‘Footy
Mouth’ is a cartoon character whose life began in the
Espy ads in the mid 80s and quickly became a regular feature. He is based on a
song by The Band Who Shot Liberty Valance as well as a toy from the Op shop,
and is a cross between a gorilla and a Sasquatch.
Footy Mouth eventually went
on to have a life of his own for years in editorials such as The Truth
Newspaper, Inside Football and various other publications.
Footy Mouth is truly an iconic character – Fred even has him
tattooed on his right arm saying “FUCK YEAH”! He is a loud boisterous
Collingwood Supporter and a bit of a cunt.
Fred also has a Papier-mâché head of the character that he has worn at Kooky Karaoke sometimes. The special feature of the head is that Fred can
drink beer through it. He always says "It was me all the time!" when
he takes it off.
When I saw the toy at the pub Fred told me the following story
about it: "We used to use it to see if we would get thrown out a pub. What
we would do is pour beer down its throat and say "Burp! I'm feeling
sick!" and make it be sick on the table. If they let us stay after that we
would have a lot of fun there." Tim Chuma
