When Karen Mackenzie was growing up in northern England in the 1960s and ’70s, she was a supporter of Newcastle United, a football club that wears black and white vertical stripes, is known as the Magpies and boasts a huge number of proud and passionate fans.
As a result, when Mackenzie came across telecasts of a strange game called Australian Rules, she was immediately drawn to Collingwood, a club that seemed to have so much in common with her local team.
“I’ve always loved the black and white,” she said. “Most of my wardrobe is black and white.”
Mackenzie watched VFL games on TV in England for a number of years, all the while captivated by the uniforms.
“Oh my god, the shorts!” she recalled. “I just thought, ‘I can’t wait to get to Australia.’ The shorts were so tight.
“And the game itself was fast and furious and brutal. I thought, ‘Whoa, this is really something.’
“But, really, it was the shorts that won me over.”
In 1985, Mackenzie decided it was time to see Australia for herself. She moved to Perth and began following our game closely.
Western Australia was soon agog at the arrival of the West Coast Eagles into what would become the AFL, but Mackenzie’s heart was already set on following the mighty Pies.
“I get a lot of flak over here for following Collingwood and not the Eagles or the Dockers,” she said. “Perth people can be very rude about it.”
Mackenzie’s devotion to Collingwood was strengthened in the late 1990s when she started a relationship with a Magpies supporter whose passion for the club knew no bounds.
“He was crazy,” she remembered with a chuckle. “He was covered in tattoos of people like Darren Millane and Lou Richards. He had ‘Collingwood Forever’ across his chest.
“Then he shaved off his hair and had a life-sized Magpie tattooed on his head. I thought that was probably going a bit radical, but, you know, he just loved the club.”
For the best part of a decade, Mackenzie and her Pies-supporting partner went to just about every game the Pies played in Perth.
They broke up in 2008, but by then there was no turning back. Mackenzie was Collingwood forever.
“I bloody love Collingwood!” she said. “I can’t not support them.
“They drive me mad sometimes. It can be such a roller-coaster ride. But I love them.
“My partner now, he’s not really a footy guy or anything, but he gets dragged along to all the games. I just love footy now.”
Passionate Pies fan Karen Mackenzie with Steele Sidebottom
Finances permitting, Mackenzie treks across to Melbourne once a year to see Collingwood train and play.
She shook Jeremy Howe’s hand after a training session a couple of years ago, so he’s become her favourite player.
“He’s such a great player and a gorgeous guy.”
In the past two years, Mackenzie has also become a devotee of Collingwood’s AFLW team.
“I’ve started getting into it big-time,” she said. “Chloe Molloy is awesome.”
Mackenzie was at Optus Stadium on February 10 for the Pies’ history-making AFLW clash with Fremantle.
“I had some friends visiting from the UK and they had never been to a footy game, so I took them that match. Our girls didn’t play too well, but the whole spectacle was brilliant.”
Mackenzie has to wait a long time for her beloved Magpies to visit Perth this season, as they’re not playing at Optus Stadium until they meet Fremantle in round 23.
When that day rolls around, she’ll be in the stands, cheering loudly and enjoying the occasion.
“I love getting dressed up in all my Collingwood gear. I love to stand out in the crowd. I’ve usually got a quiet voice, but I save it up for when I’m at the footy yelling ‘Go Pies!’
“My favourite colours and black and white and they’ll be my favourites forever.”
