10 years ago today...

[thequarry]

...where were you?

I was 9 at the time and watching it at home, my parents thought that if they took me I would cry if we lost. And we did, so I did.

[my les foote]

I went with my mum and I cried.

I was 34.

[cowboy18]

I was there with my dad - I'll never forget the feeling when they ran onto the ground and when the anthem was played - very special for so many reasons.

Football-wise, I can't remember a more hollow feeling as I walked out with around 5 minutes to go. It wasn't terribly sad for me for some reason - More than anything it was empty, just horribly empty.

Disbelief, frustration, bewilderment at what had happened soon kicked in.

And in the back of my mind I was sure we would be there again soon, with the cup in our hands and celebrations at Moorabbin to rival the best of them.

Bah.

[Little Dozer]

I got a ticket through a friend and we got to the G early, so early that by the time the game had started 8 cups of carlton draught had been consumed. I remember seeing Kevin Sheedy before the game started and someone asked him who he thought would win and he said the crows. I shrugged it off at the time as I was super confident, there was no way we would be losing to the crows in a grand final! But that is one memory that sticks out now, Sheedy tipping the crows.

Also I remember being very nervous at half time. The second half was like a nightmare, there seemed to be more Adelaide fans than Sainters, they were definitely louder than us in any case. Then bloody Jarman running amok and our blokes who had been sensational to make it to the grand final, having shockers. Barry Hall booting 3 in 3 minutes and Aussies goal were awesome, but I still can't believe we lost! Funny thing is our 2004/2005 team would murder the 1997 outfit and we didn't even make it those years. As every Saints fan says, maybe next year eh?

[markinUSA]

I had painted my lawn - in giant letters - Saints to Win. It started off as one of the great days of my life.

I did feel a little uneasy at halftime - we were in front, but we hadn't clicked as a team, on the day.

The loss shook me to my foundations. I was stunned, shocked, sad, empty.

[The Saintsational Man]

Im lost! What happened on this day 10 years ago.....

[spert]

I presume you mean the Saints vs Crows in '97..Drove to a mate's place to watch the GF on TV, a bit depressing after half time

[stinger]

worst day of my life.......so much promise...so much disappointment......i jumped over the back of my seat and left as soon as the siren sounded......all i could do to stop myself punching a smug and offensive crowlice supporter................

[Solar]

longest train ride home, so silent!

[saintbrat]

2 of us sitting in the front bar of a pub in Mandurah which had promised they had it on a screen- ( wish I'd had more WA contacts way back then)
huge area next door but they only had it on the tiny TV up near the roof in the corner of the front bar

group of non AFL people behind us who weren't going either way TILL the crows started getting in front,:(
food wasn't much either,

[Saints Premiers 2008]

up to half time we were more than in it...we looked the goods...

even though i was ten and knowing the club history i soon realized how hard it is to get to the grand final...

i had never had any confidence or rate jamie shanahan...and from that day i never did either...

[ausfatcat]

I was working at the local golf club......... Almost lost my job from swearing in the third quater.

[SaintWodonga]

Went down with so much optimisim. Got a couple of scalpers tickets. Saw Dermie on the way in, he said "you boys are going to have a great win today!"... Never forgot that.

As for the crowd, I was stunned at the mouths on the Adeliade supporters, you'd think we were in SA by the loudness of them. And they were smug and filthy...

When the siren rang, I saw grown Saints men crying. Walking back to the car in the drizzle was like a nightmare, all I could hear over & over was the Scrows song...

That day is the reason I hate Adeliade so much!

[rodgerfox]

I was stoned and piissed off my nut.

[Shaggy]

I was in Hong Kong. I had a meeting with Swiss bankers who were flying in on the Monday so I couldn’t get to Aus and back again in the time. I seriously tried to put the Swiss wankers off from flying in. But instead I held a barbie and watched the game live thanks to ABC Asia.

Due to the 3 hour time difference between Aus and HK most of my guests arrived during the last quarter when they saw me at my worst. No-one understood what it meant to me … as far as they knew it was like just another championship game and there is always next year (yeah right but I have never actually seen us win a premiership).

All I really remember is that I was very moody for the afternoon as well as having drunk too much. It wasn’t my best performance (nor the Saints for that matter).

[barks4eva]

I was stoned .

explains a lot

[Dan Warna]

at the espy

drunk at 1/2 time

broke up with my GF shortly after the GF as she was a collingwood supporter and made nasty comments about st kilda.

I never ever saw the game again.

my last memory was franky streaming down to slot a goal and trying to lift his team mates.

[saintdooley]

i was 5
and i didnt know what st.kilda was, but dad always made a big fuss about them.
we were living in Warrnambool at the time and dad caught the train up for the day to watch the game. when he came home i was alreaddy in bed as it was nearly 9pm, and when i saw him the next day he said that we lost the GIG GAME. i didnt really care at the time as all i knew was we had the colours red, whit and black.
i thought it was just a game, but aparently it was more than that!

[milney044]

i was 7 and i was at my friends who was celebrating her 8th birthday that same day (also a saints supporter). i sat watching the game while mum was there and my friend was off doing her own thing. i remember crying at the end, mainly because i knew how disappointed mum would be- and i remember being angry at my friend for being happy when we had just lost the grand final. the fact that it was her birthday had no relevance!

[st.byron]

Went with my brother. We were very confident. We were sitting next to a big group of Crows supporters and were taunting them about having no history or tradition. When the Saints came out Steve and I sung the song with as much force as we could. I remember that because we're both terrible singers.
Looked good in the first half, esp. when Barry kicked three in the second quarter. Then in the third it started to slip and I remember Burkie kicking one and I thought we were on the way back.
Then the last quarter nightmare surrounded by Crows fans. I left before the presentations started and my most vivid memory of the day is walking down Brunton avenue to the station in the midst of a huge mass of fans and it was totally silent. Everybody was grieving. People sitting on the ground crying or just staring into space. I got home, took the Saints posters out of the windows and just sat there.

[True Blue Sainter]

I can remember it all too well...

I was 10 years old, had gone with my old man, the mother and the sister. We were sitting in the Olympic Stand, and I remember being bewildered at how many Crows supporters there were around me. Oddly enough, I felt at half time one of my first vivid feelings of insecurity going into half time with a lead. I remember telling Dad that I wanted another 3 goals from Barry Hall in quick time. The second half was demoralising. When we left, just before the siren, walking out of the ground with the Crows anthem ringing in our ears was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life.

The hollowness and emptiness that I felt on that day has only ever been rivalled on 3 other occasions - all Socceroos games (1997 WC qual loss to Iran [jesus what a bad year 1997 was], 2001 to Uruguay and the WC loss to Italy in the 2nd round). The overwhelming sense of haplessness and grief - the way in which the feeling unites a mass of supporters who otherwise may have nothing at all in common. A hug from a stranger brings tears out when you thought you had none left. I can remember saying nothing for the whole car trip home. I can also remember Dad being surprised at how upset I was, he didn't realise how much footy meant to me, even at age 10.

The Port & Sydney PFs were also a time for these feelings to kick in, even at a much more mature age...

[Enrico_Misso]

Left my home which was all decorated with streamers and the StKilda flag flying off the chimney.
Went to the ground floating on air like I had all week.
Got to the G real early and got a specific seat in the members on the aisle at the coaches gate just so I could be one of the first to congratulate Stan as he went out to celebrate our premiership.
I don't remember a single thing about the build up as I was too nervous to concentrate on anything.
The feeling as they ran onto the ground gave me goosebumps.
It had been a long time to wait since 71.
I do remember the first half vividly and most of the third quarter.
The last quarter was just totally devastating.
I just watched in a trance as it all fell apart.
I still don't know what went wrong.
I few years ago I tried to watch the video but it was still too painful.
I doubt I will ever be able to watch it.
Afterwards I went home with some mates and then down to Moorabbin.
It was like a funeral parlour.
Just had a few drinks and watched in silence as there was nothing to say.
Worst day of my life.

[markinUSA]

Honestly, I have to admit this... it was a really bad day, but... I actually grieved more, and got more depressed, when Tony Lockett left us. I actually spiralled into depression after that, for two years. I'd had a "shrine to Plugger" (that's what everyone called it, not me) in my bedroom... I couldn't take it down, at first... waited till it was all confirmed... I actually got more depressed after that, than I did when I got divorced years later... it was definitely up there in terms of life's bad events.

Not saying that 97 wasn't shattering. Couldn't speak afterwards. Hated Adelaide. Never watched the game again. Shattered.

I never felt angry at the Saints. I think our side tried their hearts out, but we just couldn't get it together. We really missed Everitt, and Lazar. I think the injury to McKernan the week before had patched over our ruck weakness ... it was the one thing that worried me.

And I never understood why we gave away the Wakelins... what happened there? They've played a long time since they left us... why did they leave, or get traded?

I guess it's just the stages of grief - denial, shock, bargaining, acceptance, and something else... I'm still in numbness myself.

Thanks for raising the topic - it's not often I get to process this stuff, in a way that someone else will understand.

[evertonfc]

Went into mild depression for a few weeks afterwards, randomly breaking things around the house.

Forgot to contemplate that we might lose pre-game

I wasn't well prepared - just assumed we'd streak it.

As the rain started to fall late in the game, it seemed everything was being flooded away - our hopes, our dreams, our pride, our dignity...it was so dark outside the ground. It was like a mourning. Inside, Crows fans seem to emerge from everywhere. Truly, truly horrible watching our team fold to those pricks.

The next day at Moorabbin was therapuetic, but painful in the extreme.

No matter what anyone says about Blight, he won the game for Adelaide that day. Or perhaps more to the point, Alves' horrendous tactics and refusal to stay alert to the game's ebb and flow cost us dearly.

[fonz_#15]

I was stoned and piissed off my nut.

amen brother