By Cameron Weston
WITH the Western Bulldogs running rampant at the top of the ladder and shortening every week in Premiership betting, a new book has been released detailing the club’s only premiership win.
Sporting the grand title Footscray’s Royal Year, the new book by author, historian and football enthusiast Marc Fiddian takes a close look at events leading up to the climax of the 1954 Victorian Football League season.
The book is the fourth in a series by Fiddian, who has written about Collingwood (1958), Hawthorn (1961) and South Melbourne (1933) premierships in the past.
Mr Fiddian is a keen Collingwood supporter but, thankfully, manages to push that aside when he is writing.
“I detach myself when I put on my writer’s hat,” he said.
Drawing much of his research from newspaper articles of the day, Mr Fiddian said the Footscray premeirship story came from a time when football at all levels was thriving in Melbourne’s west.
Williamstown and Yarraville were both strong teams in their respective leagues and the Footscray win in the Victorian Football League capped things off.
“It was an era when football in the West was particularly strong,” Mr Fiddian said.
The book was written on and off over a 12-month period and has been released through a small publisher.
Mr Fiddian has taken on most of the publicity and distribution himself.
Footscray’s Royal Year is available at Seagulls Bookshop in Williamstown and at the Melbourne Sports Bookshop.
