A column written for you by former Hawk, and full time Hawks fan, Jack Fitzpatrick.
It’s a sunny but cold Wednesday afternoon in Liverpool, England, as I sit in my hotel room looking over the River Mersey. Last week I survived both the ‘Beast from the East’ and ‘Storm Emma’ in London, including what turned out to be England’s coldest March day on record – it was cold, windy and snowing! Having only just arrived from Australia where it was 30 degrees when I left, it was certainly a shock to the system.
I’ve enjoyed my trip to England thus far, and with another week to go before I head back to Melbourne, I take a few moments to recap what I’ve done and seen so far. During this reflection, I inevitably let The Mighty Hawks enter my thoughts, and I started to think: ‘how do the things I’ve seen and the places I’ve been relate to my beloved Hawks?’ This is what I’ve come up with…
Stonehenge
Shaun Burgoyne and James Frawley
This ancient rock formation has fascinated me for a long time, and – other than a trip to Anfield to watch my other favourite team, The Liverpool Football Club – was the number one thing I wanted to see when I visited England. The construction of this site begun around 5000 years ago, so they’re nearly as old as our number 9, although they’re definitely not as majestic! And how do they relate to Chip? Well they’re darn big, solid and heavy. In fact, you could probably use Chip to replace one of these 50 tonne rocks if they ever went missing!
Windsor Castle / Buckingham Palace
Jarryd Roughead
This is a pretty simple comparison to make, really. Both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace serve – among others – as residencies of the Monarchy. Considering that Roughy is no doubt Hawthorn Royalty, as well as being our leader, you can put two and two together here. In an interesting coincidence, if you combine the number of rooms in both Windsor Castle (approx. 1,000) and Buckingham Palace (775), they equate to a similar number of rooms you might find in our skipper’s place!
English Pubs
Paul Puopolo
Many of the pubs I’ve encountered in my time here are quite tiny and from the outside, don’t look like much. Now, I’m not saying Poppy doesn’t look like much, because he is an elite physical specimen, but he is definitely quite small. However, no matter the size of these pubs, they are invariably pretty lively, and I think to describe Poppy as lively would be a big understatement, both inside 50 and in the change rooms! In addition to this, most of the pubs over here are filled with soccer – either on TV, or as the chat amongst patrons. This is exactly like Poppy, who is always either showing you highlights, discussing soccer with you, or trying to ‘nutmeg’ people
Oxford
Will Langford
This historic place is full of tradition and is home to one of the most famous universities in the world. Places are highly competitive and some of the great minds of the world have studied there. Our Will is quite knowledgeable and learned, so I could see him fitting in there quite well. However, Will isn’t the only intelligent bloke within the walls of The Hawthorn Football Club. What really makes Will stand out from the pack at HFC is his father, Chris; many who go to Oxford like to brag about the nobility or accomplishments of their families. Well how many of them could say that their dad played over 300 games, was a two time All Australian and won four premierships at our great club? Beat that, I say!
Big Ben
Jon Ceglar
The obvious go to here would have been Big Boy McEvoy. I mean, the iconic landmark is basically named after our number 7! However, I’ve opted to go with fellow ruckman Jon Ceglar instead. Why? Well Big Ben is pretty big, and Cegs is slightly taller than Big Boy. Adding to this is the fact that Big Ben is currently surrounded by scaffolding. This is somewhat similar to Cegs, in that he unfortunately missed last year as he recovered from the knee injury he sustained in late 2016. However, much like the scaffolding and repair works going on with Big Ben, I have no doubt that this rehabilitation time will ensure Big Cegs is going to stay strong and sound for years to come!
Ps. Did you know that contrary to popular belief, Big Ben is actually the name of the giant bell in the tower, not the clock face or tower itself!
Matt Spangher
Matt Spangher
Last Friday night, I caught up with Hawthorn fan favourite, Matt Spangher. Although I’m just visiting England, Spang is actually living over here at the moment. It was good to catch up with the great man, who is universally loved amongst players, staff and fans alike. What I didn’t enjoy is having to concede that I was catching up with someone who is a bigger cult hero than I am!
The Beast From The East / Storm Emma
Anthony Fernon
Many of you reading will ask, ‘Who is Anthony Fernon?’ Don’t worry, many of the staff and players at the club will be asking the same question! Well, Ferno is one of the physios at the Hawks. As I mentioned earlier, these two weather systems combined to almost bring London to a halt. It was snowing, it was freezing cold, the wind had serious bite. Overall, it was a down right nuisance. However, despite its annoyance, I actually sorta’ enjoyed it; it certainly added to my experience! Well this is like good old Ferno. He can frustrate, he can annoy, and he can certainly be a nuisance! However, I quite like Ferno and he certainly added to my experience in my time at the club! (Many other staff members might wonder why Ferno gets a mention for adding to my experience at the club ahead of them, but the answer to that is simple – Ferno annoyed me more!)
That’s enough pondering and reflection – I am in England after all and I need to go and further explore. Next stop? The Beatles Story Museum. I wonder who could be classed as the Hawthorn ‘Fab Four?’
As always, feel free to submit your feedback (good or bad), or suggestions on where I can focus my attention next, to either @HawthornFC or @jfitzpatrick_t1 with the hashtag #FitzysFocus
