It’s hard to imagine a Carlton game or function not involving the MacCuspies. For years, John MacCuspie, his wife Shirley and their daughter Megan have been regular match day attendees, whether in Melbourne or interstate, and they’ve furthered their associations as generous player sponsors along the way.

“Our sponsorships have allowed us to get to know the players’ families,” John said this week, “to the point that you don’t look at them as footballers, you don’t want them to get injured and you forgive any shortcomings they might have”.

As recently as October, the MacCuspies were in the house when George Hewett’s name was called as a worthy winner of the John Nicholls Medal. Though frail at the time, Shirley was wheeled into Crown Palladium that night, barely 72 hours after her discharge from hospital, where she was welcomed by the senior players from Patrick Cripps down.

The 2025 John Nicholls Medal count would prove to be Shirley’s final engagement. By then, the girl from Allansford had committed 48 years of her life as a Carlton Member and another 30 as a supporter, all the way back to her childhood.

With Shirley’s passing in November at the age of 82, life won’t quite be the same for John and Megan. But don’t be surprised to see father and daughter at the SCG next March, as they’re forever grateful for the years of sheer happiness their beloved Blues have given them – amongst them the 2023 Semi Final with Melbourne on the mighty MCG.

“That was pretty good wasn’t it? It was electric,” said John of the frenetic finish.

“What stands out about that game was the crowd itself and how it reacted, and we were all part of the seething mass.”

This week, John returned to IKON Park to hand Shirley’s old autograph books in to the club’s archive. Their pages carry the prized signatures of Carlton’s greats of the past 70 years – from Brownlow Medallists John James and Gordon Collis through to Maurie Sankey and Jeff Trotman (both of whom lost their lives in car accidents), the Premiership players John Nicholls, Garry Crane and Bryan Quirk and the late Carlton Premiership coach Ron Barassi.

Also there is the moniker of the two-time Premiership Captain Stephen Kernahan – Shirley’s all-time favourite Carlton footballer.

John knows he has gifted the books to Carlton with Shirley’s blessing. As he said: “These are things that belong at the club rather than just sitting on a shelf somewhere”.

For that the club is truly thankful.