The 350-game Wick who owes his life to his club & has paid it back in spades

Alan Patey literally wouldn’t EXIST without the Elsternwick Football Club.

In 1974, Richard Patey (known around the club as Paddles) headed to the Elsternwick Hotel after footy training for ‘team bonding’ with his teammates as per usual.

Meanwhile, Susan McCall from Strathmore was arriving for dinner with a work colleague whose husband happened to play for the Wicks. Richard and Susan met that fateful night and are still together half a century later.

Ten years later, their son Alan was born and grew up around the Elsternwick Football Club.

“Dad’s a life member and in the Hall of Fame,” says Alan proudly, “While Mum used to work in the canteen, which was just a tent at the time. We’ve got photos of me as a baby in Dad’s arms at the Sunday morning barrel!

“I was born into it. I’d go into the rooms as a 5 or 6 year-old and loved that smell of deep heat. I’d run the boundary as a kid. I wanted to be involved. I was destined to be there and I’ve always loved being there.

“I’d watch Dad and his mates train, then Dad would have a can. These days he watches ME train while he has a can!”

Every training night, Alan drives from his home in Cranbourne West via Carnegie to pick up his Dad and the pair go to training together – Alan nursing his 39 year-old body through another session (he’s 40 next Tuesday) while Paddles catches up with his old teammates and watches the current generation go through their paces.

Alan played junior footy at Murrumbeena, then Under 16s and 17s at Caulfield before joining the Wicks as a 17 year-old in 2002.

“I’ve been playing footy since I was six,” said Alan. “All up, I’ve played over 550 games and Dad has missed just two of them in my entire life.”

350 of those have been for the Wicks, with 180 in the Seniors, 145 in the Reserves and 25 in the Thirds over a 23-year period.

“Pulling that jumper on – my Dad did it, I did it. It means everything to me. I never left. I could never leave,” he says in understated fashion.

“I was always in the backline in the Ones. In the Twos, I played midfield and captained the team. When I had my kids (Ashton 8 and Penny 4), I couldn’t train as much so I helped out in the Thirds.”

The man universally known around the club as ‘Gangster’ has spanned the generations, now playing alongside the kids of his original team-mates.

“They all know me as ‘Gangster’ too. When I was 17, I used to enjoy hip-hop and gangster rap. I still do actually. I used to wear the baggy pants and thought I was cool. I got the nickname and it stuck. Everyone calls me that, even the young ones.”

Alan has been there through some tough times for the club and is delighted to see where it is now.

“I captained the Twos for three years between 2015 and 17 and we won two games in that whole time. It was really tough.

“Originally, we had old wooden rooms, then we got brick ones, then the ones we have now. Once the umpires finished training next door at Elsternwick Park, half our ground would go dark when they turned the lights off, so we’d squeeze across and train on the lit side!

“But now we’ve got Womens & Thirds – the club’s flying. The girls have been a big part of the cultural change – they’ve been brilliant. We used to beg for people to do anything. Now when you’re injured you go down and help. We were a boys’ club and the girls have helped remodel that. It’s been really good for our club.

“It’s the healthiest I’ve ever seen it. We’ve had some very good Senior teams, but this is the most complete team I’ve seen. That’s why I keep going. I’ve been through the hard times and the club is going so well now. It makes me happy to be around.”

The ultimate on-field success has eluded Alan… so far.

“In all my 23 years, I’ve never won a premiership. I’ve come close a couple of times. I was the 23^rd Man for the 2005 Seniors Grand Final. I’d played 13 games plus the Semi that year but I got squeezed out. The coach told me that if it rained, I’d be in. But it turned out to be a sunny day.

“That hurt, but that’s football. It made me a better player though. It made me work harder and the following year (2006) I finished third in the Best & Fairest. I also met Brigitte that year, which also helped – I settled down a bit!”

A true measure of Alan’s selfless team-first attitude came long after that game was run and won. Alan had received a premiership medal for his contribution to the team.

“I lost mine,” said teammate Justin Hunter. “He offered to give me his. He could have left 18 years ago but stayed.

“Alan is and has always been warm and inviting. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve played one game or 300 games, he treats you the same. He is kind and genuine and genuinely adored by all that have crossed his path at Elsternwick.”

Alan came close to that elusive flag again in 2023.

“I’d played in the Thirds all year, then played the last four or five games in the Twos because there were a few injuries and blokes unavailable. Then some boys came back from injury and overseas and I got squeezed out again. It hurt a little bit but I wasn’t in the Best 22. I think it hurt Dad more than me.”

Speaking of hurt, Alan has enjoyed a relatively good run with injury which has allowed him to ultimately join the 350 Club.

“A couple of hammys and quads, I’ve broken my nose 5 or 6 times, a broken cheekbone or two, some concussions and stitches. But no long-term injuries fortunately,” said Alan.

“I feel fitter than ever. Last year I had planta fasciitis – it felt like someone was plunging a hot knife into my feet. I couldn’t work. I needed my son Ashton to help me get out of bed. I also had a quad and a hammy and wondered – ‘Is it time?’

“Nah, bugger it – I need a premiership! There’s always next year… don’t tell my wife Brigitte though!” he laughs.

“She 100% carries the load. She had to take me to hospital three or four times in a year once, so she’s not a fan of watching me play. But she supports me through everything. I’m not really a guy who would go for a run without being told to, so footy keeps me fit.

“Bridge agrees I’m a long-time retired and she knows playing footy makes me happy. The hardest thing is juggling family commitments so maybe every second or third week I’ll have a rest and go watch Ashton’s basketball.

“So yeah, I think I’ll go around again next year. Maybe not every week… But then again – maybe every week! I just love it too much to give it away!

“It’s such a part of my life. I wouldn’t have met half my mates without it. I’ve got so many from football over the years. When Old Players Day comes around, I know them all. If I didn’t play with them, my Dad did!

“Those off-field relationships are so special. The way the club makes you feel is too. You have a child and your phone blows up with congratulations from everyone. It’s like a second home.”

Alan is looking forward to seeing so many of those familiar faces celebrating his 350^th game on Saturday.

“Playing 350 means a lot. It means the world. It just goes so fast. Mum’s coming – she doesn’t come often. I’ll have family and extended family and a few of my mates are coming down. We’ve got a Trivia Night at the Elsternwick Pub afterwards.”

Back where it literally all began…