Guess who? Aussie entertainment icon is unrecognisable in throwback footage of infamous St Kilda pitch invasion
A legendary Australian entertainer has emerged in resurfaced footage of an infamous stunt performed during a 1963 Aussie Rules football match.
The footage begins by showing the veteran performer as a cheerful 20-year-old caught in the middle of a football field during a big game.
The youngster is then seen chatting to St Kilda FC players as he gives them advice on how to win the match, before being promptly escorted off the pitch by police.
The veteran entertainer appears unrecognizable at the beginning of the clip until he suddenly puts on his signature hat, revealing it to be none other than Molly Meldrum.
Molly appeared in good spirits as he was taken off the field by authorities, moments after giving the players some game-winning advice.
The Hey Hey, It’s Saturday star told us later Nine about why he made the decision on a whim to invade the field at Junction Oval in Melbourne.
“I was on the cheer team and for some reason I jumped the fence, ran onto the ground and the referee was about to bounce the ball,” Molly began.
‘The referee shouted ‘Stop!’ and I said “Wait a minute.” I told the players that in addition to winning, they also need a better percentage to get in.’
A legendary Australian entertainer has emerged in resurfaced footage from a 1963 AFL match in which they performed a shock stunt that is said to have cost them thousands
The veteran entertainer appears unrecognizable at the beginning of the clip until he suddenly puts on his signature hat, revealing it to be none other than Molly Meldrum
He added that it was worth being chased by the police after helping his beloved team win such an important match, which took them to the final.
It follows reports that Molly has been ‘struggling’ with his health in recent months and has largely withdrawn from public life.
Next month marks 50 years since Countdown, the long-running ABC music show that made Meldrum famous, debuted on Australian TV screens.
Molly, who has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent years, was a notable no-show at a Royal Australian Mint event in Melbourne earlier this month to launch a commemorative Countdown coin.
The footage begins by showing the veteran performer as a cheerful 20-year-old caught in the middle of a football field during a big game.
The show’s host Gavin Wood revealed that his long-time friend had been struggling with his health since almost falling off a ladder in December 2011.
“The fall, it’s all to do with the fall, was a terrible event,” Wood told the Herald Sun.
Although Meldrum did not attend the coin launch, he did release a statement and secretly uttered his famous catchphrase when recommending an artist on the program: “Do yourself a favor and get one.”