EAGLES LEGEND TO LIVE ON IN NEW BOOK
THE life of Newtown & Chilwell legend Len Alford is set to be published in a book this year.
The Eagles have commissioned a book to be written on the life of club icon Alford following his death in March.
Former journalist Paul Millar has the honour of writing the book, with Newtown & Chilwell hoping it will help future generations understand Alford’s legacy.
Millar relayed a story about how Alford inspired the Eagles playing group.
“He had a red scooter after he lost his licence — every training session it was always there — and all the coach needed to do, if he talked about commitment, was point to the red scooter because it was there every week for training sessions,” Millar said.
Former player Nathan Braddock was prompted to get a start on the idea after attending the funeral of
Eagles great Sam McMahon in February.
Millar was able to interview Alford “three or four times” before he passed.
Braddock said the club was thankful it had been able to capture some of Alford’s memories before his death on March 25.
“Len was there at (Sam McMahon’s) funeral actually and I saw him and he’d gone downhill a little bit,” Braddock said.
“Just looking at the guy and thinking how our club and community can keep the memory of Len Alford because he’s absolutely one of a kind.
“He’s got clubrooms named after him, awards named after him, he’s a life member of everything he’s every been involved with but how do we make sure in future generations, people actually know who he is and what he’s done for everyone? A book was the logical thing.”
Alford received an OAM in 2014 for his lifelong commitment to the community, including his dedication to the Parents Without Partners group, which he served as president for more than three decades.
He also devoted his time at St Joseph’s College and Murgheboluc Cricket Club — where he was the first non-player to be made a life member — and he was made an inaugural legend of Newtown & Chilwell Football Netball Club in 2018.
Alford won the Eagles’ best clubman title countless times before it was renamed the
Len Alford Award in 1991 and was made a GFL life member in 2006.
He also received the Geelong Football Club’s Reg Hickey Award for services to Australian rules.
Braddock said Newtown & Chilwell recently raised $10,000 in a matter of weeks to help make the book become a reality.
Millar said Alford was humbled by the project.
“I met him up at the club, which was a good start because you could see what he was all about,” Millar said.
“While we were there was players coming in to get strapped up so we kept getting interrupted.
“Over at his house … we just sat out on the veranda. His house is a bit of a museum of all his awards — the walls are plastered with mementos, awards and what have you.
“He was one of these guys that didn’t want to focus on himself. He was saying how good everyone was to him and how they helped him out.
“Every club’s got someone that’s first there, opens the doors and last to leave but he was doing it for 50 years.”