Footy’s Glory Days

Footy's Glory Days captures the spirit and the venues, the characters and the coverage, and of course the controversies of the Australian football days before the national AFL competition. This was the high-water mark of footy as a spectacle. One-on-one contests, pack marks, spectacular goal-scoring feats and a style of play that left record numbers of fans breathless. It was Knights leaping against Vander Haar, Ditterich taking on all comers, the mercurial Blight, the magic of Jesaulenko, the brute strength of Matthews and the grace of Flower. Footy's Glory Days reveals the forces that propelled the game's revolution, goes behind the scenes at every club and details the breathtaking successes and heartbreaking failures. With remarkable candour, it brings to life the fascinating stories of those who were our Saturday afternoon heroes – the players themselves.

Elliot Cartledge is a writer and editor based in Melbourne, Victoria. He is the author of The Hafey Years — reliving a golden era at Tigerland and has written about sport, music and travel, here and overseas. Footy's Glory Days is his third book.