Moama resident and Rich River Golf Club employee Ted Fordham will be inducted into the Essendon Football Club Hall of Fame on Friday night, taking his place among the pantheon of legends that have graced the proud club.
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Fordham, 83, moved to Moama 10 years ago, having previously taken family holidays and played golf in the region. He has a strong presence at Rich River, playing golf throughout the week and driving the drinks cart on course every Saturday.
The news of the induction, delivered by former Essendon player Adam Ramanauskas, came as a surprise to Fordham, who also served in multiple administration roles at the club following the end of his playing days.
“It was a surprise. Sometimes you think is it justified or isn't it justified?” he said.
“I spent 23 years at the club. It was all on an honorary basis, there wasn't any paid work there. I was a player, I was the vice-president, I was chairman of the match committee and I was also chairman of recruiting while I was there.
“They were all responsible positions, so when you think, 22 or 23 years of your life, you've given a fair bit. Do I deserve it? The panel said I do, so I'm quite happy to accept.”
Reflecting on his time at the Bombers, there are a litany of personal achievements that Fordham remembers with great pride.
“I had some great moments. I’ve had success in a grand final, a winning grand final,” he said.
“In that grand final I kicked seven goals, which was an equal record at that time, and it still is an equal record for winning teams. There are players who have kicked more in a losing team, but in a winning team it's still a record.
“I've got a John Coleman medal from 1966 for leading goal-kicker in the VFL, as it was called then. The AFL organised a retrospective Norm Smith medal going back to 1965 and the panel that was put in charge of that selected me as the Norm Smith medallist on that day.
“So, there are three achievements that I can't help but be proud of, and a lot of people would give their left arm to have those achievements.”
The Coleman medallist in 1966, Fordham perhaps would not have ever won the award if it were not for John Coleman himself.
“My first game in the senior team was at North Melbourne in 1961, and my first game was John's first game as coach,” Fordham said.
“I think I played half-forward flank that day, and over the next three or four years I played half-back or half-forward, sometimes centre half-back, and I must admit I struggled a little bit. I wasn't the fittest person on the ground.”
“It was in 1964 he (Coleman) said ‘what about having a go at full-forward?’ I was quite happy and I said yeah, I'll give it a go.
“It was the last game of the year, it was against South Melbourne as they were called in those days, and it was my first game at full-forward. I kicked eight goals, so that was a turning point.
“The next year, which was ’65, I kicked 54 goals for the year and I ran second in the goal-kicking. The leading goal-kicker was around about 56 or 57.
“John used to write for the Herald in those days and he predicted I'd kick 100 goals the next year, so that put a bit of a bit of weight on my shoulders, but I think I got to 76 goals.
“I think amongst those 76 goals there was something like 58 points I kicked. I had a lot of shots because I wasn't a very good kick, I must admit. I wasn't a model, I wasn't something to look at as far as my kicking ability, but I did win the (goal-kicking) in '66.”
After moving from full-forward in 1967, Fordham enjoyed a successful year as ruck rover in 1968, when Essendon made the grand final, lining up on a legend of the game.
“When the '68 grand final came around I had a terrible day. I really had a bad day as a player,” he said.
“When I think back on it, I realise that Ron Barassi, who was coaching Carlton, put a player by the name of Sergio Silvagni, as everyone would know, on me as a tagger.
“That was pretty unheard of in those days, but when I think back, Barassi had put Serge on me and said ‘if you don't get a kick, that doesn't matter, just don't let him get any’."
Retiring from football in 1969, Fordham worked for his former coach Coleman, managing the Victoria Hotel in Brunswick until Coleman’s passing in 1973.
“I worked for him for three or four years until his death,” Fordham said.
“I was the unfortunate one who had to get up at 3am, pack my wife and my two kids up in the car and go over to Monica, his wife, and two daughters — they lived in Kiora St, Essendon.
“It was a very sad day for me. I can still get a tear in my eye when I think about it, because he was a friend, he was a boss, he was a coach, so that was one of my saddest days.”
In 23 years at Windy Hill, Fordham saw many great players walk through the doors, even ushering in one of the Bombers’ favourite sons.
"As chairman of the recruiting, I also had first-hand knowledge of Timmy Watson coming to Essendon,” he said.
“The story has been told a few times, but it's true that there was Kevin Egan, Barry Keam and myself, and we went to Dimboola to get Tim.
"When we arrived in Dimboola, Timmy was on the front verandah with his case. This is gospel, he was there with his case.
“Tim's father turned up and we had a chat to him and he said, ‘if Timmy wants to go to Melbourne, he's got my blessing, he can go’.
“So anyhow, then we had to go around to the football club to negotiate a clearance for him. I think there was 32 on the committee and there was three of us, and it was like being before a firing squad — there were all these questions getting asked of us.
“We said we were going to look after Tim, he will get his accommodation, he will have his school uniform paid for, he will have his school fees paid for, and we will supply him with $10 a week pocket money, and that was the deal.
“So, we brought Timmy down, and I can remember Tim playing his first practice match at Essendon in the under-19s. We played him for a quarter and he was just too good for them. We put him in the second 18, we played him a quarter there and he was just too good for them.
“Then we put him in the seniors and everyone knows how good Timmy Watson finished up. We had a lot of guys from up in the Wimmera in those days, but Tim was the jewel.”
Still a passionate Bombers man, Fordham will be immortalised in the Essendon Hall of Fame in front of family and friends at the MCG on Friday night, his 23 years of service to the club now recognised alongside names such as Bill Hutchison, Kevin Sheedy and Matthew Lloyd.