Vale Tony Barrell 
May 7, 1940 - March 31, 2011

Tony Barrell, one of the Sydney Swans most loyal supporters, died early Thursday morning.
 
Tony was a multi award winning ABC broadcaster, whose passion for the Swans was legendary.
 
He recorded and produced a fine radio documentary called 'Cheers' about the near demise of the Swans with interviews with Ron Barassi, the players, and the official cheer squad members. It is a unique record of part of the Club's history and was first broadcast on ABC's Radio National on September 5, 1993.

Click here to listen to Tony's radio documentary 'Cheers'.
 
Born in England, Tony would often recall the days when he sat in the rain at the SCG with a handful of other loyalists watching early Swans games.  He kept a favourite video of the Swans record victory over Essendon in Round 17, 1987 (The Swans scored 236 points at the SCG, winning by 163), and also liked to recall the Swans win against West Coast the previous week, when they scored 201 points to win by 130.

Tony became a full member of the Swans in 1996 and attended the historic 2005 Grand Final win at the MCG. Fellow Swans members recall him talking excitedly on his mobile phone to friend Peter Smalley, a novelist and early Swans supporter, who rang from London while Tony was waiting for a train at Richmond Station to go into the city to celebrate the milestone Premiership win.
 
A regular in the O’Reilly stand at the SCG, Tony rarely missed a match and was also a crafty tipper in the ABC’s “The Sydney Mugs” footy tipping competition.
 
Tony is survived by his partner Jane, daughter Klio and partner Garth and a much loved granddaughter, Marcella. He will be greatly missed.