Stan and Sinh with the Swannies in Hanoi

Hanoi Prez, Mark “Willy” Williams tells us what happened when ex Vietnam Football League player and current legend, Stan Middleton and his wife, Ms Sinh, turned up to Hanoi.

After a hard slog with a training session lead by Dan ‘Smash’ Kindness at the Aussie embassy, the northerner Swannies needed to know something special was at the end of it. And there was – a dinner with some beautiful, lovely Vietnamese ladies named Mai and Sinh at Jaspas restaurant in the Hanoi Towers. Oh and lets not forget their husbands Stan and Rick, past Vietnam veterans!!

We all know Stan as the man who has contributed significantly to bridging the gap between past and present AFL days in Vietnam. After all, it was Stan that let the Vietnam Swans know of the existence of a whole super strong footy comp during the Vietnam American war with games being played at the Lord Mayor’s oval. This oval is now known as the Vung Tau ‘dog track’ which the northern Swannies played on during last year’s ANZAC weekend against the southerner Swannies to come out as eventual winners by a single point.

It was a delight that the northern Swannies could play host to Stan, Sinh, Rick and Mai. It was captivating to hear Stan deliver a few classic yarns about what the Aussie footy was all about back in late 1960s in Vietnam. The more you see and hear his passion for football in Vietnam and Australia, the more you realise just how amazing AFL can be in enriching people’s lives and bringing together different communities both past and present.

The northerner Swannies, Crazy, Micky ‘Frank’, Trav, Dan ‘Smash’ Kindness will all treasure the special evening and dinner for a long time to come. It was just what was needed after a tough training in the lead up to the huge ANZAC footy clash between the Honker’s Dragons and Vietnam Swans happening April 23rd.