1983 - CITY SONS ON A HERO ROLL
City’s sons on a hero ‘roll’ By MIKE RYAN.
THEY reckoned the sturdy lad had a future when he made the Victorians schoolboys side in his second year with the Chelsea Football Club.
And they were right. The 13 year-old certainly kicked on. Now, 18 years later Leigh Matthews is the greatest modern rover, captaining Hawthorn to the 1983 premiership.
Chelsea, the Seagulls in their Geelong hooped jumpers made quite a few marks on Australian sport—and lately they’ve shaken the world.
John Bertarnd played footy for Chelsea under 15’s before crossing the Nepean Highway to the water and his destiny, skippering Australia 2. Bertrand, according to his dentist brother Lex, rucked aggressively during his two seasons with the Seagull’s juniors. He had the makings of a football star until his sights turned from goalposts to masts. SOARED.
Another Seagull who soared is Anthony Reynolds. Last month off Torquay, England, he won the junior world championship in his OK dinghy. Reynolds, 18, played for Chelsea under 16’s until he broke a leg.
Club president Tom Williams has dug through his memories of the 70-year old bayside club to toss up handfuls of champions who started at Chelsea.
Chelsea gave ‘Chooka’ Howell, ‘Dixie’ Boland and Bill Armstrong to Carlton; Norm Johnstone to Fitzroy; Len Park to Richmond; Bill Gutterson to Footscray; Mal Owens and Greg Hutchesson to Melbourne and Leigh Matthews, Kelvin Matthews, Glen Murphy and Dennis Fitzgerald to Hawthorn.
And how about the leadership qualities that Chelsea breeds? Collingwood took three of its captains from Chelsea, Gordon Hocking, Alan Williams and Keith Fraser. From Collingwood, John Greening coached Chelsea after his 1972 smash-up against St. Kilda.
Roy Hart was the fastest ball-bouncing runner in Chelsea football club memory. He laid the ball aside to win the 1953 Stawell Gift. He’s a Life Member at Chelsea.
But the ultimate Chelsea footballer is Leigh Matthews. At his old club they remember Lethal as “an incredible little guy.” The kid from Chelsea Primary School played 90 games with the Seagulls, shared in three under-age premierships, and at 16, topped the goal kicking for Chelsea senior side in the Mornington Peninsula Football League.
Alan Schwab of St. Kilda first spotted him. He used to watch Leigh play every Saturday before attending the Saints’ match. He badly wanted to sign the lad. But zoning was introduced and Hawthorn nabbed Matthews at 17. One old Seagull recalled: “Leigh’s always been a front runner since he started playing football.” “I remember we got $500 from Hawthorn for him. In the early 1960s gas hot water services were all the go. A league side would put one in your changing shed in exchange for a recruit.”
“Today they probably ask a quarter of a million to let Matthews go, but I reckon they should charge the same $500 they paid.”
At its last meeting Chelsea City Council agreed to name Chelsea the Skippers’ City.
Victoria’s ‘skipper ‘John Cain has a beach house in Chelsea.
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