In 2015, Greensborough Football Club were Premiers in the Seniors, Reserves and Under 19s. This photograph shows the Reserves and Under19 team after their win and was displayed at the GFC Hall of Fame in 2016.This photograph is a record of the team - players and support staff - involved in the 1961 season.Informal group photograph of football team and support staff. greensborough football club, premiers, gfc hall of fame

In 2015, Greensborough Football Club were Premiers in the Seniors, Reserves and Under 19s. This photograph shows the Senior team after their win and was displayed at the GFC Hall of Fame in 2016.This photograph is a record of the team - players and support staff - involved in the 1961 season.Informal group photograph of football team and support staff. greensborough football club, premiers, gfc hall of fame

The bell was used for Trade Week to signify "time's up" at Optus Oval. Prior to this it was used to let Alan Espie's children on their Wandin property to come home.Why Al chimes in for Carlton Tony De Bolfo, Carlton Media Feb 20, 2014 11:05AM Alan Espie with the famous bell. (Photo: Carlton Football Club) Alan Espie with the famous bell. (Photo: Carlton Football Club) Related Etched into the rim of the bell Alan Espie has rung at every trade week gathering since 1994 is a touching quote attributed to his grandson. Dear Pa, May you always ring true blue, Love Harry Just thinking about that inscription often brings big Al to tears. The story of the Espie bell has its origins at the old family property at Wandin in the picturesque Yarra Valley, in the days when the Espies’ kids were at the neighboring creek fossicking for local platypus. “If they got too far away we’d ring an old cowbell,” Espie recalled, “and years later, my daughter Jo brought me this replacement bell from some second-hand naval place”. “Not long after Shane (O’Sullivan) asked me to officiate at trade week and that’s when the bell came into vogue.” A permanent fixture at trade week, Espie would ring the bell to signal the opening of trading when club recruiters gathered – initially within the confines of the Carlton Heroes Stand at Visy Park, more recently at Etihad Stadium. In those early days at Carlton he caused a stir as bell ringer, drawing curious responses from officiating journalists, recruiters and coaches alike. “I even remember (Kevin) Sheedy asking me if I was selling muffins,” he recalled. Then, when trade day was relocated to Etihad, Espie’s daughter thought it appropriate to get the bell inscribed. “Because the bell was leaving Carlton, Jo got it inscribed on my grandson’s behalf, because he was only four or five then. When I saw what was inscribed I was tearful,” Espie said. “The bell is very important to me, particularly at this time, because Jo is battling health problems at the moment, my grandson is autistic and she’s fought like hell to get him through.” Espie joined Carlton’s Under 19 committee on the eve of the senior Premiership season of 1979 and managed the club’s junior squads, the Bert Deacon Squad included. “I worked very closely with Geoff Southby, ‘Swan’ McKay and Trevor Keogh when they were coaching the Under 19s and I was recruiting as well,” he said. “In 1981 and ’82 I forward scouted for ‘Parko’ (David Parkin) and later on I did the same for ‘Wallsy’ (Robert Walls). After that I coordinated recruiting in central Victoria and it was nothing for me to do 25,000ks a year in my own car – and I loved every minute of it.” Espie’s passion for Carlton and empathy for its wartime players Bert Deacon, Ollie Grieve and Jack “Chooka” Howell can be sourced to his childhood years. His grandparents lived not far from the old ground on Wilson Street “and that’s how I got in for the ’45 Grand Final”. “My uncle, who had just got back from the war, grabbed a ladder from Wilson Street and set it up against the barbed wire fence at the ground. I climbed the ladder and caught my arm on the barbed wire, but I got over the top and saw the game while I straddled the fence,” Espie said. “What I saw was what you would today call ‘spotfires’ and I reckon it took football 20 years to get rid of it.” Today, Espie continues to ring in the yearly trade talk days at AFL headquarters (with the notable exception of 2012 when he was hospitalized), but he’s in no doubt as to where the bell belongs. “This bell has had nothing to do with Wandin but everything to do with Carlton - and with the 150th year of the club I think the bell stays here (at Visy Park). I still hope to ring the bell for the AFL this year, but at least I’ll know where it is,” Espie said. “I’ve told Jo about this and she tells me Harry’s rapt, because he’s a big Carlton supporter and he’s so happy his name is on the bell.”Wooden handle attached to a brass bell."Dear Pa, may you always ring true blue, Love Harry"

Two Pictures of 1972 Premiership Player John O'ConnellCareer : 1970 - 1976 Debut : Round 3, 1970 vs Richmond, aged 18 years, 361 days Carlton Player No. 818 Games : 111 Goals : 0 Guernsey Nos. 50 (1970-71) and No. 19 (1972-76) Last Game : Preliminary Final, 1976 vs North Melbourne, aged 25 years, 149 days Height : 183 cm (6 ft. 0 in.) Weight : 82 kg (12 stone, 13 lbs.) DOB : April 22, 1951 Premiership Player 1972 After starting his career at Carlton as a centreman or ruck-rover at Under-19 and Reserves level, John Michael “Jack” O’Connell found his niche in defence for the Blues and was a creative back pocket in Carlton’s record-breaking 1972 Grand Final victory over Richmond. A dasher who loved to take off on bouncing runs, Jack spent much of his career alongside champion full-back Geoff Southby, with either Vin Waite or David McKay in the opposite pocket. Together, they created a full-back line regarded as among the best in club history. O’Connell’s journey to Premiership glory began during his school days at St Mark’s in Melbourne’s outer north, then at Glenroy YCW and Fawkner. In 1967, aged 17, he joined Carlton’s Under-19s, and by midway through 1969 he was playing Reserves football in guernsey number 50. Early in the following year, a couple of strong showings saw him banging on the door of senior selection, and he was duly rewarded by being named on the bench for his senior debut against Richmond at the MCG in round 3, 1970. For the Blues and their supporters, the game was a forgettable one, because Carlton surrendered a big half-time lead to be beaten by 13 points, and O’Connell wasn’t called on until the dying minutes. Sent back to the Reserves after that one brief taste if the big time, Jack honed his skills and bided his time - for more than a year – while Carlton went on to win the 1970 Premiership. Eventually, he earned a recall midway through 1971, but with a bevy of stars standing in his way, he was a regular reserve until late in the year, when coach John Nicholls – aware that incumbent Ian Collins intended to retire – offered O’Connell a chance in the back pocket. Jack grasped his opportunity with both hands. At 183 cm and 82 kg he was bigger than the average specialist back-pocket of that era, but he gave nothing away in agility. An excellent mark and an accurate kick off either foot, he had settled in beside Southby by the end of that season, playing the last ten games straight. As season 1972 dawned and Collins retired, O'Connell inherited the Blues’ number 19 guernsey and began marking his mark in the Carlton defence. Inspired by Southby’s creativity and Waite’s aggression, Jack was soon a headache for every opposition club. An ankle injury sustained in round 5, 1972 against Collingwood cost him five matches, but he was back to top form by finals time, when Carlton finished the regular season on top of the ladder. In their first final together – the Second Semi Final - O’Connell, Southby and Waite were resolute in a thrilling draw. Richmond won the replay, then Carlton conquered St Kilda in the Preliminary Final to earn another crack at the Tigers in the Grand Final. Opting for a strategy of all-out attack in the flag decider, the Blues blasted off the blocks to kick 8 goals in the first quarter, 10 in the second and 7 in the third to put the game right out of Richmond’s grasp with a full quarter remaining. After coasting to the final siren, the Blues collected their eleventh VFL Premiership by 27 points. Waite was missing from the match, having been injured in the Preliminary Final, but David McKay was a more than adequate replacement, and all three defenders on the last line completed an excellent final series. On the way to another consistent season in 1973, O’Connell strained a thigh in Carlton’s surprise loss to Fitzroy at the Junction Oval in round 16, and wasn’t recalled to the senior side until the Grand Final, when Carlton and Richmond met once more in the 48th match of Jack’s career. A few days beforehand, Barry Armstrong had been ruled out when he was hit by appendicitis, so O’Connell took over Armstrong’s assigned role of negating the Tigers’ star centreman Ian Stewart. Jack stuck to his task all match, but neither he nor his team could hold back a ferocious Richmond side that crashed and bashed its way to victory. O’Connell went on to play in two more finals campaigns in 1975 and ’76 but was denied the joy of another September victory. He brought up game number 100 at Princes Park in June 1976, when Carlton ended a five-game losing sequence to beat Essendon, before calling time on his VFL career after the Blues suffered a heart-breaking 1-point loss to North Melbourne in that season’s Preliminary Final. In 1977 O'Connell was cleared to WAFL club Subiaco. Later he came back to Victoria and coached Diamond Creek to a Premiership in the Diamond Valley League. Then in 1987, the football world was rocked by the news that Jack had been diagnosed with a virulent form of cancer. He fought hard for 18 months, but tragically passed away on the 5th November, 1989 aged just 38. Career Highlights 1971 - 3rd Reserves Best & Fairest 1971 - Reserves Most Improved Player 1972 - Premiership Player Milestones 50 Games : Round 2, 1974 vs Geelong 100 Games :Round 13, 1976 vs Essendon Footnotes Off the field, O’Connell was a quiet, reserved character who, by 1973 had struck a warm friendship with another man of few words in his champion team-mate Bruce Doull. The pair could often be seen together sharing a beer after Sunday morning recovery sessions, and club folklore has it that the only regular conversation to be heard between them was, “it’s your shout.” In 1997, John's son Luke O'Connell joined Carlton, playing eight Reserves games and kicking three goals.2 x Black & White PhotosThe Sun Articles pasted on back of each photo