When did you become a Panthers supporter?

[Big Mick]

Well i'll explain.

My dad used to play for Parramatta in the 70's and well when he had a girlfriend who was a panthers supporter in 1971 and he got hooked on Penrith then, while still playing for Parramatta, hahaha, interesting.

But yeah, I was born a Panther, my kids will be born Panthers, and i'll die a Panther.

 

[panthersballboy]

Well my story of following the panthers started before I was born. My mum's first job was selling ice creams at Penrith Park when she was 16 so she started following the panthers. When I came along in 1979 I just naturally followed the panthers and some of my earliest memories is at the stadium watching games and sliding down the hill on a bit of cardboard at halftime. Everyone in my family supports them including uncles, cousins and grandparents.

 

[kaza_79]

I started around 1983 when my dad took me to my first game of footy. I think I just loved being with my dad at first and would get him to take me with him to games. Then I became hooked.

I have many memories of sliding down that same hill panthersballboy, I think its some sort of right of passage or something. hehe.

 

[Panthers_Gurl]

Well i'll explain.

My dad used to play for Parramatta in the 70's and well when he had a girlfriend who was a panthers supporter in 1971 and he got hooked on Penrith then, while still playing for Parramatta, hahaha, interesting.

But yeah, I was born a Panther, my kids will be born Panthers, and i'll die a Panther.

same my kids...when i have some will all be lil panthers

 

[Fibroman]

1972-kindergarten springwood public

 

[choc_soldier]

Well i'll explain.

My dad used to play for Parramatta in the 70's and well when he had a girlfriend who was a panthers supporter in 1971 and he got hooked on Penrith then, while still playing for Parramatta, hahaha, interesting.

But yeah, I was born a Panther, my kids will be born Panthers, and i'll die a Panther.

same my kids...when i have some will all be lil panthers

I come from a family of Parramatta supporters myself (especially my mother and grandfather), and I get a lot of ribbing from them during the footy season.

My girlfriend is a Bulldogs supporter, and she said that I have good taste in everything, accept my footy team. But I rib her too... and Brent Sherwin is always a sore point with her, especially when I mention that name and "over-rated" in the same sentence. The look on her face is priceless!

:lol:

But if I am ever going to have kids, I will buy them a Panthers jersey for their first birthday. Start 'em off young!

 

[Munky]

I think 1990, not really sure.

I can remember the brown jerseys and my Uncle telling me they were gonna change them.

 

[*Sandy*]

I dont think I even knew footy existed until I became a rebellious teenager and gave swimming the flick to fill a missing part of my life that was called socialising in drinking booze and sneaking androtops in the lane and locals parks every chance I got. I then found myself sitting on the sidelines cheering my then boyfriend on in the U/14's or U/15's Berala Bears side. His name was Greg and he was a halfback. In that same period of time I also ended up at Lidcombe Oval selling raffle tickets to raise money for our local Life Saving club whilst a Wests vs Easts game was playing and it was the long blonde hair of Fairfax that got my teenage hormones into kick and in turn had me collecting football cards and school book stickers to check out the hot looking footy players. Not long after that my boyfriend Greg died, he played in the halfback position and was a mad fan of Penrith. Greg Alexander then comes into my sight and the rest is history. ;-)

 

[BRANDY]

I think it was 1989 or 90, i was about 6 and it was because of the greatest half-back who has everlace a boot(hey, im biased), Greg Alexander.

I was living in Brisbane at the time and my first game at Penrith stadium about round 15 1993 v st.george we won 18-14 on a sunday and it was a channell 9 game.

I was there in 2001 when we got rolled by souths and nth qld, but i still believed.
I was there when we lost to parramatta 64-6 in round 1,2002, i still believed
Ive been to 99 nrl sanctioned games.About More than 80 of them involving penrith.

I cried when we beat parramatta and won the minor premiership, i cried a month later at the grand final when the siren went, I have a panther tatoo on my arm, i travell from north of newcastle to go to home games and it takes upwards of 3hours to get home.

In my losest i have 9 different penrith jerseys, from the penrith city sponsored chocolate soldiers to the 2004 sanyo one,
and i have just realised that i am ranteing and i will rant when it come to penrith because i am a die in the wool panther.
People have bagged me for supporting them but at leasat i can say i have stuck solid through thick and thin.

 

[Tupac Shakur]

Like most of us have Brandy!

Welcome to the Panthers forum! Hope you enjoy your stay.

 

[*Sandy*]

Yeah welcome Brandy, you will be at home with all of us here.

 

[Fibroman]

I remember sitting on the northern hill at age 14 (1981) reading a screwed up old penthouse and choking have to death on winfield reds, watching the mighty panthers with my mates........Things haven't really changed that much for me.

 

[*Sandy*]

No it seems they haven't - apart from the Winnie Reds.

 

[Tupac Shakur]

I remember sitting on the northern hill at age 14 (1981) reading a screwed up old penthouse and choking have to death on winfield reds, watching the mighty panthers with my mates........Things haven't really changed that much for me.

That was one of the funniest things i've read on these forums in a while. :lol: :lol:

 

[pantherz9103]

1988 - When I was 7. I wrote an article about this very topic in the forum sevens.

Below is the transcript:

Foreword: As I sit at my laptop on this balmy Saturday Night, I also make my debut as a Forum Sevens poster. We’ve all got stories to tell about how we became followers of the greatest game of all. I’d like to tell you just a little bit about how I came to support my team, The Penrith Panthers.

BROWN AND WHITE ARE ALLRIGHT

As a Year 1 student back in 1988, I had never even heard of Rugby League. One day I was talking to some kids in my public school’s vast concrete playground, and they were swapping bubblegum cards.

“What have you got there?” I asked curiously.
“They’re footy cards. Here look I’ve got Cliffy Lyons.” The boy replied
“Who is Cliffy Lyons?” I inquired.
“He plays for Manly in the Winfield Cup. He’s one of the best Rugby League players. Haven’t you heard of him? Here have a look at some cards.”

I shuffled through the cards. There were so many different players, so many different emblems. It was all very new to me, but I was impressed.

Who do you go for? I go for the Manly Sea Eagles. They are reigning premiers of the Winfield Cup.” The boy boasted proudly.

“I don’t go for anybody. I haven’t seen a game yet.” I replied, looking slightly dumbfounded

“Why don’t you watch Channel Ten on Sunday Night? You can catch the State Bank Big Game and see what it’s all about.”

Unfortunately I missed the State Bank Big Game, but I caught the Ten Sports News. I saw the names of some of the teams I’d been told about, the Manly Sea Eagles, the Canterbury Bulldogs, the Parramatta Eels, the Balmain Tigers, but I just didn’t feel like I could adopt them as my team. Then I saw a team that no one had mentioned. They wore brown and white and their name sounded funny to me, the Penrith Panthers. They had just been defeated by the Eastern Suburbs Roosters 34 points to 12. The match reporter described them in most unflattering terms, calling them the Chocolate Soldiers and referring to their tendency to self destruct in matches with ‘panic football’.

You might have thought that this would have turned a 7 year old off, but strangely enough I took sides with them. They may not have been everyone’s favourite team, but they were still doing quite well, just outside the top five and I thought they might be on the brink of something special.

The next week I told the Manly supporter the answer he had been waiting to hear.

“I found a team to support. I am a Penrith Panthers supporter.”
“Penrith!” he smirked. “They wear brown and white and they’re losers. Why would you want to support them?

Comments like that of the Manly supporters’ were exactly why I wanted to support the Panthers. Not that I was doing it out of rebellion, but I just wanted to support a team for my own reasons, not because someone else supported them, or because they always won.

The children of Castle Hill back in the 1980’s were a fairly predictable bunch at large. These were the days when Canterbury and Parramatta dominated the Sydney Premiership, with 8 titles between them. They were the fashionable clubs of the time. Whether you were 7 years old or 70, everyone knew that Peter Sterling & Brett Kenny, Steve Mortimer & Terry Lamb had won premierships and starred at Origin and Test level I was just as intrigued by characters such as Big MG (Mark Geyer) and unfashionable toilers such Col Van der Voort and Neil Baker. These guys were just as much heroes in a 7 year old’s eyes as were the household names.

Later that year I met another confused young league lover, unsure of the right club for him. I pointed him in the direction of the brown and white and I was able to share my passion for the Panthers. We became best friends.

In the years ahead the ‘Chocolate Soldiers’ became the ‘Licorice All Sorts’.
I experienced the highs and lows of Grand Final defeat, Grand Final glory and many moderate to lean years, before the Panthers signaled their revival with their second premiership in 2003.

Whenever my loyalty is tested, I just remind myself of a 7 year old boy who believed in his team, no matter what anybody else said.

738 Words – Including Title

 

[*Sandy*]

I remember reading that a little while ago. What F7's team do you play with?

 

[Big Mick]

The Panthers.

 

[Tupac Shakur]

I've never read any articles posted by Forum Sevens users, that was a good story.

 

[BRANDY]

I think that this may start a hugh uproar and or brouhaha but i have thought about this for a while .
Using the following criteria, i have come up with what i think is the greatest penrith team, all stars if you will.

Criteria.
1. 100 PLUS GAMES
2. SET CLUB RECORD,EG.MOST GAMES
3. PENRITH WAS THE MAIN CLUB IN THE PLAYERS CAREER
4. PLAYED ORIGIN OR TEST FOOTBALL AS A PANTHER
5. PLAYED FINALS FOOTBALL FOR PENRITH
Only players who have retired are considered.
The criteria met is located in brackets .

1. KEVIN DANN 1977-1984,(1,3)
2. ROBBIE BECKETT 1994-2001,(1,3,5)
3. BRAD IZZARD 1982-1992,(1,3,4,5)
4. RYAN GIRDLER 1994-2004,(1,2,3,4,5)
5. GRAHAME MORAN 1967-1974,(1,3,4,) (2,penriths first rep player)
6. STEVE CARTER 1998-2001,(1,2,3,4,5)
7. GREG ALEXANDER 1984-1994,1997-99,(1,2,3,4,5)
8. LEW ZIVANOVIC 1979-1986,(1,
9. ROYCE SIMMONS 1980-1991,(1,2,3,4,5)
10. TIM SHEENS,1971-1982,(1,2,) coached penrith to 1st finals
11. MARK GEYER,1997-1993,1997-2000,(1,3,4,5)
12. JOHN CARTWRIGHT 1985-1996,(1,3,4,5)
13. SCOTT SATTLER 1999-2003,(1,3,4,5) (2, most tackles in a game)

Bench players:
Brad Fittler
Col Vandervoort
Barry walker
Carl McNamara
Bob Landers
Tony Brown, first captain in 1967
Ron Workman 99 games,interupted by war service
Peter Kelly

Like most things, eveyone has a deifferent opinion
thank you

 

[choc_soldier]

Brandy, you might be on to something there.

Perhaps we should do our own nominations, position by position, for the best Panthers team ever.

There may not be many of us Panthers fans here on these forums, but we'll give it a good shake!