• 8 months ago
Transcript
00:00I had an idea, probably a couple of years ago, that this should have been done and before
00:11my time started I thought I'd approach Council and went through a bit of ring morale, got
00:18approval to do it and here we are today to acknowledge a bill.
00:23I'll just say you better be able to build this history in the club.
00:27It started down as a ball boy when a young fella at six in 1967 and then was promoted
00:34to the school board attendant and we've got that up and running today, just like we did
00:39in the old days.
00:40Bill used to hang around the shed like any other young bloke, like Woody.
00:45The team was the average, so we can call ourselves Panos Rejects, named after our captain Tom
01:02Patterson.
01:0379 played in the 80s, reached the grand final and was lead by 10, 10-0 by the Warriors
01:10up, coached by Barry again.
01:1298 saw Bill play 9, 9 games in reserve game and 7 games in first grade.
01:18Late in the grand final, Matthew had scored two tries to help with the Premiership reserve
01:23game and Robbie Campbell was the coach that year.
01:26In 81, which was a great year for Fleetwood, Fleetwood football club, we went through undefeated
01:33and Bill's best year as Woody, as this side went through, as I said, undefeated, to win
01:38the grand final, 30-10.
01:41Robbie Campbell was the coach, that's a jumper, so that's the 81 jumper there.
01:46Pretty special.
01:48Missed all of 82, with a knee cartilage operation.
01:57Played first grade in seven years of play.
02:00Bill also coached first grade in 86 and 87, which I was a proud member of, and some of
02:08the, tried to pay for some of the young blokes, but it was hard work and we were an outcry
02:13back in those days.
02:15So, some great memories from those times.
02:19Went on to coach first grade in 86 and also club secretary, and he had to jump for Woody
02:25in the second role.
02:28Played reserve game grand final in 1991, so there you start it, he won a couple of reserve
02:35games and then finished in the top.
02:38Retired halfway through the 91 season.
02:44Bill joined the committee, which he was already a member of, and was president in 95, 2016,
02:5017 and 18, which again, I was vice-president to Bill, which was pretty special.
02:55He's been secretary and treasurer of the great club, and he served 70 other roles.
03:01One of the other highlights was Bill being awarded life membership in 2010.
03:08Bill and his family have been long-time sponsors of the League of Greens, and they've always
03:13been very proud to do that for all these years, and Bill is actually still a sponsor to this
03:18day, so thanks for that as well, Bill.
03:21All of the work that's going on in the background, building grandstands, which back in the day
03:25we helped do all this.
03:27Then probably one of the biggest was all the CGC nine, when Bill organised with his troops
03:33of merry men went up there and loaded semi-trailers and pulled them all out of Parramatta Stadium,
03:39and that's what we've got here today.
03:41So it's a credit to Bill.
03:47So with that, I'd like to officially recognise Bill with the name of the grandstand in his
03:53honour.
03:54Thank you, Bill.
04:03I'm very humbled, privileged.
04:05I haven't got a real lot to say, but I just want to thank all my mates for coming back
04:10today.
04:11It's been beautiful, so I'd like to acknowledge them.
04:15I thank them very much.
04:17All my family here, all my foster sisters.
04:22There's only two more, three more, so they're all here.
04:27There's many, many more to see.
04:29Thank you.
04:30Other than that, I'm just happy to be a proud supporter of the club for many years, but
04:36you do these things for your own good.
04:40It's not easy to get recognised, but I mean, you know, that's a pretty special award,
04:46so I'm grateful.
04:47So I'll take it.
04:48You've just made a lot of money from our club, to be around my mates and socialising with
04:56my family.
04:58I want to say something about my supporters.
05:00When I was playing, you didn't know the point.
05:02Thomas, those guys were supporting me when I was playing back in the 80s.
05:06So it's a shame it's all gone.
05:08But thank you all very much for that.