It’s a unique claim to fame, and a story that survived generations of being passed down to become part of family folklore – that Michael Ryan modelled the proposed Collingwood jumper during a meeting at the Collingwood Town Hall back in 1892.
Almost certainly, this would have been the historic 12 February meeting at which the local community, and its leaders, came together in record numbers to endorse the formation of the newly-created football club. Less than three months later, that club would be playing in the VFA for the first time.
And while we have never found any written reportage that confirms the Ryan family story, it sounds entirely believable to us.
Michael Ryan was, after all, a local lad through and through. It looks like he’d been playing his footy with Port Melbourne, but when news of the fledgling Collingwood came to light, was described by one newspaper as “a local boy anxious to be a player”.
He was just 22 when the Magpies took to the field for their first ever game in May of 1892, and he was part of that historic first team. He was said to be one of the few players in that first team with experience at the highest level.
Ryan was named on a wing that day, but over the next two seasons found himself becoming predominantly a defender. And while he attracted precious few mentions in the press, he basically became a regular selection, playing 24 games across 1892-93, with the only games he missed in ’92 being due to an injured foot.
The Mercury once said that he “was all there in defence”, but other than that he just seems to have gone about his job quietly and efficiently.
In 1893, it is believed that he offered to take charge of a practice match between Collingwood and 23 players from Heidelberg. This seems to have sparked an interest in umpiring, which he pursued for the next couple of years.
He returned to the playing field with Fitzroy Juniors in 1896, where he was described as “the once famous Collingwood player”. But he didn’t last long there, and instead returned to his home turf, playing with Collingwood Juniors early that season, and winning a trophy for “centre back of the season”.
It’s not clear at this stage what happened with his football after that, but he remained a local boy. In 1900, he was living with his father, Francis, in a house in Rokeby Street (his mother had died when Michael was still a teenager) when a nasty fracas ensued. Six men known as “the Fitzroy murderers” or “the Webb Street push” assaulted Francis as he was leaving the house one night. Michael heard the commotion, grabbed a gun that had been stored inside and joined the fray.
In the end, there were serious injuries, but at least nobody died. Various members of the gang were convicted in court, and Michael himself was fined two pounds for assaulting one of the men. Collingwood was a tough place in those days.
Still, Michael Ryan could always look back upon his football career with pride, and especially the night he revealed to the world what the guernsey of a newly-formed football team would look like. Nobody could have known then just how iconic, or what a big part of Australian sport, that jumper would become.
- Michael Roberts