Queen's Grease Pole: Difference between revisions

At the time, typical goalposts for college football and soccer fields were made of wood, usually a long piece of standard treated 4x4 timber used in construction. These wooden posts would be typically set in a frame or concrete base and were readily removable. If such goal posts were taken down, it was not uncommon for them to be readily replaced at a relatively low cost. These wooden goalposts were often the target of fans from visiting teams and, when taken, often paraded as souvenirs at home.  

In 1954, the Blue & White Society (Athletic Association) at the University of Toronto voted to fund the installation of steel goalposts at Varsity Stadium in order to avoid repeated thefts and vandalism of the existing wooden goalposts. At a cost of $701.52, the Athletics Association installed steel posts on each end of the football field, embedded in a concrete base measuring six feet deep and three feet square in plan. Each of the four poles (two on each end of the field) were wrapped in six-inch thick nylon padding for about six feet of height from the bottom. The crossbar remained made of wood, and was tied across the two posts from hooks welded to the posts. The tops of the goalposts were greased to "make the task of flying enthusiasts slightly more difficult". <ref name="Varsity_1954-10-08">"Very serious". ''The Varsity'' (October 8, 1954), p. 5. ([https://archive.org/details/thevarsity74/page/72 Archived])</ref> The latter reference to "flying" was likely about the practice of climbing on top of the goalposts and crossbar and jump off in celebration. (It might also be speculated that the initial practice of greasing the goalposts led to the later re-enactment by Queen's engineers, although the practice of climbing greased poles was apparently a long-held tradition and photographic evidence from the first theft of the Varsity Stadium goalposts did not show any climbing activity.)

=== The goalpost incident of October 8, 1955 ===

On the afternoon of Saturday October 8, 1955, after the second game of the season for the Varsity Blues (which the Blues won 11-6), students from Queen's University, consisting of primarily engineering students, "swarmed" the north end of Varsity Stadium after the last whistle. Within minutes, the north goalposts and crossbar were torn down and removed from their concrete foundations.<ref name="Varsity_1955-10-11">"Queen's Demolish Goalposts". ''The Varsity'' (October 11, 1985), pp. 1 and 7. ([https://archive.org/details/thevarsity75/page/80 Archived])</ref>

=== Post-game journey of the goalposts ===

The pair of Varsity Stadium goalposts taken by Queen's students were shipped to Kingston by Canadian National Express in the days following October 8, 1955. ''The Varsity'' later reported that the goalposts sat in the Kingston station depot for three days while Canadian National Railway official tried to find someone to pay the $4.50 fee for moving the 300-pound cargo.<ref name="Varsity_1955-10-26">"Varsity's Travelling Goalposts: Here AGain, Gone Again, Na Branrighinn". ''The Varsity'' (October 26, 1955), p. 1. ([https://archive.org/details/thevarsity75/page/156 Archived])</ref> Certain Queen's students had managed to "remove" the goalposts from the train station for display at the Queen's campus without paying the fee.  

University of Toronto stadium manager, Charles McElroy, was quoted at the time that "we've got more", referring to the stolen goalposts.<ref>"Blue Beam Blinds Tricolors". ''The Varsity'' (October 20, 1958), p. 7 ([https://archive.org/stream/thevarsity78#page/126/ Archived]).</ref> There was no recorded return for these goalposts in the following years. It is likely that the Queen's Grease Pole was the 1958 version of the goalposts stolen from Varsity Stadium.