it’s Margie
it’s Margie Gill… & this incredible lady continues to selflessly give her time for the Port Adelaide Football Club family. Margie works/volunteers a full week not because she has to, she does it because what she contributes makes a huge difference & she loves it so much.
Although Margie was originally born in New South Wales it didn’t take her long to become a part of the Port Adelaide family.
Margie remembers those early days, “My family came over from New South Wales when I was about 5 years old. We moved into a caravan at Semaphore Park at the back of this house which had a great big backyard just off Bower Rd.
There was 4 of us that used to live in the caravan - my Step Father, Mother my Sister & I. Back then that was poor people’s life, we weren’t very affluent, but now it’s the trendy way to live.” Margie was just ahead of her time… trend setter!!
So how did Margie go from a young girl living in New South Wales to now being an important member of the Port Adelaide Football Club where she gives her time & expertise while rubbing shoulders with football royalty who she calls friends.
Well it all happened pretty quick for Margie, she explains, “My step father was a ‘wool classer,’ so he had a job in the wool stores down in the Port, so that’s where the Port Adelaide Footy Club came into our home”. Margie was blooded early, she can remember, “our caravan was on this huge backyard so we had seven cats that were all named after great Port Adelaide footy players… there was Foster,” (Fos Williams) & that was one of Margie’s favs.
When Margie first started work, it was down at Woolworth’s in the Port (which is now Cash Convertors). She remembers back in the day, “It was fabulous, around the corner was Coles, there were shops & stores everywhere. In the late fifties the Port was absolutely thriving, back then all the ships used to come into the Port & all the Seaman used to be in the shops, it was absolutely full on.”
Supporting the Port Adelaide Football Club was much more than barracking for your footy team on the weekend it was a religion & everyone associated with the Port Adelaide Football Club were family. Margie recalls, “I started to drag the kids along to the games & later my son played mini league for Port & we got right into it. Then I started bringing my kids along to every game, sometimes they weren’t that happy about it, but now my daughter is as much of a Port tragic as I am.”
When asking Margie who was the best of all the greats she has been privileged enough to see play, she’s quick to let us know, “I haven’t seen a better footballer than Russell Ebert.”
Speaking about Russell, Margie thinks back, “Over the years I used to think, I wonder what Russell thinks… because everywhere he was, I was. Even at Magarey Medal functions when women weren’t allowed to attend, I’d be there.” Margie remembers a funny story, “one year they had the Magarey Medal function at the Lion & my friend’s husband worked at the hotel & he got us in, but we had to dress as waitresses… so we did. So can you imagine, we’ve rocked up on the night of the function, we’ve parked the car & who should pull up right beside us, Russell Ebert. When he looked at me, I said to my friend, I my god he’s thinking here she is again!! It was a great night, Greg Anderson won that night, it was brilliant. The only thing that wasn’t all that good for me, was every time I moved someone would ask me for a jug of beer.”
Times have changed & now Margie has a desk only a few metres away from Russell’s at the Port Adelaide Football Club head quarters & they have both become very good friends.
When asking Margie about some of the great Premiership’s she has seen she lets us know, “as you get a little bit older you forget the exact year. Going to Adelaide Oval, I can’t remember what year it was but it was my first Grand Final. My best ones are probably the later ones. Scotty Hodges in 94 , Scotty wasn’t having a huge day until the last quarter. We won!!”
Before the 1999 Grand Final Margie remembers, “leading into that Grand Final my friends & I decided if we win this one we are all getting a Magpie tattoo & being the eldest of the group, I’m thinking …no way!! Well we won & before I went down to get the Magpie tattoo my son told me it won’t hurt at all... but… it killed me!!”
Other great memories Margie shares is after a Grand Final win!! “It didn’t matter how tired you were or what else was going on in the world, I just had to be back at Alberton Oval after a GF win. I’d be the first in the door, upstairs at the club, alot of the times up on the stage when the players would be presenting the Grand Final Cup to everyone. They were brilliant parties!”
Asking Margie what does the Port Adelaide Football Club mean to her, she replies “I love my family, they are the priority, but it’s my second family & there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my club at all. I have to say the job I do has to be the best job in the world. To be able to come to the Port Adelaide Football Club & help out & be with & be connected & be part of something that you absolutely love is very special to me. Over the years I don’t think I’ve found a word that describes the feeling that you have for Port Adelaide… there’s passion & loyalty & words like that but I don’t know what that other thing is, but once it’s in you, you never lose it.”
Wanting to know how long Margie is going to give her time to the club she loves, she lets us know, “my goal in life is to reach 117 years of age, purely because the oldest person in the world was 117 & that’s what I aspire to & I’ll continue to do my bit for the club all the way through.”
So a huge two thumbs up to Margie, she encapsulates all that our community is built on, belonging, connection, inclusion & contributing to something bigger than you… Love ya work Margie!!