Sea Eagles truest supporter 70 years supporting Manly

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HappilyManly

Journey Man
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/sea-eagles/sea-eagles-truest-supporter-babs-kable-on-70-years-supporting-manly/news-story/236e18c5b3479f8dd7c68f71fa339899?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: dailytelegraphnrlndm (Daily Telegraph | NRL)

Sea Eagles truest supporter Babs Kable on 70 years supporting Manly
38 minutes ago
JON GEDDESThe Daily Telegraph

Barbara “Babs’’ Kable was at Brookvale Oval 70 years ago this week when Manly played their first game there.

And she’ll be there again on Thursday night, loud and proud, supporting her beloved Sea Eagles against Parramatta as she has for each of those 70 seasons between then and now.

The sharp-as-a-tack 83-year-old was in the crowd of 4,200 when Manly played their first game in the NSW Rugby League first grade competition against Western Suburbs at Brookvale Oval on April 12, 1947.

Babs remembers there was an amazing atmosphere leading up to that historic first game, which Wests won 15-13 even though Manly scored three tries to one.

“We had grown up with most of the blokes who were playing,” she said. “They were our neighbours and our friends. It was exciting, it was a buzz.”

She said Bert Collins, a member of that team, was also the local butcher.

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Babs recalled a sea of people making their way to the ground and the then 14-year-old was dressed up in a white skirt matched with a maroon blazer.

At that time Brookvale Oval had an old wooden stand, which Babs said would have held 50 people “if you were lucky’’, and fans had to be there when the gates were open to get a seat.

She was also in the crowd when Manly won their first ever win that year in round eight, when they coincidently beat Parramatta 15-7.


“The hill was jumping,” she said.


It was fitting that Babs caught up with Sea Eagles legend Steve “Beaver” Menzies at Brookvale Oval in this anniversary week, as Manzies’ grandfather Mackie Campbell was a member of that original Manly team 70 years ago.

And after watching every Manly player over the past 70 years, Babs didn’t hesitate to say that “Beaver” was her favourite.

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Manly legend Steve Menzies and Babs Kable who attended the club's first ever game in 1947.

“From the time he started, he was local, he was the hero,” she said.

Babs said of the current crop of players it was a toss-up between Brett Stewart and Jamie Lyon.

Few sport fans come close to matching the dedication and unwavering loyalty to their team that Barbara “Babs” Kable has displayed over seven decades.

“For me it is something that gets in your blood,” she explained.

“Even after the game against Souths here we heard people say ’I’m not coming to any more home games’ and I said ‘you know what, in 69 years I have never turned my back on Manly, I have never said I’m not coming back’.

“It didn’t matter — highs, lows — you were still there for them. I consider myself what I call a true supporter through thick and thin.”
 
pfft, true supporter, yeah sure.
A few years ago my daughter and I helped an old lady down the stairs from the Jane Try stand after a game, it was the year I had Golden Eagles memberships! Pretty sure she was in her nineties then and reckoned she had been following Manly since several years BEFORE they made it into first grade.
It was our privilege to help her out after the game, now that was a true supporter!
 
Hey, we have to agree with her true supporter statement.
She's about as fair dinkum as you could get.
Imagine remembering rocking up to the first ever Manly match wearing a white skirt and a maroon blazer!
You rock Babs.
Yep....reckon I'd have no trouble remembering if I wore a white skirt and maroon blazer to my first Manly game!lol......it was a Maroon polo neck thankyou very much!:eek:
 
Yep....reckon I'd have no trouble remembering if I wore a white skirt and maroon blazer to my first Manly game!lol......it was a Maroon polo neck thankyou very much!:eek:
I reckon the whole crowd might remember that wombatgcc
 

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