David Harding
Cain LynchFame beckons Redleg legends
May 31st 2010 07:15
Sourced: The Mercury - The voice of Tasmania
THE 1960s was a golden era of Tasmanian football.
Thousands watched every match, on-field biff was resolved over a beer and Launceston's City South Redlegs dominated.
Now, the legendary team that won three NTFA premierships and two state titles during the decade is being honoured.
The Redlegs team of 1960 has been revealed as the sixth legendary team of Tasmanian football, and will be immortalised with a Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame induction.
Crichton Hall joined the club in 1957 as an awkward 16-year-old, and went on to play for City South for almost a decade.
In 1960, Hall, along with teammates including Paul Luttrell, Max Bramich and Len Fox, took back-to-back NTFA senior premierships, while the club also won the reserves and under-19s.
"It was one of those years that had a real King Midas effect, where everything we touched turned to gold," the 69-year-old said.
"The year was really something absolutely so special for us and, well, we're just over the moon about the induction."
The team's win in the NTFA and state premiership battles of 1960 were symbolic of a golden era for the Redlegs, when the club won eight NTFA senior premierships, four NTFA reserves and under-19 premierships and four state premierships between 1952 and 1966.
Former Fitzroy player Bob Miller was the catalyst for the glory years, before former Richmond Tiger Stan Morcom took the helm, resulting in the 1959 and 1960 flags.
Another former Tigers player, Graeme Wilkinson, then took the Redlegs to their '62 and '66 premierships and a state title win over Hobart in '66.
But in the '80s the club was forced to merge with East Launceston, becoming the South Launceston of today.
Hall believes the rise of other sports and a shift in the focus of clubs has changed the face of football forever in Tasmania.
"Footy was our life all our family was involved," he said.
"We'd get 4000 people at every match, compared to a couple of hundred these days.
"Soccer is so popular now, you see hundreds of kids playing the sport, and football is almost second fiddle.
"There has been a change from the family focus to more concern about the bottom line. Football isn't the social event it used to be."
THE 1960s was a golden era of Tasmanian football.
Thousands watched every match, on-field biff was resolved over a beer and Launceston's City South Redlegs dominated.
Now, the legendary team that won three NTFA premierships and two state titles during the decade is being honoured.
The Redlegs team of 1960 has been revealed as the sixth legendary team of Tasmanian football, and will be immortalised with a Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame induction.
Crichton Hall joined the club in 1957 as an awkward 16-year-old, and went on to play for City South for almost a decade.
In 1960, Hall, along with teammates including Paul Luttrell, Max Bramich and Len Fox, took back-to-back NTFA senior premierships, while the club also won the reserves and under-19s.
"It was one of those years that had a real King Midas effect, where everything we touched turned to gold," the 69-year-old said.
"The year was really something absolutely so special for us and, well, we're just over the moon about the induction."
The team's win in the NTFA and state premiership battles of 1960 were symbolic of a golden era for the Redlegs, when the club won eight NTFA senior premierships, four NTFA reserves and under-19 premierships and four state premierships between 1952 and 1966.
Former Fitzroy player Bob Miller was the catalyst for the glory years, before former Richmond Tiger Stan Morcom took the helm, resulting in the 1959 and 1960 flags.
Another former Tigers player, Graeme Wilkinson, then took the Redlegs to their '62 and '66 premierships and a state title win over Hobart in '66.
But in the '80s the club was forced to merge with East Launceston, becoming the South Launceston of today.
Hall believes the rise of other sports and a shift in the focus of clubs has changed the face of football forever in Tasmania.
"Footy was our life all our family was involved," he said.
"We'd get 4000 people at every match, compared to a couple of hundred these days.
"Soccer is so popular now, you see hundreds of kids playing the sport, and football is almost second fiddle.
"There has been a change from the family focus to more concern about the bottom line. Football isn't the social event it used to be."
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