Left, Bloods’ Legend, Bobby Skilton at last Friday’s Sydney Swans’ Club Champion Dinner in Sydney. Right, Micky Francis back in 2002 outside the Bobby Skilton Room in Hanoi.
The boys started watching the footy on the roof top of Pepperonis in Hanoi. Micky Francis, the Hanoi Swans’ first Club President was the manager of Pepperonis and he had to work when the footy was on. So he got the boys to come around to eat pizza, drink beer and talk footy which gave him the perfect solution.
Rick Trewavas then turned up with his autographed photo of Bobby Skilton and the Bobby Skilton Room was born.
Soon after, Skilton’s niece happened to be passing through Hanoi and stumbled across the Bobby Skilton Room. When she told Uncle about the Room, he replied, “There’s a Bobby Skilton Room in where??”
In July, 2010, the Sydney Swans invited the Vietnam Swans to a prematch function at the MCG at which Bobby Skilton was present. It was a mega pre match function and then we settled in to watch Sydney who were the red & white hot favourites against Melbourne. Alas, Sydney were smashed scoring just 10. 9 (69) to Melbourne’s 22. 10 (142).
One article explained that, “Melbourne put on a clinic in the first three quarters before Sydney added a touch of respectability to the score-line in the last. At one stage Melbourne was 91 points the better of Sydney. The Swans’ hopes of finals are drastically reduced now.”
It was a disaster for Sydney – and for those of us in Bobby’s company. When the final siren sounded, Bobby excused himself explaining that he had to go down to the Swans’ change rooms to shake hands with each of the players. “Win, lose or draw, I have to go down to shake hands with the players”.
Bobby Skilton flanked by the 2012 Premiership Team last Friday night.
Last Friday night at the Club Champion Dinner, Co captain Jarrad McVeigh, presented Bobby with a framed photo of a moment on the MCG after the presentation to the premiership team. McVeigh said:
“To see Bob Skilton in the rooms after every Melbourne game win or loss, we all get a little bit nervous when he comes up to shake our hand. It’s a testament for what you’ve done for this footy club that tonight is named after you out of respect for what you’ve done for the club. Tonight we’re going to present you with an award which was an amazing moment for us and it is an unbelievable photo we’d like to present to you.”
Speaking after receiving the special honour, Skilton expressed just how much the Sydney Swans Football Club meant to him.
“I can’t remember, apart from family and those sorts of things, a better time in my life than just then (the moment in the photo). I’m not going to say any more (other) than how proud are we of our football club.”
Bobby Skilton, triple Brownlow Medallist, nine times South Melbourne Best and Fairest, AFL Team of the Century rover, South Melbourne Team of the Century rover, Official AFL Hall of Fame Legend etc, etc, you are an amazing man.
From everyone at the Vietnam Swans, congratulations.
*** To read the full article from the Sydney Swans’ website on “Skilton’s special moment” and to see a video of the presentation, click here. And to the guys who named the room above Pepperonis, the “Bobby Skilton Room”, visionary stuff!
