By DAVID NAGEL
DANDENONG Football Club’s home ground at Shepley Oval was a magical place to be in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s – and there was one good reason for that.
A man called ‘Frosty’.
The club, formed in 1874, joined the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1958 from the Federal Football League, playing at the Dandenong Showgrounds until 1961, before moving to Shepley for the 1962 season.
But it wasn’t until the kid from Garfield, Jim ‘Frosty’ Miller, arrived in 1967 that the famous navy blue and red had its halcyon days.
Seriously, ‘Frosty’ was a hero in these parts – and beyond.
Many of the faces that you see in a packed grandstand at Punt Road for the 1969 VFA grand final against Preston were from our neck of the woods.
From Garfield to Keysborough, from Pakenham to Dandenong, most of them were there to cheer on one man … ‘Frosty’, who needed just one goal to kick his first century of goals in the VFA.
The Redlegs went down to the Bullants by 12 points, but ‘Frosty’ kicked seven – and a star, which had been glowing since his debut for the Redlegs – well, it had arrived with the impact of Halley’s Comet.
Over the next seven years, ‘Frosty’ drew people to Dandenong’s home ground like bees to a honey-pot.
And he delivered, kicking 883 goals, in a 183-game career that had many highs, the occasional low, and eventually, a medal named in its honour.
Frosty played in six premierships – two with Garfield, two with Dandenong, and two with Berwick.
He kicked 29 goals in 11 games for Carlton and in 1978 he slammed home a remarkable 201 goals as the Wickers made it back-to-back flags.
It’s easy to get carried away in these instances, but ‘Frosty’ really was a hero to football lovers in our region.
“They were great days, I liked it, but the main thing was to forget about the other stuff and just play football,” Frosty said.
“Winning premierships is what it’s all about so they were the best years but I loved all my time at Dandenong.”
Of course the Dandenong Football Club is bigger than one man, winning a premiership in 1962 to be promoted to the top-flight of the VFA for the following season.
In a 10-year period from 1967 to 1976, the Redlegs played in six grand finals for two premierships, defeating Port Melbourne (1967) and Preston (1971).
But the glory days haven’t always been forthcoming.
By 1983 the club was $100,000 in debt – and was in the wilderness – before fighting back, raising $140,000 and recruiting high-class players like Tony Elshaug, who led the Redlegs to a nine-point grand final victory over Werribee in 1991.
But previous lessons had not been learnt and the club became insolvent in 1993, owing more than $220,000. A new club, the Dandenong Redlegs, was formed and played two seasons before folding as an entity in 1994.
Dandenong’s footballing identity has carried on since 1995 through the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup.
Players like Jeff White (Fremantle – 1994), Travis Johnstone (Melbourne – 1997), Tom Scully (Melbourne – 2009) and Lachie Whitfield (GWS – 2012), all number one draft picks in the AFL; all forged their careers from Shepley.
But a man called ‘Frosty’ – he made it a magical place to be.
