on Saturday afternoon and the Western Bulldogs win the AFL flag.
Peter is one of a small number of people who saw the then Footscray win the VFL flag in 1954. As a nine-year-old it was his first grand final and he has been to every one since including two repeat finals following draws.
He has firm recollections of the day, attending with his father and arriving at the ground at 3am to ensure they could buy tickets after a long drive from Jumbunna. He even recalls the frenzy of the crowd when captain coach Charlie Sutton was chaired from the ground after the jubilant win.
Peter has continued the family tradition and now attends with his daughter Megan (a Hawthorn supporter) and son Aaron (Collingwood). This will be his 65th grand final attendance over 63 years.
An avid Collingwood supporter, he is happy to just see football and experience the atmosphere, although he would prefer Collingwood was lining up.
He is so keen he spent five and a half days sleeping in his car in Morwell outside the ticket selling venue, another habit he has developed since buying tickets has become even more difficult.
He doesn’t trust the internet site not to crash at that all important moment so ensures by lining up well in advance he has his tickets in his hand by Sunday morning. There were several other diehards lined up, but Peter was first in the line.
Interestingly, the draws Peter has seen ensured he saw Collingwood play twice; the first occasion in 1977 when Collingwood lost to North Melbourne after a draw and then in 2010 when Collingwood defeated St Kilda after a draw.