On Friday night, Collingwood is reviving an old tradition. And we want you to be a part of it.
When captain Scott Pendlebury calls his players into a huddle in the Ponsford Stand goal square in the minute before the first bounce, our trainers will wave their towels above their heads.
At this moment, it’s your cue to rise to your feet and wave your Collingwood scarf, creating a sea of Black and White across the MCG.
Sound familiar?
It’s a tradition inspired by past Collingwood trainers such as Harry Langdon and John MacGibbon, who were loved by players and supporters alike for waving their trainers’ towels above their heads on the boundary line to rally the Victoria Park crowd and inspire the players into action.
A family’s story
“To me, he was a superstar. Growing up at the football to see my grandfather on the ground was amazing. That was my Pa.”
Black and White flows through Kate Mackie’s veins.
For four generations, Collingwood has been integral to her family’s story.
It all stems from the passion of her grandfather, John MacGibbon, who served the club as its Head Trainer during the 1960s until the 1980s.
And it was MacGibbon who helped fuel the tradition of waving his white trainer’s towel above his head to rally the players and supporters when the team was looking for inspiration.
“The whole crowd would be on its feet as soon as they’d see him walk out, everyone would just stand up,” Kate recalled during a recent visit to Victoria Park.
“From scarfs, to flags, to jumpers, they would wave anything they had, and they really got involved.
“He would come out and wave his towel, and the crowd would be chanting ‘Coll-ing-wood, clap-clap-clap’. The whole crowd would be doing it until they got back in front and won the game.”
Kate Mackie grew up at Victoria Park, thanks to her grandfather, John MacGibbon.
As a child, Kate recalls her connection with her grandfather crossing the boundary line on a match day, when he used a special signal to help her recognise him on the ground.
“He used to kick his leg up to help me find him from the crowd. That was quite cool, to sit there and go, ‘that’s my pa’. It was quite exciting,” she smiled
“He always did it to help pick me and my Nan out in the crowd. He used to sit there and look out for me, and we used to sit in the same seats every game.
“To me, it was like, ‘how did he find me?’, but it was just so I could see him on the ground.”
For a family growing up in a Collingwood world, it was MacGibbon’s passion that flowed down the generations.
“My mum and auntie told him that they knew that, once he was out there, they knew he had to get out there and do something. That was his passion.
“Nan and my auntie would sit there watching the game and he wanted to get so involved in it, and he knew there was something else out there that he wanted to do.
“He had such a passion for it. In all the photos you can see he was on edge, pacing up and down.”
Now, twenty-seven years after her grandfather’s passing, his towel waving tradition is set to be revived.
And just as we’re telling the story to the world right now, it provides Kate with her opportunity to pass her grandfather’s story onto her own children.
“When I got the photos out, my daughter was like ‘oh my god, it looks like Nan’, so for them to see that is pretty amazing. He would have loved my kids.
“He was going to take me on Collingwood’s end-of-season trip the year that he died. He would always come back with something from Disneyland or anywhere that he had been on a trip with Collingwood.
“My Nan was nearly in tears to hear that the club wants to bring it back.
“I don’t think she knew how much it meant to the club, because to her it was her husband, ‘that’s just my husband on the ground’.
“She’s pretty amazed, and even my auntie was like ‘oh my god, I cant believe it’, so it means a lot to everyone.”
