But a number of footy fans were surprised when a few of the current class of Essendon Bombers made a special trip to Tocumwal recently.
They were there to surprise the club’s oldest surviving player, now 97 year-old Fred Payne.
Mr Payne played in the red and black in the 1950s, and now calls the Lions Community Hostel at Tocumwal home.
Visiting him for his birthday celebrations were current players Matt Guelfi, Harry Jones and Dyson Heppell.
The opportunity to commemorate Payne was an exciting one for Heppell, who cited the club’s willingness to pay homage to its past players.
“It was great to reconnect and see a bit of a tear in his eye,” he said.
“You could still see the pride that he had from representing the club.
“He wore number 35, and Matt Guelfi wears that now so he was pretty chuffed about that.”
Payne made his debut in 1949 and played in 14 consecutive wins to start his career - one of 14 players of all time in VFL/AFL to achieve that feat.
Referred to by the Essendon Football Club as a “dependable rover and occasional forward”, Payne was a member of Essendon’s 1950s reserves premiership win after playing 10 senior games throughout the season.
In 1951, Payne played 16 senior games.
Although he missed the first two finals through injury and was named on the bench as the ‘20th man’ for the grand final, Payne was able to play after ruck John Gill was omitted due to illness.
A significant moment of his time at Essendon, the grand final appearance came against Geelong in front of 84,109 spectators at the MCG in which he kicked one goal.
In the match Essendon took a four point lead into half-time but ultimately lost by 11.
After stints with Hawthorn’s reserves and Kyneton in 1954, Payne returned to Essendon’s reserves for the 1955 and 1956 seasons before eventually finishing his playing career at local club Ardmona.
Outside of his playing career, Fred was a police officer and retired from duty as senior sergeant in 1986 after more than 33 years with the Victoria Police.
The special visit by the popular Dons was not only impactful for Mr Payne, but for others in the hostel community too.
Lions Community Hostel leisure and activities co-ordinator Gayle Kelly said the visit had everyone buoyed.
“It was a great day;, the players couldn’t have been more wonderful.
“We at the Tocumwal Lions Community Hostel were blown away as was Fred.
“The players were really nice and took the time to introduce themselves to Fred, as well as all the other residents.
“It was incredible.
“The players presented Fred with a signed jumper, a book that commemorates the club’s 150 years and a box of medals.”
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