Footy community mourns player of courage, class
THE eyes of Geelong West forwards would light up when Tony Gilmore dashed out of the centre.
So clean and tough, boasting an irresistible mix of speed and skill, Gilmore had probably worn a clip around the ears in the process but would routinely nail lace-out passes.
Such attention was customary in an era of VFA footy where the elite players were targeted and the contest around the ball was as rugged as it was at times vicious.
Regarded as a West legend, the club and the broader football community that admired his courage, desperation, class and humility is mourning his passing at the age of 68.
A two-time club best-andfairest winner, three-time VFA representative and 1975 VFA premiership player under Billy Goggin, Gilmore regularly polled well in the league’s JJ Liston Medal but the honour eluded him over 130 games of sublime football between 1974-1981.
“Back in the 1970s when the VFA was where we all wanted to be, there was one player who stood head and shoulders above for us kids — that was Tony Gilmore,” 1975 team mascot Shayne Beattie said in a club video celebrating the career of Gilmore, published two years ago.
“He was just a magic player. How he didn’t win a Liston trophy has got me beaten.
“He was the sort of player who you thought, ‘If he’s in the trenches beside you, you’re going to win the day’.”
Assistant coach of the day Eric Nicholls described Gilmore as “one of the best players I saw play VFA football”.
“He was one of the players who really brought that (1975 premiership) side together.”
Teammate Barry Eddy re- called a match against Port Melbourne where Gilmore played under so much duress with the flu that “probably these days you’d take them off to hospital and that’s no exaggeration”.
“He was easily the best on the ground and after the game he was so washed out on the trestle,” Eddy said in the video.
Teammate of the early 1980s Mal Eddy said: “I kid you not, I used to stand back and think, ‘It’s (the footy) like a magnet coming to this bloke’.
“Week in, week out, Gilly would be your best player and I can see why, the ball just followed him and to his credit, he just kept running and running, and he’s one of the best players I’ve played with and watched.”
Before carving out his West legacy, Gilmore played 41 league games at Geelong between 1968 and 1973.
Geelong West officials posted a tribute to Gilmore over the weekend.
“It is with great sadness that we convey the news of the death of Tony Gilmore, brother of Sharyn Young. Tony was a Geelong West great. After a stint at Geelong, he became an elite midfielder in the VFA ... We offer our sincerest condolences to Sharyn and Rod, Peter and Faye and family.”