Life Members

Gerry Griffiths

At TAFL AGM held on the 2/11/08 Mr. Gerry Griffths was bestowed life membership for his tireless work and dedication to the TAFL. This is the first time this honour has been awarded.

Below is the nomination from Mr. Graham Nuttall and seconded by Mr. Graham Brown.

Gerry has been a driving force of the Tamworth Australian Football League from its inception in late 1996 in readiness for it's first year of operation in 1997.

Gerry identified himself as wanting to get involved in starting the League in Tamworth when a call went out through the media seeking support from people in the Tamworth community to get involved.

He didn’t just get involved, Gerry took on the role of President of the Committee that then became the Tamworth Australian Football League Inc.

In the early days, Gerry and his wife Veronica and family Matt, Mageurite, Evan and Emily took on many roles including umpiring (field, boundary and goal), playing (Gerry still has the scars and memories of a crunching tackle under the ribs requiring hospitalisation), running the canteen, tribunal and the many meetings required for conducting a successful competition.

After a couple of years of the local Tamworth competition, Gerry was behind the expansion of the competition to include a team from Armidale followed by a team from Gunnedah and then teams from Muswellbrook, Narrabri and Inverell.

The TAFL was the only growing League in Australia in 2005.

Gerry was in no small way responsible for this growth pushing through times of some resistance to change but always acting in the best interest of Australian Football’s development in the New England North West of NSW and that of the TAFL.

I would go so far to say, that without Gerry Griffith’s commitment and dedication since that night in late 1996 when he took up the reins, the Tamworth AFL would very likely not have survived let alone grown to what it now is.

In nominating Gerry Griffiths to become the first Life Member of the Tamworth AFL Inc, I also would like to recognise and thank his family for supporting his involvement as they have and for their continuing involvement both on and off the field.

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Graham Nuttall

Tamworth Australian Football League
Annual General Meeting 2014

NOTICE OF MOTION: Submitted by Josh McKenzie

“That the members resolve to install Graham Nuttall as a Life Member of the Tamworth Australian Football League.”

Graham's involvement in Aussie Rules Football in the North West NSW area extends back for well over twenty years. When Graham came to Tamworth he immediately got involved with the local club and the North West Aussie Rules league as it was then known, both as player and with off-field roles and in promoting inter-league footy. After the demise of the North West league in the early 1990's Graham continued his commitment to the game, working hard with others to organise some intermittent annual games between Tamworth and Gunnedah. He was a key person in fostering the re-emergence and promotion of the renewed Tamworth Australian Football League (TAFL) in late 1996 and on commencement in 1997.

Graham was active as a player and administrator in the first years of the Tamworth AFL, enabling the start of a four team competition by sponsoring one of those initial teams as ‘Nuttsy's Bulldogs’. This was central in the eventual establishment and ongoing viability and success of the Tamworth Kangaroos AFC. Graham continued playing with the Kangaroos, and whilst as parochial as any Roos player he has always been quick to put on his Tamworth AFL hat to assist with the wider picture of the League’s growth and operation. This was, in those formative years, key to the immediate survival and ongoing development of the League as we know it today. Graham left the region for a couple of years due to his work, however maintained his commitment to football in the area, and on his return he was able to secure the first major sponsorship for the Tamworth AFL with Hills Transport. His media skills raised the profile of the game through the early years to see it gradually accepted as a genuine alternative rather than a short-term novelty.

In 2009, Graham stepped up to take on the role as Treasurer, a position he maintained through to the close of the 2013 season. Through that time Graham maintained such focus to see the League consolidate its financial position despite, and especially in the last two years, being kept especially busy with professional demands and often being away from Tamworth. Graham worked hard in liaising with sponsors, and maintaining strong relationships with them through a period of global financial difficulties where sponsorships proved increasingly elusive. Through the latter period, this work was done despite Graham finding himself more and more unable to derive the benefit of watching the local football due his professional commitments.

We believe Graham Nuttall to be most deserving of what should be a unique honour, and whole heartedly recommend him to the League to become our second Life Member.

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Life Members

Gerry Griffiths

Graham Nuttall

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