PAT & TINA’S BP SERVICE STATION Di Conza is mad about the Demons, and he’s not afraid to show it

JOE Di Conza is arguably Shepparton’s most ardent Demon’s supporter.

Affectionately calling them, ‘my demons,’ Joe said, “I’ve been a member of the Melbourne Football Club for over 34 years, been a player sponsor for 28 years and all the family members are part of the Foundation Heroes Inner Sanctum Club.”

To be a Foundation Hero, sponsors must donate a sum of money to the club. Joe has made sizeable donations to the Demons to commemorate the birth of each of his three children and he has followed this traditional welcoming his grandchildren. All their names are honoured on the Foundation Heroes website.

With 57 years between grand final wins, few Demons supporters had seen their team take the flag until their big win in 2021. Joe was one such follower that was thirsty for Melbourne to come out on top, having attended matches where they came close, winning against Hawthorn in 1988 and Essendon in 2000.

“I never thought I’d see a flag,” Joe said. “It was just incredible. To think of the suffering that we’ve had.”

“My son Pat summed it up the best. He said that for all the times that I got teased at school for barracking for Melbourne, wearing my Melbourne top at football training, and getting teased because we’re always on the bottom. They can all get stuffed now because we’re premiers, we’ve done it, we achieved it and we’ve got a window of opportunity of winning another one.”

To celebrate the Demon’s 2021-win, Joe in his Melbourne guernsey spent the weekend giving away over 275 Furphy beer stubbies to customers.

Joe said, "I couldn’t get to the Marketplace to see the premiership cup in person when it came to Shepparton because of the business.

“So, they drove the cup to me. They came here in a Jaguar, and I filled the Jag up for them and I got to hold the cup. It was just great. It was an emotional time, it felt like having another child.”

“To have the premiership cup physically up here in Shepparton was great for all the local supporters to get our hands on it, get a photo and just get amongst the premiership buzz.

“Seeing the cup with the name Melbourne on it had been a dream of mine for a long time.”

Joe's son Michael was not able to see the cup during its visit to Shepparton either, and Joe was blown away when the club offered a private box to the Di Conza family for round one in 2022 against the Western Bulldogs. The premiership cup was then presented again to the whole family.