New Wall of Fame Unveiled

Wall of Fame

Feature wall

Achievements

Intro to Wall of Fame

Intro to club history

The original Tigers Wall of Fame, opened in 1987, was a first in the district and was widely acclaimed by many sporting organisations.

Inductees were drawn from a wide spectrum of individuals all of whom provided the Tigers with outstanding service to the organisation.

In May 2015 the Tigers Licensed Club commenced renovations to reinvigorate the premises. It included a new entrance, new office space, new male and female toilets, new flooring and furniture, a new front lounge area and a new main corridor leading to the bistro and auditorium.

Planning for a new Wall of Fame to be part of the refurbished Club had been underway for some time and while a few options and placements were considered, it was ultimately decided that the walls of the entrance new corridor presented an ideal opportunity to showcase the football club’s history.

As part of the annual 100 Club dinner on Saturday night, 27 August, we unveiled our revamped Wall of Fame along with a corridor depicting our history and achievements. There are currently 58 members of the Wall of Fame. Admittance to the Wall is based on the historical value of the individual’s contribution and achievement.  Admittance normally occurs either from the milestone of playing 200 First Grade games or Club games; or for outstanding achievement whether on the playing field, as an administrator or as a volunteer.

The new Wall has been designed for future growth in mind, with space allowed for future inductees. It includes photos of each member along with a brief description of what has lead to their recognition.

The design of the new walls takes it’s lead from a line in our club song – “Like Tigers of old, we’re strong and we’re bold”.

The design needed to balance the football club’s want for a strong and bold display of our achievements and our footballing identity, with the need to be reasonably subtle and not overpower the modern look of the refurbished licensed club.

Feedback about the new walls on the night they were unveiled was overwhelmingly positive. Guests at the 100 Club dinner, including many people who are on the Wall of Fame, were complimentary of the way we have blended old with new and managed to capture a broad range of people and eras in the imagery.

The Tigers Club, its General Manager Mark White and the Board of Directors including President Gary Bullivant deserve enormous thanks for their commitment to ensuring the strong link between football and the licensed premises and also for funding the production and installation of the new walls.

Thanks must also go to Ron Fowlie whose corporate knowledge was instrumental in gathering information and photos for the Wall of Fame members plaques.

Local creative agency, Coordinate, and in particular Director Warren Apps, and Creative Director Logan Knight have dedicated long hours and shown great patience as we worked through what we wanted to achieve with our new walls. The countless hours they’ve put in to the project has been donated at no cost to us. If you are involved in a business and need some communication strategy, creative work, video production, marketing and publishing design work give them a call to repay their generous support of the Tigers.

As a former Belconnen Magpies player Logan Knight might have felt a bit awkward working on our project at times, but the design he and Warren have directed is more than we could have hoped for.

But when it come to thanks there is no person who deserves more recognition in this project than Paul Walshe. Paul is part of the fabric of our proud club. He is an associate playing member of the 100 Club, is the regular MC at the annual 100 Club Dinner, is responsible for production of most of the history videos that we show at our formal functions and has been the driving force behind our new Wall of Fame. Had it not been for Paul’s perseverance, persistence, patience, direction and enthusiasm we might still be waiting for the project to be completed.

Paul’s working relationship with Coordinate, his passion for the Tigers, and his vision for what our new Wall could be is testament to what we have been able to produce. Thanks Walshey.

We trust that our new wall will be a long lasting legacy for those who come after us and a goal for our current players, coaches, volunteers and administrators to aspire to.