HAVING cheered the Bulldogs since she was a schoolgirl in Footscray, grandmother Kathleen Ryan is concise when asked what a grand final win will mean.
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“I can die happy, it will be a dream come true,” the 87-year-old said.
The resident of Albury’s Hume Country Estate attends every Western Bulldogs home match and is ecstatic she will be at the MCG for the clash against Sydney.
“I keep saying to the good Lord please spare me another year and he has,” Mrs Ryan said.
“Perhaps he knows I won’t be here next year.”
The middle of three sisters, Mrs Ryan grew up in Footscray close to her club’s home Whitten Oval and attended her first match at 16.
“We lived just a hop, skip and jump from the ground and my late husband lived a hop, skip from the ground,” she said.
By the time of Footscray’s only premiership in 1954, Mrs Ryan was married to fellow fan James and they had two children but could not attend the grand final.
But they watched the team celebrating on the steps of the Footscray Town Hall after defeating Melbourne.
“That was good, because the crowd was there and the players were all there – it was fantastic,” Mrs Ryan said.
Seven years later she was part of a crowd of 107,935 which saw Footscray’s only other grand final, a 43-point loss to Hawthorn.
“I was very excited and very disappointed in the end,” Mrs Ryan said.
“I won’t be as disappointed this time if we lose because they’ve given us a wonderful year.”
She had planned to attend the Bulldogs’ thrilling preliminary final win against Greater Western Sydney last week but after a friend she was travelling with became sick she watched it on television.
Since then Mrs Ryan, who will attend the grand final with son Gary, has made sure those who come across her unit know where her footy allegiance lies.
Her abode’s front window has been decorated with several red, white and blue scarves and she has had two miniature ceramic bulldogs standing sentinel.
Mrs Ryan travels to Brisbane each year, where another son lives, to see the Bulldogs play and has also been to Cairns and Darwin for matches.
The trip to the Northern Territory capital saw her accompanied by Hazel Cross, grandmother to then Dogs player Daniel Cross.
“It’s been a passion all my life,” Mrs Ryan said when asked why she loved football so much.
“Not even when we were on the bottom of the ladder (would I have given up).
“It’s something I’ve always done and always loved.”
