Collingwood entered my family’s life by chance in 1955. Now we need the stars to align again

Collingwood fans at a Magpies training session during AFL grand final week. Photograph: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

I am unmarried and childless. As such, it makes sense that one of my best memories is singing Lionel Richie’s Dancing On The Ceiling with an army of Collingwood supporters after winning the grand final 13 years ago.

I was 14, and remember it like it was yesterday, possibly as I was too young to drink at the time. Richie had performed at the MCG prior to the game, and quickly became a sort of gospel figure to ecstatic Pies fans. We were, metaphorically, dancing on the ceiling (oh, what a feeling), all the way down Richmond’s Swan Street.