By: Shannon Brien
Celebrating 30 years of life membership in the WRFL is a huge honour.
Barry Priest of the Braybrook Football Club and Lindsay Murphy of Parkside have enjoyed football careers that would be the envy of most who play our great game.
Playing 358 games for Braybrook and winning a number of accolades in his career, one of Priest’s greatest achievements in his colourful career would be leading the WRFL side of 1980.
His impact on the western region football community is evident, awarded a WRFL Life Membership in 1984 while he was still playing as well as having the Division One senior competition best and fairest medal named in his honour.
“Without the Braybrook Football Club, I’d have nothing,” Priest reveals.
“The club is magnificent for the community...it has given a lot of people the opportunity to be involved in sport.”
In Priest’s case, it has given him the opportunity to dominate on the field, playing in four premierships as a junior and four as a senior.
While he no longer plays for the Brookers, Priest still remains heavily involved with the club, helping prepare a number of club functions.
“At the moment I organise the reunions. We have one coming up with the 1973, 1974 and 1975 premiership sides,” he explains.
Priest is incredibly proud of the Braybrook Football Club, which celebrated its 140th year last month.
“It was a wonderful day for the club and to see so many people from across all generations of Braybrook’s 140 years come back to the club was great to see.”
Also celebrating his 30th year as a WRFL Life Member is Lindsay Murphy who is Parkside’s number one fan. But before he was cheering for the Magpies on the sidelines, he was running on the field.
Coming from the Williamstown Football Club in 1965, Murphy was able to help Parkside win a premiership in 1967, which he says is one of his fondest memories.
According to Murphy, football has influenced the area of Parkside in a positive way, giving young boys some consistency in their lives.
“Through the beauty of sport, I’ve seen the good kids help out the bad ones and keep them on the straight and narrow which is really pleasing to see,” he says.
For fifteen years Murphy coached and array of junior teams from the under 11s to 17s, passing on his extensive knowledge of the game and earning two premierships as coach for under 13s and 15s in the process.
Its clear loyalty is entrenched in the Murphy gene pool with both Lindsay and his son life members of not only the league, but Williamstown FC too.
Still avid supporters of their respective clubs, both Priest and Murphy continue to support the league throughout the football season, attending numerous WRFL matches and functions.
The WRFL and wider football community would like to congratulate and thank the tireless contribution both Priest and Murphy have given to football in the west over the past 30 years, for without them, it simply wouldn’t be the same.
Last Modified on 04/07/2014 09:47