AN INDELIBLE FOOTY IMPACT
REMEMBERING ALAN ‘DOC’ MACKENZIE
FORMER Brisbane Lions president and GC17 bid team member Graeme Downie says no person has left more of an impact on Australian rules football in Queensland than Dr Alan ‘Doc’ Mackenzie.
Dr Mackenzie died on Friday morning at the age of 75, after 49 years as president of the Southport Sharks and a contribution to Queensland Aussie rules dating back more than half a century.
Downie, who alongside Dr
Mackenzie helped lead the GC17 bid in establishing the Gold Coast Suns as an AFL franchise, only learned of Doc’s passing as he prepared to leave for the Suns-Fremantle match at Metricon Stadium on Sunday.
“It’s a sad day for footy and a sad day for his family that he has passed away,” Downie said.
“His dedication to Queensland football is unbelievable. I don’t think anyone has made a more significant contribution than Alan.”
Those last words ring true not just for Downie, whose association with ‘Doc’ extends as far back as the 1960s when the two played against each other in Brisbane, but for almost everyone who had the pleasure of sharing in his journey.
“When did I first become aware of Alan?” pondered Downie. “He was playing for Western Districts in Brisbane and I was playing for Kedron.
“I was a defender mainly and he was a rover for Wests – a very cheeky rover, too.
“He was a fairly determined and dynamic sort of player. That’s how I got to know him first.
“We weren’t friends or anything, we just respected each other’s ability I suppose.”
The two passionate Aussie rules men came together once more at the Brisbane Bears, when Downie joined the board, with Mackenzie installed as the club’s doctor.
Doc left the club in 1998, but the pair would rekindle their working relationship in 2008 when the GC17 bid team,
comprising key footy and community figures on the Gold Coast, was formed.
The team of five, including Minter Ellison Gold Coast managing partner John Witheriff, Gold Coast City Council CEO Dale Dickson and Gold Coast Bulletin Editor-in-Chief Bob Gordon, successfully delivered the Suns to the Coast when then-AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou granted the club a provisional licence in March 2009.
“Doc’s long-term administration experience was absol
utely vital,” Downie said. “He is someone who I respected enormously and who I regarded as a friend. I don’t know anyone who has made a more significant contribution to footy in this state.”
Suns board member Bob East labelled Dr Mackenzie’s passing “a tremendous loss”.
“On a personal level he was an incredibly decent person to travel with; we did lots of games together,” East said.
“His insights were always well-considered; he always thought deeply about the players and the broader AFL club and the community.
“He was across all aspects of what we feel is important. It is a tremendous loss. His contribution should be duly recognised.”
Inaugural Suns chairman Witheriff shared a tribute to Doc on LinkedIn.
“Alan Doc Mackenzie was a great friend and mentor to me and many many others,” Witheriff wrote.
“Having known Doc for many years I had the great pleasure of meeting with him again in 2006 to develop a strategic plan for AFL footy on the Gold Coast.
“His vision was made real with the establishment of the Gold Coast Suns and Metricon Stadium.
“He led a community effort to create the 17th national team and Doc’s football knowledge, industry, respect and drive were critical for the establishment of the club.
“He was known for his wise counsel and gentle manner. He was a giant in this community and his passing is mourned by me and many others.”
Former Gold Coast Bulletin Australian Rules writer Terry Wilson arrived on the Gold Coast the same year Mackenzie became Southport president.
“He was an incredible captain of the ship, seeing through the days when they had an old green tin shed and drinking hole at Owen Park to
becoming one of the envies of every sports organisation in Queensland,” Wilson said.
“I have never met a more knowledgeable and intensely passionate football fan than Doc Mackenzie. He had brains, business nous and was still practising when he died.
“He was by far and away the most outstanding sports administrator on the Gold Coast, in Queensland and perhaps Australia.”