It was the decade where football took its first faint steps towards professionalism.

Players chased a greater financial return, Waverley rose from the paddocks, colour television beamed into our living rooms for the first time and the game endured through a turbulent decade.

The ‘Sensational Seventies, as they would become known, proved a tantalising, yet ultimately unfulfilled period for Collingwood.

It was bookended by heartbreaking Grand Final losses to Carlton. The first came when the Magpies lost from what had previously been considered an unlosable situation; the second when Collingwood almost pinched the premiership in the dying moments of a dour struggle.

Through it all, the goings on at Collingwood – and at Victoria Park - was like a soap opera you couldn’t switch off, and the audience was spellbound.

For those who lived through it, it was a period they will never forget and it produced heroes and characters alike forever etched into our consciousness.

For those who didn’t, Collingwood Forever will transport you back in time each week this season for a blast from the ‘70s past, profiling a player who made an impact for one reason or another.

Whenever Wayne Gordon played football, he seemed to be so full of life.

He was energetic and athletic for his size (189cm), with a trademark high-stepping run, rated in the 1977 Grand Final Record as "one of the tallest and strongest and toughest wingmen playing today."

He stood out with his flowing blonde locks, and luxuriant moustache that seemed so fitting in the 1970s.

Gordon had a feisty on-field presence, not just in matches, but sometimes even in training sessions.

He was a booming kick and capable of launching himself into the air, with a better-than-average leap leading to some memorable marks.

As a young footballer with Collingwood, he started as a fill-in full forward before finding his home on the wing. Later, after he moved to Melbourne, the footballer known as 'Flash' Gordon (he actually had a photo shoot with actor Sam Jones who played 'Flash Gordon' in the 1980 movie) displayed his best form as a rugged defender.

Away from the field, he won the hearts and minds of supporters of all persuasions when he bravely fought Hodgkin's disease and the struggles that came with that.

Gordon had been recruited to Collingwood from VFA club Preston in 1974 - the same year as fellow Preston recruit Ray Shaw.

An opportunity presented itself when star forward Peter McKenna suffered a thigh injury late in the season. Coach Neil Mann brought Gordon into the side for the Round 17 clash with Melbourne at the MCG, after he kicked three goals in the reserves the previous week.

He got an unexpected pre-game pep talk from a club legend before his debut match.

A photo from the Herald showed the debutant, wearing long sleeves and No.39, listening intently to advice in the rooms from former Collingwood champion forward Ron Todd. Todd had famously - and controversially - left the Magpies in his prime for a lucrative offer to join Williamstown in the VFA in 1940.

The Herald detailed: "Full forward ... and in your first league game. It's not an easy job. But if Collingwood's Wayne Gordon, 20, wasn't sure how to tackle it today, he didn't have to look too far for expect advice. Ron Todd, one of the Magpies - indeed football's - greatest goalkickers was on hand for a tip."

Todd, who was living in Queensland at the time, was attending his first Collingwood game since the 1966 VFL Grand Final.

Gordon had nine disposals and kicked two behinds in the Magpies' four-point win that day.

He wouldn't return to the seniors until Round 3 the following year - this time wearing the No.13 and playing at half forward.

He would play 11 games in 1975, with a clutch of five in a row between Round 13-17 showing the promise that was to come, but was overlooked for the finals.

McKenna recalled Gordon as "an aggressive player ... He actually gave me a bit of a whack at training one night, and I gave him one back. That didn't worry me. I liked the fact he was a real goer".

Gordon played all but one match during one of the club's most challenging seasons, the wooden-spoon year of 1976. Such was his form that he secured two of his three career Brownlow Medal votes.

In 1977 he would become an important cog in Collingwood's team that came so close to winning the premiership.

He missed the opening round, then went to play the next 24 in succession.

Performing so well on the wing, where his physical attributes seemed best suited, he scored one goal or more in 14 games that season.

He had 10 or more disposals in every game, for a career-best total of 379 disposals.

One quirk with his aggression was that he gave away 79 free kicks in 1977 with only 29 frees coming back his way.

Gordon was one of the Magpies' better performers in the 1977 second-semi-final win over Hawthorn, where he "won clearly" on the wing.

During the finals it was said of him: "Wayne has beaten all comers this season, (he) has a streak of meanness about him, but he's always trying to Collingwood's advantage, has plenty of pace, can take a strong mark and isn't lacking in shrewdness either."

He "tried hard" in the 1977 Grand Final with 12 disposals but "had to lower his colours to Stan Alves", despite being very physical with his opponent on few occasions.

Collingwood had led by 27 points at three-quarter-time, but lost the lead during the last quarter only to have Ross 'Twiggy' Dunne level the scores near the end.

Vision shows an exhausted Gordon laying prostate on the ground after the drawn game.

He was much better in the Grand Final Replay, even if the Magpies went down by 27 points.

Gordon played a small part in one of the great moments in Grand Final history - tapping the ball out to teammate Phil Manassa who set off down the wing, taking four bounces to kick an extraordinary goal. He had 14 disposals and kicked two goals in Collingwood's 27-point loss.

Injuries hindered him the following year. He managed only 10 games in 1978, with his 67th and last in black and white coming against South Melbourne in Round 15.

By the start of the next season Gordon was caught up in a big trade to Melbourne. The Magpies offloaded Phil Carman, along with Gordon and John Dellamarta in exchange for forward Ross Brewer and money.

After overcoming a knee injury that restricted him to only three games in 1979, Gordon went on to play 20 games with the Demons the following year, mostly in defence.

But his world was rocked in the middle of the 1981 season when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.

His father had died of cancer in his mid-40s.

He played for three more games while dealing with the diagnosis, including his 100th VFL game, against Fitzroy in Round 12.

Not even his teammates, or his mother, were aware of his condition at the time, until he felt more comfortable discussing his challenge.

He told the Herald's Mike Sheahan: "The doctor (originally) had said if I was in the worst stage of the disease, I'd have three to seven years. That sort of set me back a bit. But virtually in the next few days we found it was curable and things had gotten better."

"When I was told I had Hodgkin’s, I said 'I shouldn't go out and buy any big books to read or what’? But that was just a cover up because I was packing it."

Radiation treatment at Peter MacCallum Hospital made a difference: "I think you've got to attack the problem and not just take it as it comes. When it happens, you just find something."

The footy world rallied around him, and he never gave up hope of playing league football again, even if the reserves was as far as he could manage.

He collapsed during a reserves game against Fitzroy at the Junction Oval in August 1983, believed to be caused by a heart problem.

A few weeks later everything seemed to be improving. He even attended that year's VFL Grand Final between Hawthorn and Essendon with his Demon teammates.

But tragically he collapsed and died when playing a social game of doubles tennis on September 29.

He was only 29.

"The really sad thing is that he beat the cancer and then his heart went on him," Melbourne administrator Dick Seddon said. "He demonstrated fantastic character qualities and was an inspiration to everyone."

His Collingwood and Melbourne teammates mourned him.

John Dellamarta said in a death notice: "We will never forget the good times we had together."

Gerald Betts' death notice read: "Tired and weary you made no fuss/You tried so hard to stay with us/You suffered so much and told so few/You never deserved what you went through."

Gordon was in between jobs when he died, with no life insurance or superannuation for his widow Jacqui and his 11-month-old son Nicholas.

So the Demons and the Magpies joined forces to launch a fundraising appeal for Gordon's family, with Len Thompson saying: "Collingwood has 8000 members and thousands of fans who received some enjoyment from the games that Wayne played for us, and I am confident they will support this fine appeal."

It was the least they could do for a footballer who gave his all.