Monday 22nd November at the Association’s General Meeting, football and Eastern Suburbs stalwart Roy Belcher, was awarded Life Membership of the Eastern Suburbs Football Association.
Roy has been a familiar face for over 20 years with his football volunteer work across many roles and many clubs.
ESFA President Nigel Singh, described Roy as a man who was generous with his time and advice and was always willing to give a hand.
Roy originated his Eastern Suburbs football life at Maroubra United through his children, where from 1995 – 2005 he was Vice President and coached the first Maroubra United junior girls U18 team in 2004/2005.
In 2005 Roy became ESFA President through to April 2008.
In 2007 he was involved in Junior Boys football at Heffron Hawks coaching U18s. In 2009 he became manager of Waverley Old Boys Senior Women’s 1 division. Roy then progressed to Sydney Uni Soccer and was the Men’s Premier League Manager in 2010/2011.
2013 saw Roy become UNSW Men’s State League 2 manager and he was part of the Football NSW State League Committee.
In 2014 Roy took on the role of Waverley Old Boy’s Women’s Manager and was involved in their Committee. 2016 saw Roy move on to Dunbar NPL (State League) as manager and was part of their volunteer base.
Roy was also a member of the ESFARB Referees Committee for many years and was an active referee and has been part of the regeneration of the ESFARB Referees Committee and an avid supporter of referees.
Roy was often ESFA Judiciary Chair and Panel Member and was an avid supporter of behavioural change in football.
Roy was granted membership of the ESFA Hall of Fame in 2014.
In 2018 Roy returned to the ESFA Board where he sat until the 2021 AGM.
Whilst this is a small window into the many, many hours Roy has given to football in the Eastern Suburbs, Roy has also been seen like many volunteers, dressing fields, working on barbeques, supporting football and his passion for grassroots football community is second to none.
When presented with the Life Membership, Roy talked about the team in team sport. Roy believed that in all the times he has been involved with ESFA, decisions were always made as a team. Roy thanked the many people who have assisted him throughout the years within the Eastern Suburbs both current and past, with special mention for his wife Cathy and his children for their ongoing support of his football advocacy journey.
Congratulations to Roy Belcher on Life Membership of the Eastern Suburbs Football Association.
