“Australia’s great heart is throbbing today as it has never throbbed before. For April 25 – ‘Anzac Day’ – is a day that will live in our hearts and in our history as long as Australia lasts.”

So trumpeted the Sydney Morning Herald on the very first Anzac Day in 1916, the first anniversary of the day Australian troops landed at Gallipoli during the First World War.

Of 16,000 soldiers from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who landed at what is now called Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula, about 2000 were killed or wounded on that fateful day.

By the end of December 1915, when all allied forces had been evacuated from Gallipoli, 8709 Australians, 2779 New Zealanders and ten of thousands of British and French troops had paid the ultimate price. Many more Turks had died defending their homeland.

According to the National Museum of Australia, while many believed the campaign had been a failure, others were strongly of the view that Gallipoli had been an event of enormous national significance that needed to be marked in some way. And it was the positive view that prevailed.

George Pearce, Australian Minister for Defence and Acting Prime Minister in 1916, officially named Anzac Day. Commemorative services were held across the nation after which new enlistees and Gallipoli veterans marched the streets. By 1927 it was a public holiday across all states.

It wasn’t until 1995 that the AFL introduced the now annual Anzac Day game between Collingwood and Essendon at the MCG, but from 1960, after a special act of parliament to lift previous restrictions, matches were played on Anzac Day.

South Melbourne’s first Anzac Day game was in 1961 when, on the Tuesday between Round 2 and Round 3, they played Richmond at Punt Road. Coached by Bill Faul, a 1933 premiership player and member of the losing grand final teams of 1934, ’35 and ‘36, they won 12.17 (89) to 6.9 (45) despite having played Geelong at Lake Oval three days earlier.

It was a side that included a 22-year-old Bob Skilton in his 82^nd game and a 21-year-old John Heriot in his 42^nd game. Forty-two years later they were reunited in the Swans Team of the Century.

In 1963, South played its first Anzac Day game at Lake Oval, going down to Richmond by 23 points as a 19-year-old John Rantall played his second game.

In 1964, a full round of matches were played when Anzac Day fell on a Saturday. South beat Fitzroy by 23 points at Brunswick Street Oval, with Skilton kicking six goals and second-gamer Max Papley, grandfather of Tom, booting five. Also wearing red and white for just the second time was a 21-year-old Graeme John, who would play 77 games from 1964-69, coach South 66 times from 1973-75 and serve as South president before a stint on the AFL Commission.

Skilton played his 201^st game on Anzac Day 1970 before Greg Lambert played his 150^th game on Anzac Day 1977 and Anthony Daniher debuted on Anzac Day 1981, when South beat Footscray (as the Western Bulldogs were then known) at Lake Oval.

Especially memorable for Swans fans was Anzac Day 1987, when South met Richmond at the MCG. It was Tom Hafey, in his second season in the Harbour City, against the club where he began his coaching journey 21 years earlier.

Warwick Capper had a career-high 20 possessions, 10 marks and kicked 7-5, Barry Mitchell kicked four goals, Mark Bayes three goals and Greg Williams had 31 possessions and one goal to pick up the Swans only Brownlow vote.

The Swans shared Anzac Day billing with the Collingwood-Essendon blockbuster for the first time in 1999, losing to Adelaide at Football Park in the same time-slot as Nic Fosdike made his AFL debut.

In 2003, Sydney hosted its first Anzac Day fixture against Melbourne at the SCG. It was a Friday night cracker after the Pies and the Bombers had played in the afternoon.  The home side trailed 7.4 (46) to 10.6 (66) at three-quarter time but piled on 10.3 to 3.1 in a blistering final term to win by 24 points.

It was thrill-a-minute stuff. Nick Davis got the first goal after the last break before Jeff White replied for Melbourne. Mick O’Loughlin answered for the Swans before Barry Hall found Jason Ball for the next. The margin was down to seven points before Darren Jolly, later to play for Sydney, goaled for the Dees.

The Swans wouldn’t be denied. Hall fed Adam Schneider on his left before O’Loughlin took a leaping chest mark and converted from 35m to put the home side in front. “He’s all class,” said Robert Walls in commentary.

Ball got his second before Daryn Cresswell pin-pointed Paul Williams for another. Scott Thompson, in his 15^th game for Melbourne, gave his side some hope before Stuart Maxfield kicked the perfect captain’s goal running on his left. Sydney by 12.

Schneider charged down centre wing, took a bounce and picked out Jude Bolton. “He only needs a point to win it,” said Walls before Bolton banged it over the goal umpire’s hat. And just for good measure, Schneider finished it off in the closing seconds.

Adam Goodes, who dominated throughout and rucked the entire final term solo, was judged best afield from Jude Bolton as wingman Rowan Warfe posted his 100^th AFL game and James Meiklejohn a debut he’ll never forget.

It was six years before the Swans featured on Anzac Day again, travelling to Perth in 2009 to play Fremantle on the Saturday night in Brett Kirk’s 200^th game. They went down by 21 points, but Kirk was a two-vote standout with 27 possessions and 12 tackles.

In 2013, it was Sydney v St Kilda in Wellington, New Zealand, on a Thursday Anzac Day. With Dane Rampe playing his third game and Goodes his 324^th, the Swans led at every change and won 11.13 (79) to 9.9 (63). Ted Richards took the votes from Dan Hannebery and Kieren Jack. And in 2015, Hannebery was in the votes again in a loss to Fremantle in Perth.

Just four Swans on Sydney’s 2022 playing list have twice played in the red and white on Anzac Day: Luke Parker, Sam Reid, Josh Kennedy and Dane Rampe.

A further four played in Sydney’s last Anzac Day appearance in 2015: Jake Lloyd, Harry Cunningham, Lance Franklin and Isaac Heeney.