Kevin Crathern, the man regarded as the father of Australian rules in Cairns, has been inducted into the AFL Queensland Hall of Fame for his selfless contribution of football.
The ceremony took place in Brisbane, with his wife Norma accepting the honour on behalf of her departed husband.
Norma said Kevin was a humble man who would have been embarrassed by the recognition.
“Very much so, but the whole family thinks it was very well deserved,” she said. “What Kev put into life, he got out of it.”
Originally from Melbourne, Kevin met his future wife when he was stationed in Cairns with the navy during WWII.
He later settled in Cairns permanently with Norma and went about making his mark on the region’s sporting landscape.
Even though he was a Foley Shield representative in rugby league, Kevin’s love was always Australian Rules.
Following the first meeting of the Cairns Australian Football League in 1955, Kevin formed South Cairns Football Club a year later and was the inaugural winner of the Webb Medal as the competition’s best and fairest player/
He won the medal a second time in 1958 as captain-coach of Centrals Aloomba and was so embarrassed he famously asked the umpires never to vote for him again.
Kevin served as CAFL president for 18 years, with one of his important achievements being the acquisition if land on Mulgrave Road.
The site would be cleared and developed into Australian Football Park, later renamed Cazalys.
He also established the CAFL social club and was heavily involved in coaching, umpiring and junior football during his life.
Since 1970, the league’s best and fairest honour has been known as the Crathern Medal.
Norma said Kevin, who also served as Cairns Mayor (1973-76), was a community-minded person.“Kev was the type of man who didn’t know how to say no,” she said. “He just enjoyed every day with everything he did. You have to remember he grew up in Victoria during the Depression and football was all he had back then.
“Football was probably the most important thing in his life, along with his family of course. Even with all the things he took on, he was always there for us.”
Last Modified on 10/05/2011 16:30