At Football Victoria's (FV) Annual General Meeting last night, six new life members were honoured for their tremendous contribution to Victorian football.
On behalf of our entire football community, FV would like to congratulate and thank Harry Chalkitis, Gary Cole, Adam Sharp, George Campbell, Frank Micic and John Punshon. Each life member has made a unique and telling contribution to football throughout their career and those present had the opportunity to address the room during last night's AGM. Campbell, Micic and Punshon were unable to attend the event in person.
Harry Chalkitis
Harry Chalkitis remains the only individual to have coached Victoria’s Senior Men’s and Women’s state teams, the culmination of five decades of involvement in the discipline.
Harry achieved great success with multiple top-flight clubs, winning the VPL Coach of the Year in 1997.
He served as a State Instructor before assuming leadership of the National Training Centre program, where he coached Victoria Vision in the final seasons of the Women’s National Soccer League.
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Gary Cole
A 2021 Hall of Fame inductee. Gary Cole began his playing career at South Yarra before embarking upon a storied journey that included NSL Golden Boots and Socceroo honours.
Gary represented Victoria on 18 occasions, most notably scoring a hat-trick against AEK Athens of Greece.
He coached the Victorian State Team on four occasions, complementing a club career which culminated in two VPL titles and a Coach of the Year award in 1996.
Gary continues to support Victorian coaches as a member of the Executive committee with Football Coaches Australia.
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Adam Sharp
For over four decades, Adam Sharp has been involved in the development of aspiring referees in regional Victoria via his voluntary efforts in the Junior Country Championships.
Adam served as a secretary of the Gippsland Referees branch and as a qualified referee coach, literally hundreds of male and female referees have been guided by his tutelage.
Adam currently serves as a NPL referee assessor and continues to influence our aspiring match officials.
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George Campbell
George Campbell played 225 NSL matches with three Victorian clubs before embarking on a coaching career of over three decades.
Representing the state as a player on three occasions, George also led junior age State teams at several National Championships in Coffs Harbour and played a key role in the implementation and delivery of FV’s Academy program.
Campbell was also instrumental in fostering partnerships with several commercial entities and Football Victoria.
Frank Micic
A 2021 Hall of Fame inductee. Frank Micic was an all-time great with Footscray JUST where it is estimated he played over 400 matches between 1959 and 1977.
Universally admired by opponents and teammates alike, Frank played a record 55 times for Victoria against quality European clubs such as Everton, AS Roma and Manchester United.
A representative career spanning fifteen years, Frank featured as captain for six of them and remains the only player to have won the football media-awarded Bill Fleming Medal on three occasions.
John Punshon
As a photographer, John Punshon covered the game for three decades, his work featuring in iconic media publications, Soccer Action, ABSW and Goal! Weekly.
John’s tireless efforts over a quarter of a century in researching the recorded history of Victorian football are freely available on Australia’s longest running sports website, OzFootball.
Football Victoria’s official Men’s and Women’s records owe a huge debt of gratitude to John’s passion and dedication, the product of literally thousands of hours of meticulous research and composition.
