81 Cumberland Oval Fence Pickets

[parrathruandthru]

Thought I'd post some pics up of this. Got them in 81 before the ground was burnt to the ground. Parra used to train Tuesday & Thursday nights & Saturday mornings and my mates and I used to go and watch them train regularly. The good old days when everyone was welcome. Or at least the gates weren't locked. Used to join in a game of cricket with the players before they started to train. These were got the week of the grand final and one is signed by the full Grand Final team including reserves the master coach Gibson. Took the initiative to 'acquire" some of the pickets from in front of the grand stand as the ground was to be demolished. Framed it myself as a kid and decided to spruce it up the other day with some spare sets of 81 cards that I had. Might be 1/1 item from Parra's first premiership

thanks for lookin

 

[Leith Holding]

Very nice!

 

[ooneil]

Wow - looks fantastic Geoff! Very cool item!

 

[troy titans douglas]

something different, were you the only one that took the pickets? well done!

 

[parrathruandthru]

thanks
not the only one who took some pickets but I never saw anybody else get one signed. We usually used to go to training once a week but went a couple of times a week once they reached the semis that year. Only a few people ever showed up. People definitely took some souvenirs after the last game against Manly as there were heaps of empty spaces in the fence during the semis that year as they trained. Parra trained at Granville park the following years and never saw any get signed there either. I wonder how many are still treasured and how many ended up in the BBQ
A couple of pickets can be seen in the LHS foreground in this pic. Mine are from where the car is parked up against the fence.
The little wooden box on stilts on the RHS of the stand is where Rex Mossop used to commentate from. This photo would be from 82/83.

I imagine a lot of pickets would have been taken home on the night they burnt the stand down. Grand Final night 1981

View attachment 86511

 

[shane_sharks]

very nice mate

 

[Victor The Viking]

Nice, unique piece of history there.

 

[toovey]

why did it take so long for parra stadium to get built? anyone know?

 

[parrathruandthru]

The "friends of Parramatta Park" opposed it saying it would damage the park so therefore it went through the courts
in the end the state government passed legislation to build it I believe. That is why Parra has to rent it from them.
The person who was the main protester lived in the Blue mountains and probably never visited the park
Tree huggers basically

 

[owen21]

I love those unique items...definitely a 1/1

 

[pharoh]

That is sensational!

 

[hobo]

Very unique, great piece