A football club archive’s greatest adversary is the memorabilia collector. But its greatest ally is the donor – as is the case with the lifelong Carlton supporter John Anthony Ingleton.

To Carlton’s eternal gratitude, Ingleton has recently seen fit to donate the No.11 guernsey worn through 1978 by the great Bruce Doull, whose 356-game career through 18 seasons took in four Premierships and as many Best and Fairests.    

The Doull guernsey - a Jason Knitting Mills size 18 (102cm chest) complete with hand-stitched interlocking CFC letters and VFL and AVCO patches on the  front, was lovingly wrapped in crepe paper, bubble-wrapped and forwarded to the club in a parcel box.

Included with the garment in the container was a note which read in part:

“I purchased Bruce Doull’s jumper at an auction held by the Carlton Football Club at the Old Melbourne Hotel during the late ’70s. Bruce Doull presented me with his jumper after I purchased it at the auction.

“Being a true Blue supporter since 1951, I am happy to donate his jumper to the club at no cost to the club.”

The story behind the story of Ingleton’s acquisition will be told shortly, but by way of background, he’s supported the club he loves since he was an eight year-old kid.

“I’ve been following the club for a long time, I have seen Carlton teams win eight Grand Finals and I have no complaints,” Ingleton said.

“Dad is the reason I barrack for Carlton. I don’t know why he did, but I know why I did.”

Ingleton joined the Carltonians in 1976, taking up the membership of his father the late John Chapman Ingleton - a successful horse breeder and owner of the 1981 Golden Slipper winner Full on Aces.

“These were the golden years for the club, and on matchdays at Princes Park the Carltonians held functions in the Robert Heatley Stand,” Ingleton said.

“I remember heading down to the rooms with Dad to watch the warm-ups, then we’d sit in the stand to watch the players play.”

Flick the pages of the 1978 Annual Report and you find Ingleton’s name amongst the 57 members of the Carltonians Association listed, including a future Melbourne Lord Mayor Ralph Bernardi, the prominent criminal defence barrister Colin Lovitt QC and the former managing director of Repco Sir Charles McGrath.

A paragraph featured above the 57 names reads: “The Committee of Management and Players were again guests of the Carltonians this season at the Melbourne Town House and it is obvious that functions such as these help to bring all parties much closer together”.

The aforementioned function at the Town House in ’78 was, as Ingleton recalled, the Old Melbourne Motor Inn on Flemington Road, and he had advance knowledge that Doull’s jumper was to go under the hammer.

“Bruce’s guernsey was the major auction item and it was stipulated that whoever won the item at auction was to be presented with the guernsey by Bruce himself,” Ingleton recalled.

“I went along thinking I’d really like that jumper, because what I admired about Bruce Doull was his attitude to the game and his consistency. He was shy, but a very good player, and certainly in my Team of the 20th Century across all clubs.”

In terms of the winning bid, Ingleton replied that he parted with a handsome sum.

“This is an educated guess, but I think I paid $400 for the guernsey, which doesn’t sound a lot now, but it was then,” he said.

“When I went up to accept the item Bruce was there to shake my hand. He said something along the lines of ‘Congratulations, well done’. It was a very brief few words as you’d expect.”

The jumper is in pristine condition, which is of no surprise considering that for the past 46 years it’s been draped over a chair in the study at Ingleton’s Bendigo home, and afforded the respect it truly deserves.

To quote Ingleton: “I’ve never worn it, never put it on. It would have been sacrilege to have done that”.

As to his decision to return the famous No.11 to the Carlton Football Club, Ingleton offered a succinct explanation.

“My reason is pretty simple,” Ingleton said.

“I’m in my 80s, I’m not sure how much longer I’ve got and if the club wanted it I couldn’t think of a better place for the guernsey to go.”