There’s die hard supporters and then there’s Collingwood football fans, and Warrnambool is home to plenty of them.
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The Lumsdens don’t wait for that one day in September to decorate their house in black and white, it’s something they do all year round.
Their car has a Magpies number plate, the walls in the lounge are decorated with limited-edition prints and is also home to Tyson Goldsack’s locker door.
Dad Gary got the Magpies start to sign it after contacting him on social media.
Even the Lumsden’s two black and white dogs show their allegiance, one of which they rescue from the pound because of its colours.
Border Collie Elliott is named after Jamie Elliott and border collie kelpie cross Daics was named after Peter Daicos.
They also used to have two black and white cats named Maggie and Bucks.
Fiona, who grew up in Essendon, started out as a half-hearted Bombers supporter, and when she started dating Gary even decorated his car in red and black streamers.
But when they got married she “converted” to the Magpie army and is now a self-confessed die hard fan.
“I’ve been converted. I had no choice. I think it was in our marriage vows,” she said.
The Lumsdens, who have a family membership, were notified on Monday that they had secured grand final tickets in the ballot.
“We never imagined we’d be in the grand final and now we’re going to the game,” he said.
Gary, who has been to 11 Collingwood games this year, has a tattoo of a magpie on his leg and, in true stereotypical fashion, is missing a couple of back teeth.
Adele Griffin has put her football pride on full display at Warrnambool’s Commonwealth bank, decorating the counter in black and white.
She already has her grand final tickets after her and a friend decided five months they would go regardless of who made the grand final. As luck would have it her team ended up in the grand final..
The AFL grand finals series pass, worth about $1300, entitles you to tickets to every finals game as well as the grand final.
Ms Griffin was at the MCG on Friday with her nephews and sister, Katrina Hoye, to witness Collingwood secure a place in the grand final.
They arrived home in Warrnambool the next day to find Katrina’s husband, Phil, had painted the fence black and white.
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