ONE of the biggest days in the Victorian sporting calendar is almost upon us when the Sydney Swans take on the Brisbane Lions this Saturday in the AFL grand final. Many gather round the TV alongside friends and family with streamers strung to enjoy a barbecue and a drink at half-time while watching the game. While neither team is currently Melbourne based, there are still many fanatical fans to be found locally. This includes lifelong Swans supporter Kristen Ackroyd, who managed to snag tickets to the game at the MCG on Tuesday morning. “I’ve never been to a grand final before, I’ve been too nervous to go, but this year I decided I’d go and I struggled really hard to get some but I finally got two,” she said. Ms Ackroyd started barracking for the Swans of her own accord as a child after a love of the game was instilled in her by her pop. “My family all go for different teams, my pop was the reason I even love football so much and he goes for Collingwood, so I think he was a bit devastated when I picked the Swans,” she said. “I felt bad for them because back then they only won, like, two games a year and I love an underdog, that’s literally why I started going for them.” This year she is hoping to watch the Swans win their first grand final since 2012 alongside one of her children. “Since 2012 I think I’ve sat through three grand final losses, it was especially hard two years ago when it was my husband’s team (Geelong) that absolutely pumped us in the grand final, so that was an awesome day in the household,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll get a win, I’m not sure how I’m going to feel if it’s a loss, I probably won’t ever go again. “I’ve heard the atmosphere’s great and it’s going to be nice weather, Katy Perry is performing so hopefully we get something good out of the day.” While she and her children all support the Swans, Ms Ackroyd said she’s the biggest fan of them all, even after her son converted to the Swans almost 10 years ago. "My son's only 13 but he's a mad Swans supporter, he was a Geelong supporter but when he was four he jumped ship to the Swans, much to my husband's disgust," she said. “I’d say I’m probably the worst out of the three of us but my son’s probably very close second."
