Every inch of Peter Haby’s museum is filled with Hawthorn Football Club memorabilia.
Key points:
- Haby has served as a Hawthorn Football Club historian since 1978
- His preservation of Hawthorn’s history was recently recognised by the AFL
- He says his mother was responsible for developing his love of the Hawks
There are shiny premiership cups, stuff and mounted hawks, faded leather boots and countless team photos that adorn the walls.
But there is one piece of Hawks history that the 79-year-old treasures most: Chris Langford’s guernsey from the famous “merger match” between Hawthorn and Melbourne in round 22, 1996.
“This one here, to me this is the crown jewel of the whole club,” Haby told ABC Sport.
He adds: “You and I wouldn’t be having this interview now if it hadn’t been for ‘Langers’ pulling up his guernsey.”
Haby is referring to the moment Langford lifted his guernsey above his head and showed it to the crowd at the end of the Hawks’ thrilling one-point win over the Demons.
The encounter on the MCG and Langford’s display were flashpoints for Hawthorn’s ultimately successful fight against a proposed merger with Melbourne.
“I was shit scared,” Haby explained at the prospect of the merger.
“End of what you believed in.”
The club survived and so did Langford’s guernsey, prompting Haby to write to the champion fullback to ask if it could hang in his museum.
“So Langford turned up at the captain’s pie night … and said, ‘Oh, yeah I’ll help you out,’ and he just … rolled up his guernsey and said, ‘There it is, it’s yours,’ and that’s hanging at the doorway,” Haby said.
“To me, that’s the most important piece of Hawthorn memorabilia.”
Recognition for a lifetime of service
Haby’s museum survived too. In fact, it is thriving.
Slowly walking through it gives you a true sense of the former school teacher’s meticulous and lifelong dedication — or rather obsession — with the brown and gold.
Haby is the curator of the museum, which opened in 1994 and is now nestled inside the club’s headquarters at Waverley.
It remains the only accredited museum in the AFL that is open to the public.
Since 1978, Haby has served as a club historian, authoring or co-authoring several books on its past and steadily accumulating the now-vast collection of Hawthorn souvenirs.
That is a commitment lasting more than half of his life, and he has done it as a volunteer.
“Michael Tuck’s got a record at the club for the most number of games. I’ve probably got a record at Hawthorn for hanging the most number of photos,” Haby laughed.
Haby’s passionate preservation of Hawks history was recently recognised by the AFL, which gave him the Jack Titus Award for his service to the game.
Titus was a Richmond great and Australian Football Hall of Fame member known for his achievements on and off the field.
“When I think of the Hawthorn people who’ve got the Jack Titus Award … to me they had real jobs in the club, whereas I just thought Hawthorn should know its history,” he said.
“It was just a bunch of guys that got together … who said, ‘There must be somewhere to hang pictures up in the club.’”
A record of the club’s past was virtually non-existent before Haby and his small band of volunteers came along.
Their research culminated in Harry Gordon’s book The Hard Way, which was published in 1990 and chronicled Hawthorn’s history, with Haby describing it as an “icebreaker”.
A footy card fanatic
Haby’s love affair with Hawthorn began the moment his mother slipped a footy card into his lunch box.
“Mum was a fanatical Geelong supporter,” Haby explained.
“She put in my play lunch a card. It was Albert ‘Butch’ Prior. He had the brown guernsey with the gold V (Hawthorn’s old guernsey).
“For some unknown reason, I just fell in love with those colours.”
Haby still has the tiny card of Prior, ready to show to museum visitors.
As it turns out, Haby’s mother was also a collector.
“Years later, when she had passed away and I was going through all her stuff, I found all this incredible Geelong footy club stuff, which I passed on to [Geelong historian] Col Hutchison,” Haby said.
‘The heart and soul’
Haby’s deep connection to past players is evident.
Two decades ago he formed a database that gathered the details of more than 500 players. Just 19 players in the club’s history are unaccounted for.
“In a lot of ways, Peter’s been the heart and soul of the football club over many, many years,” four-time premiership player John Kennedy Jr said.
“It’s people like Peter that you build a club around.
“He’s just been a terrific Hawthorn person, dedicated to the task. And if all our players were as dedicated to Hawthorn as Peter is, we’d probably never lose a premiership.
“I would argue he’s a critical part of the ongoing success of the football club.
“As players, when we’re finished, all we’ve got are the memories … and it’s great to be able to go back to a place where these memories are visual.”
Haby counts himself as lucky, someone who found himself in the right place at the right time.
And his love story with Hawthorn is still unfolding.
“The players from the 60s, 70s and 80s … [it’s great] when you see them come in with their kids and grandkids and you sit out the back and hear these wonderful stories of, ‘Gee Grandpa, were you that good?’ or, ‘Was your hair really that long?’” Haby said.
“I’ve heard a lot of those stories. And they’re friends.”
Source: AFL NEWS ABC
