Bill McIlveen awarded George Churchward Medal

Football NSW’s State Dinner was held at the Rosehill Gardens Grand Pavilion in what was a fantastic celebration of community football with Sutherland’s well known football advocate Bill Mcllveen awarded the prestigious George Churchward Medal.

A number of Members of Parliament were in attendance with the Member for Albury Greg Aplin, Member for Fairfield Guy Zangari, Member for Bankstown Tania Mihailuk, Member for Wyong David Harris, Member for Granville Julia Finn, Member for Heffron Ron Hoenig, Member for Lakemba Jihad Dib and Member for Prospect Hugh McDermott all present. While FFA’s Head of International Affairs and Government Relations Mark Falvo along with Football NSW Directors and Life Members all came together to recognise and acknowledge the elite few who have provided consistent and invaluable service at the community level.

Hosted by Football NSW President Greg O’Rourke, the evening kicked off with the presentation of the State Award winners.

State Award winners are nominated by their Association in recognition of their tireless efforts and service to football in their local community.

State Awards formally recognise individuals who have provided consistent and valuable service at any level – Club, Association, Branch or State.    

These contributions may include services such as: committee member, coach, manager, match official, canteen manager or grounds person. 

The 2015 State Award Winners are:

Barry Walbancke – Blacktown Association

Abdallah “John” Tabbaa – Canterbury Association

Claude Cuda – Football South Coast

David Smith – North West Sydney Women’s Association

David Payne – Lithgow Association

Ed Neill – Manly Warringah Association

Graham Tasker – Eurobodalla Association

Greg Brosens – Sutherland Association

Iain Kelly – Macarthur Association

Ray Guff – Gladesville-Hornsby Association

Scott Griffiths – Western Branch

Sue Hampton – Nepean Football Association

Full bio of State Award Winners click here

There were also special presentations made to Mrs Julie Hughes from Remember Mike & Save a Life, as well as Annabelle Aguilar and Bronwyn Munford.

Julie has worked tirelessly over the past two years to fundraise and generously donate 15 life-saving defibrillators to football and sport clubs across Sydney in memory of her late husband Michael.  
Julie has also provided valuable support to Football NSW in its research of automated external defibrillators and it was through this involvement that Julie also donated a defibrillator to FNSW for use at Valentine Sports Park.

While Annabelle and Bronwyn were acknowledged for their heroic acts in September, just a few weeks after the automated external defibrillator arrived at VSP, there was a medical emergency in the VSP grandstand area. Both “Football Mums”, who were close to the incident and both trained nurses, responded within seconds to give CPR and apply the FNSW automated external defibrillator which helped save the life of another valued member of the football family. The gentleman involved was very fortunate to be alive and well today through the heroic efforts of these two ladies and also the FNSW staff and Ambulance officers who also responded on the day.

Fair Play

This year’s Fair Play award recognised the fair play shown by Tom List, coach of Castle Hill RSL 17/3 team, with the award presented to Kevin Haines, Director of Granville Football Association.

This display of fair play occurred just a few weeks ago during the Granville Association 17/3’s Grand Final between Lidcombe Waratah’s and Castle Hill RSL.

Lidcombe had a player sent off for pushing the ball into the net accidentally with his hand as he tried to jump for a header.  Both teams interpreted this to be a yellow card for deliberate hand ball, not a red as the referee had interpreted before sending the player from the field.

The opposition team coach believed it was a wrong decision and pleaded with the ref to leave the Lidcombe player on the park, when the ref said he couldn’t do that, the coach spoke to his players briefly and decided together that they would also play with 10 players for the rest of the game and took one of their own players off the park.

The Lidcombe boys were amazed, with one player shaking hands with the opposition coach at half time.  The remainder of the game was played in good spirits and Castle Hill eventually went on to win the match in extra time.

George Churchward Medal

The night’s final and most honoured award, the George Churchward Medal, presented annually to an individual who has exemplified an outstanding commitment to the sport was awarded to Mr Bill McIveen.

Bill has had many and varied positions within “football” over the last 43 years.

·         Life Member Football NSW

·         NSWASF (now Football NSW) Director and General Purposes Tribunal Member

·         NSWSF Youth League Judiciary Chairman

·         FNSW Match Commissioner

·         State Award recipient (1996)

·         Sydney Branch President, Snr Vice President and Secretary

·         Life Member Sydney Branch

·         Soccer NSW (Indoor) Director

·         NSW International Games Committee Member

·         Life Member Sutherland Shire Football Association (1987)

·         Sutherland Shire Football Association – Senior Vice President, Secretary, Judiciary Chairman, Disciplinary Panel Chairman and Delegate to FNSW.

·         Life Member Heathcote Waratah Football Club (1984)

·         Heathcote President, Vice President, Secretary and Club Delegate to SSFA

·         Sutherland Sharks FC Committee Member

·         Referee

·         Team Coach at Local and Regional levels

·         Team Manager at Local, Regional and State levels

Bill commenced his commitment to Football in 1971 managing Heathcote’s Under 6B team, later in 1977 becoming the President of the Heathcote Waratahs after his involvement as a manager, junior Vice-President and senior Vice-President during the six years leading up.

In addition, Bill served as a Committee delegate for Heathcote and a qualified Referee, commencing this role in 1975 after passing the Referees Entrance exam and then serving as a referee for 15 years.

With notable work ethic, Bill was promoted to the role of Secretary at the Sutherland Shire Junior Soccer Football Association while still holding his senior position at Heathcote. With Bill’s continued service to the Heathcote Waratahs, he was awarded life membership in 1984.

Each year, Bills involvement in the sport grew more with roles being added to his impressive list of responsibilities.

An example of this was in 1990, when Bills football resume for that year alone included:

·         Senior Vice President of Sutherland Association

·         Chairman of PD & JC Sutherland Association

·         President of Sydney Branch

·         Junior Vice President NSW Amateur Soccer Federation

·         Manager of the NSW U15 State Team

·         Tour Leader for U12 team to Japan

·         Life Member of Sutherland Association

·         Life Member of Heathcote Waratahs

·         Life Member of Heathcote East Public School P&C

Although Bill held various senior titles, he always remained a true supporter of grassroots and was prepared to do whatever was needed to get the job done and done well. 

Even today, Bill is regularly seen at local grounds participating in football events – watching and supporting teams – and seconding in an official capacity as needed.

With an evident commitment and professionalism displayed in administering football in both a club and association capacity, Bill entered into greater roles within Football and sport at a State and National level – as evidenced by the many positions that he has held. 

But Bill never lost sight of the participants, for example, during the early 1990’s, Bill drove the FIFA official and referees to and from the airport and the SFS in conjunction with the World Youth Championships, and was an elected Member of the NSW International Games Committee where he assisted with various International matches. 

During this time in 1995, Bill was also elected as a Director of the NSWASF (now known as FNSW), a position he held for four years.

It was a fitting end of the evening as McIveen received a standing ovation by the many in attendance.

It was a fantastic evening as Football NSW’s grassroots community embraced in what was a spectacular season for all involved.

To view the official State Dinner photos click here

-Football NSW Media Release