A jumbo-sized crowd at Arden Street has been blamed for sparking a mini stampede from a circus elephant back in 1978.
A near record attendance of 31,424 people had crammed into the venue to see the Roos take on Collingwood in round 5 and they got way more than they’d bargained for.
Known for its innovation, North had organised a special surprise for the fans in conjunction with a local circus according to then marketing manager and former full-back Barry Cheatley.
“We had a pop concert here, we staged a fight with Anthony Mundine’s father, Tony, here. In this particular case, one of our pennant members was a man named Jack Allan. He was a bit of a character and he owned Allan Amusements,” he told NMFC.com.au.
“To promote his circus it was decided that we’ll bring out an elephant.”
Cheatley recalled that after the curtain-raiser concluded, the elephant was unleashed – literally.
“The handler was with him, and there was a member of the cheer squad riding the elephant,” he said.
“They were walking around the old Gasometer Wing.”
The sight of an elephant on the turf took everyone by surprise but before the club could trumpet the stunt as a resounding success, all hell broke loose.
“As the elephant was on the ground, on came the Collingwood team,” Cheatley said.
“There was a roar as they came on the ground. The elephant may have been used to a circus crowd, but not a very big crowd like was there that day. The noise was obviously a bit too much for the elephant and it started to panic.”
And so too did club staff and local police who ushered people to safety with the pachyderm threatening to cut loose.
“That’s when we were speechless, because we could see what might have happened.”
Thankfully, the elephant calmed down and it’s handler was able to wrest back control of it. The young rider was unscathed.
The moment has become one of football folklore.
For the record, North came from behind at the last break to defeat Collingwood by nine points which was no easy tusk.
More: The Beginning | The Gasometer
