Longford Football Club hero Allan Chugg had a great passion for the game and supported the Tigers for the last 70 years in a number of roles for the club.
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He continued to support the Tigers each week and watched his last match on the sidelines six weeks before he passed away on October 13.
The 86-year-old began playing for the Tigers in 1949, played his first senior game in 1953 and was a member of the famous 1955 premiership team.
He went on to coach, train and volunteer his time for the club before he retired to the sidelines and became a full time supporter of the Tigers each weekend.
Mr Chugg was born on July 13, 1933 and was raised by his sisters from a young age after his mother passed away, which led to a loving but tough upbringing financially.
His family lived on a property four-kilometres south of the town and he was one of 11 children in the Chugg household.
He began to show his sporting ability at school when he won the open aged 100-yards and high jump events four years in a row.
When he began playing footy for Longford as a teenager in the U19s he trained in pyjama bottoms with the legs cut out, as he had no shorts, before his coach Fred Davies generously bought him his first pair of footy shorts.
The humble but speedy winger soon became known as a player who could take a high flying mark and was named as a substitute for Longford's Team of the Century.
In addition to the passion for footy, he was a beloved family man and his son Roly Chugg said his father would be missed dearly but his valuable life lessons would live on.
"He taught us to give back to the community, to be humble, to serve and that family means everything," he said.
He was also a keen cricketer, and made a representative school cricket side, but could not play as he had no whites.
"Dad showed us he loved us all, not by words, but by being the family provider for 50 years, turning up to every family event, watching every game of footy ... if a game was on the moon he would have been there," his son said.
"The pride he showed in all his grandchildren and great grandchildren by always popping in and visiting his whole family wherever they lived, the loyalty and love of the Longford footy club, and his willingness to help whenever any of us needed a hand."
Mr Chugg had six children, 18 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren and passed on his sporting legacy to them, having played 1731 senior games of football combined.
