Football reunion plans underway for Lions and Magpies
Local clubs are calling on past players to gather, as plans for grand final reunions get underway.
Hay Lions will kick off on May 20, celebrating 40 and 30 years since the 1982 and 1992 grand final wins following the round six match against Moulmein.
In 1982 both the seniors and reserves bought home the flags, and in 1992 the Lions took home premierships in seniors, reserves and under 17s.
The 1982 win was the first senior premiership for the Lions in 105 years, after they beat Appin 13.16-94 to 11.15-81.
“When I walk down the street or go to functions over the weekend of the 21st of May, no one will say hello Brian it will be ‘hello Goose’, or ‘do you remember when you did this Goose?’” Lions premiership player Brian O’Reilly has written.
“The nickname is only Hay based as anywhere else in Australia I am Brian. It is a nick name given to me by Neil Jackson who thought my name was Bruce, and by the time he found my name was Brian it was too late.”
Brian’s memories of his time with Hay Lions will feature in upcoming issues of Blast from the Past.
The reunion weekend is being organised by premiership player and past club president Robert ‘Buck’ Howard, and festivities will commence with a Friday night meet and greet at the Riverina Hotel. The reunion crowd will then be served lunch on game day, followed by a post-match function in the Lions club rooms.
Ken Beissel was just 16 when he took to the field in the 1972 grand final, when Hay defeated Deniliquin 26-9. He and life-long mates Mick Johnson have recruited Christine Huntly to organise a reunion dinner, and club historian Peter ‘Parra’ Montgomery is supplying players profiles for upcoming “Blast from the Past” pages.
“Playing for Hay set me up in both my playing career and in life,” Beissel said. “I went on to play for seven clubs in total; Queanbeyan, Junee, Tumut, Toowoomba, Bowen Brothers and Redcliffe. I played representative footy in Group 8, Group 9 and the Whitsundays and it really molded my life.”
It is also the 40th anniversary of the 1982 grand final win over, and Neil-John Nisbet has called on ex-players of every era to get behind the Club this season.
“I’ve had a quick count up and I think there are 72 people still living in Hay, who played senior games for the Magpies,” he told The Grazier. “I’d like to see the grandstand filled with ex-players of all ages at the next home game against Lake Cargelligo. Now is when we should come together, support each other, the Club and the Magpies who are out on the field right now.”
