The navy blue family we all belong to connects us all in ways we sometimes never fully realise. The following is a story of how the shared love of the mighty Blues can twist and turn over many decades to produce an almost miraculous outcome.

This story is primarily about past Carlton player Maurie Sankey. Maurie was a mobile Tasmanian born ruckman for the Blues who played 100 games from 1959-1965. Very popular around the club, and a known prankster, Maurie’s career was about to bloom.
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Solid performances on the field, especially in finals, saw him rise to become Vice Captain of the club. Things looked on the up until in November 1965 the football world was shocked and deeply shattered by the news that Maurie Sankey had died in a devastating head on car accident, he was just 25 years old at the time.

Meanwhile, the Scanlens company, famous for producing every Schoolkid’s favourite football trading cards had already taken Maurie’s photo for their upcoming 1966 set of football cards. Owing to the tragedy, Maurie’s card was removed from the upcoming set. Only recently the original photographs were discovered in a private collection including quite a few which were never produced as cards. These original photographs have been turned into exclusive memorabilia for a non-profit organisation called the AFL X-Men. The AFL X-Men are an AFL wide past players organisation which looks after the welfare of past VFL/AFL players (including Carlton past players), in particular medical issues and it also supports junior football. There are several prints of Carlton players including Maurie Sankey. Each of the photos was to be accompanied by a signature, however the problem was that the AFL X-Men had no record anywhere of a Maurie Sankey autograph.

After some unsuccessful searching the AFL X-men contacted the Blueseum in the hope of being able to find this elusive autograph. The Blueseum put out a call for any Blues fan that may have a dusty autograph book sitting in the back room with a Maurie Sankey autograph in it. Things were quiet for a few weeks until ….

Then by chance Marianne Conn, an avid Carlton supporter, followed the link to the Blueseum from the history section of the club’s official site. It was then that Marianne saw the plea to find the signature and knowing it was going to a good cause let the Blueseum know about the Maurie Sankey signature in her Carlton scrapbook. The signature was collected in 1964 in the Carlton change rooms at Princes Park by Marianne’s college lecturer, Father Gerry Briglia, (another Carlton supporter) on her behalf at a time when female guests were not allowed in the rooms. While initially disappointed that Father Briglia had not managed to get a signature from Nicholls or Silvagni she was pleased that it was the affable Sankey whom she had met briefly at a club sponsored BBQ earlier in that year.

Marianne became a Blues supporter at a late age only after moving to Melbourne to begin college. It was a result of the enthusiasm of a friend who was an avid Blues supporter and also a relative of Carlton great Soapy Vallence.

So in an extraordinary chain of events, a relative of Soapy Vallence recruits a Blues fan whose lecturer (also a Carlton supporter), collects a signature from Maurie Sankey and 42 years later she gives access to the signature to the Blueseum for the use of the AFL X-Men (an organisation headed by a past Carlton player) in order to benefit past Carlton players. It is an amazing linkage of events involving Carlton supporters helping each other out every step of the way. This big blue family of ours looks after our own and we are all privileged to feel that we belong. When we support each other as well as our team we make our blue community stronger.


If anyone is interested in purchasing one of these prints please contact the President of the AFL X-men, Ron O’Dwyer via phone on 0417 576 078 or via email at office@aflxmen.com.au. The 17” photos include Carlton players, Maurie Sankey, Ron Barassi, John Nicholls, John Goold, Bryan Quirk and Cliff Stewart and cost $595each including GST and are in limited lots of 100.


Blueseum: Sankey's Blueseum Biography