Volunteers of Sandringham - Roly 

What makes local football clubs so special? The answer to that question is simple. And it isn’t the facilities, it isn’t the colour of the grass, it isn’t how much equipment the players have access to.

It’s the people.

At Sandringham Football Club, there are a lot of people who work really hard behind the scenes, to ensure that game days run smoothly. These people are important to the Club, and the Club is just as important to them.

That’s what we miss most in this challenging time – the people we so frequently saw around the Club during footy season doing their bit for the Club, people like Roly.

Roly is one of those rare characters that football clubs need. Someone who cares so much for the Club and will do anything and everything they can to be involved and help out. He is retired, he loves his dog, he loves going fishing and playing golf, and enjoys spending his time at the Hampton Bowls Club on a social level. And, he has been a Sandringham supporter since he was a schoolboy.

Since 1992, he has always been around the Club as a supporter, making sure to get along to every single final. Eventually, that led to him volunteering on match days, becoming ground manager at Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval for some time, before falling into the role of timekeeper accidentally, and subsequently falling in love with it.

For 15 years, this was his role at the Zebras. In that time, he saw four premierships, and a lot of near grand finals, but says that those premierships were something truly special.

And his claim to fame? “I knew we’d won it before anyone else.”

In recent years, Roly has run a soup kitchen for the Zebras players after training on a Thursday night, which he has been doing since 2001, and in 2003 was awarded Sandringham’s Clubman of the Year.

But he remembers his days as timekeeper with a particular fondness - the friends he has made overtime, and the memories he has made with the Club, are the reason he has hung around for so long and the reason that the Club is such an important part of his life.

He speaks highly of the Tasmania trips, when the team, coaches and support staff would travel over together to play Tassie.

With his cheeky nature, the banter that surrounded these trips, and the good times that were shared between everyone there, suited him perfectly and he enjoyed every minute.

But Roly assures us that they all did their jobs, and that when it came to game day it was all hands-on-deck and their priorities were well and truly in check.

There are so many people at Sandringham who Roly notes not being around anymore, characters that you just don’t see. This is something he speaks about with a strong level of sadness - as people have gotten older, they can’t travel the distance anymore.

But the new generation needs to step up, so that local footy doesn’t lose what is so special.

The locals need to get around the Zebras and support their local VFL club. The special thing about local football is that you are appreciated, the locals know who you are, and that is something that you just don’t see at AFL level, and that’s something we can all get involved in.

It is people like Roly, who are the heart and soul of football clubs, especially at a local level. People who have been with Sandringham through times of change, times of heartbreak and the pure elation of premiership wins. That is something special.