History of the Blues Coterie

The Early Years:
The Blues Coterie had its beginnings in 1974 when Jim Quinn, who was a marketing employee at Carlton, placed an ad in the Sun newspaper asking for people interested in watching the football in a comfortable environment and also wanting to support the Club to contact him. Initial membership was $200.

The ‘comfortable surroundings’ was a room in the back of the Heatley stand. There was a bar, a few round tables and some bar stools; the food served was party pies and saveloys. Members who took up the option also had reserved seats in the stand.

The room doubled as a recreation room for Carlton’s seconds, the raffle ticket sellers, trainers and other volunteer staff. Needless to say it could be quite crowded at times.

Jim Quinn oversaw the running of the group in 1975 and then in 1976 a committee was elected to run the group, which had now been named the Blue Ensigns. The first President of the group was Jeff Lawrence and he served as President for the years 1976 and 1977.

The Blue Ensigns continued to increase their membership and in 1984 they moved across the road from then Princess Park to the Park Royal Motel for their luncheons, which were a far cry from what had happened in the past.

At the completion of lunch members would walk across to their reserved seats that were still in the Heatley stand. Members would return to the old room for drinks at halftime and at the end of the game. The room closed at 6.00 p.m., members would either finish up for the day or head across to the Social Club to continue celebrating or commiserating.

The Blue Ensigns continued to have their lunches at the Park Royal until 1993 when they returned to the ground and were given the John James room (under the Gardener Stand) as their function room with reserved seating in the Gardener stand. They continued to use this room until 2005 when all games moved to the Dome or MCG.

In the year 2000, Graeme Robertson, a long standing member of the coterie and also a Life Member of Carlton, moved a motion at the AGM of the coterie that the name be changed from Blue Ensigns to the Blues Coterie.

The Present:
The Coterie is now known as the “Family” coterie. Members are able to enjoy the football with their children in much more salubrious surroundings than what the original members had. It is appropriate that what was the original room for the Blues Coterie ultimately became the nursery for Carlton players’ wives and children on match days. Many current members are also members of The Northern Bullants and support many of their functions as well

The coterie continues to grow and besides being able to enjoy the football also runs other functions for members to enjoy and assist with our fund raising efforts. One of the most enjoyable functions is the
Annual Oyster & Seafood night. This function continues to get bigger and better every year.

Members:
Vi Beard has been a member of the Coterie since its inception in 1975. Vi and her late husband Dennis (who served on the Committee of the Coterie for many years) are well known to many people at Carlton Football Club.

For many years they were the publicans of the University Hotel in Carlton and never lost an opportunity to promote the Club and the coterie. Many of the past players of Carlton know Vi very well and it is interesting when they talk at match day luncheons how many stories they tell that often involve Vi and Dennis and the hotel. When the Coterie moved into the John James room the bar was named after Dennis in recognition of his support of the Club and Coterie over many years.

Another member who has been involved with the Coterie since 1976 is Nick Kokinos who until recently was on the committee. A position he held from 1998-2008. He is a staunch Blues man and not happy with just loving his football he is also heavily involved with and on the board of the Carlton Cricket Club.

Our third longest serving member is Keith Harrison who has been with the group since 1978. Keith is also the owner of Harrison Motor Group and a major supporter of Carlton Football Club through their Hyundai dealership.

Many of the current members have been with the Coterie for over ten years and continue to support both the Football Club and the Coterie even when we are not doing as well as to be expected on the field.

In 2010 the committee has recognised the service and dedication of our three members who have served the club for a period of more than 30 continuous years by awarding them life membership of our group. We wish them all the best and thank them for their years of support. It is with gratitude that we acknowledge their dedication.

Past Presidents:
1976 – 1977 Jeff Laurence
1978 - Jim Wimmer
1979 – 1983 Bob Weston
1984 - 1988 John Carroll
1989 - 1992 Tony Chartres
1993 – 1996 Jock McWilliams
1997 – 1998 Mirella Venturato
1999 – 2003 Lindsay Osborne
2004 - Glenn Scott
2005 – 2006 John Goss
2007 - on-going Emma Zonta

We look forward to 2010 continuing on from the success of 2009 and look forward to the Coterie continuing to grow and prosper.