Olympian’s Aussie rules pilgrimage to 11 VFL grounds in eight hours on foot

Olympian and long-suffering Saints supporter Chris Shinners has one thing on his mind as he catches a glimpse of the MCG on a crisp autumn afternoon.

Finally, his first sip of ice-cold lager is tantalisingly close as he approaches the end of a near 50-kilometre pilgrimage through Aussie rules history.

Setting off before sunrise, the ’G is the last of 11 old-school VFL grounds he has visited on an eight-hour walk through the evolution of the game and the city in which it took hold.

Hooked on the VFL since listening to the radio commentary of the Saints’ 1966 grand final win, Shinners mapped a route that retraced an era when Saturdays were synonymous with the 2.10pm first bounce at local grounds.

“We’re losing it, we’re losing that connection with VFL history,” Shinners said.

A champion rower who competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the coxless pair event, Shinners has always been fit.

He started walking between VFL grounds a few years ago to satisfy a curiosity about the state of each historic venue.

Months after a hip replacement, the 73-year-old clocks up about six kilometres an hour as he sets off from Glenferrie Oval, the Hawks’ historic home, known as the Sardine Can.

“Who doesn’t love a challenge?” he quips.

“Wordsworth, the poet, he always said that when he wasn’t walking, he wasn’t thinking, and I thought that is so appropriate.”

Next, he heads for Studley Park and traverses the rapidly rising Abbotsford until distinctive black-and-white corrugated iron at the Magpies’ old nest, Victoria Park, comes into view.

Shinners can’t help but compare the two, the Collingwood turf in better shape than the Hawks’ former home which, despite being deep in “green on the Monopoly board” territory, he found littered with dog droppings.

From there, north-west through gentrified Fitzroy to the traditional Lions Den at Brunswick Street Oval at Edinburgh Gardens, where the grandstand is set for a facelift, before the sun rises over Carlton’s pristine Princes Park.

“I’ve stopped taking a camera on this walk because there’s so much to take photographs of, it slows me down,” Shinners said.

“Sure, we don’t have the Taj Mahal or the Eiffel Tower, but we’ve got everything else.”

The path to Essendon’s Windy Hill, deep in the heart of suburbia, is one of the less inspiring stretches, Shinners admits, followed by the walk to Footscray’s Whitten Oval until he’s greeted by the scent of Vietnamese, Indian and African delights on Barkly Street.

Then, he heads south from North Melbourne’s Arden Street to the Swans’ former home at Lakeside Stadium and the Saints’ old home at Junction Oval.

Euphoria masks fatigue as the end approaches at Richmond’s Punt Road Oval and the MCG, now claimed by four clubs but traditionally the Demons’ domain, followed by that longed-for beer at the Spread Eagle Hotel on nearby Bridge Road.

First detailing his journey for fan website The Footy Almanac, Shinners was shocked by the level of interest in his walk but suspects it speaks to the nostalgia some fans have for watching elite football without the bells and whistles.

VFL grounds became the heart and soul of Melbourne when the city expanded post gold rush, according to Victoria University sport historian Professor Matthew Klugman.

The weekly ritual of journeying out to the suburbs was a key ceremonial aspect of life since the 1880s, with about 20 semi-professional teams since 1900, Klugman explained.

“Melbourne’s extraordinary because Australian rules football is the only major sport around the world that grows up at the same time as the city grows up,” he said.

Joyous crowd culture at AFLW games played at old grounds, many along Shinners’ route, taps into the game’s history and has become one of the competition’s greatest hidden strengths, the professor said.

“Supporters of the men’s game who haven’t embraced the women’s game yet, I think what happens when they go is they remember how much they’ve missed those grounds,” Klugman added.

AFL Fans Association president Ron Issko said while the AFL is focused on looking forward, many fans also retain a sense of nostalgia for elements of the VFL days, including distinct home grounds.

“You felt in charge, and you felt like this is our home, and the visitors are coming to visit us,” he said.

“Now it’s Marvel or MCG and really doesn’t feel suburban, it doesn’t feel like we own this ground, because everyone plays there.”

Shinners is considering adding in a visit to the Saints’ new home at Moorabbin Oval in his next walk, but concedes Geelong’s Kardinia Park is too far.

He doesn’t see too many people on the city’s walking tracks but hopes more Melburnians will begin exploring their own backyard on foot, cautioning cyclists from replicating his VFL ground route unless they are confident on the road.

“There’s so much out there to look at,” he said.

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