THE St Pats Football Club will recognise its 1954 and 1984 senior and 1974 reserves premiership teams with reunions at the club tomorrow.
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Former St Pats player and Lleyton Hewitt's business manager David Drysdale will be guest speaker, with the club also holding its annual president's luncheon for sponsors and life members.
Drysdale played 104 games with the Saints and won the leading senior goalkicker award four times.
He was senior playing coach for two seasons and is a former club president.
St Pats president Ian McCallum said the club's 1954 premiership side went on to become state premiers and also won premierships in 1955 and 1956.
"We will have around eight from the 1954 side coming including a couple from interstate which is pretty special given it's the 60th anniversary," he said.
"One of them, Geoff Ferral, will be inducted as a St Pats legend at the upcoming NTFA dinner."
All three premiership teams were full of family connections with sons of former premiership players following in their fathers' footsteps.
"Remarkably there were five players in the 1984 premiership team whose fathers had played in the 1954 win, Ken and Steven Illingworth, John and Tony Robinson, Geoff and David Ferral, Terry and Tim Coyle and Doug and Gary Hay," McCallum said.
"There was a member of the Hay and Illingworth families in each of the three premiership wins.
"Rob Bessell, who was a part of the '54 senior squad, and his son Steven, who played in the '74 win.
"Peter Cowley played in the '74 win and son Andrew became a senior premiership player for the club in 2002. "Peter Williams and Bobby Collinson were both senior players in '74 and past best and fairest winners and their sons Matthew and James also went on to become senior best and fairest winners with the club, with James playing in the 1999 senior premiership and captaining the senior team to premierships again in 2002 and 2004."
Two famous cricketing names also have ties with St Pats with Mick Doherty playing in the 1974 premiership win while his son Xavier chose a cricket career and went on to play international cricket for Australia.
Tim Coyle played in the 1984 win and went on to become the most successful cricket coach in Australian domestic cricket.
Brendan McDermott was the only player to have played in two of the premiership victories - the 1974 reserves and the 1984 senior premierships.