Dr Alan Mackenzie was widely known as Mr Football in Queensland.
And now, one of the biggest games of football in the state he was so passionate about bears his name with the Mackenzie Cup being awarded to the winner of the Coast Clash between his beloved Southport Sharks and Gold Coast Suns, a club he had a huge role in founding a little over a decade ago.
“Doc” Mackenzie was Southport president for a scarcely believable 49 years and was involved in Queensland football as a player, volunteer, medical officer, coach, selector and administrator.
When it became clear the Sharks weren’t going to receive 17th AFL licence 15 years ago, Mackenzie joined the GC17 bid team and threw his considerable influence behind their push to bring AFL football back to the Gold Coast.
He served as a Suns board member for 10 years and became a life member of that club in 2018.
The Cup was first contested in last year’s preliminary final won by the Sharks by 28 points, interestingly the only game the Suns have lost in their past 15 dating back to a 24-point defeat to Coburg at Piranha Park on July 3 last year.
Now, Southport’s first defence of the Mackenzie Cup comes fittingly on the first anniversary of their club legend’s death on May 13 last year.
The Suns hold a 13-4 win-loss record over the Sharks, although Southport has won two of the past three following an eight-match streak by Gold Coast since 2014.
The importance of the occasion wasn’t lost on either Sharks coach Steve Daniel or new Suns mentor Josh Drummond, who is yet to taste defeat in the hot seat.
“Doc was unbelievable for our football club for what he did here and being on the board and what he did at the Gold Coast Suns,” Daniel said.
“He’s a massive icon for Queensland football and we’re hoping we can put on a really good spectacle for everyone on the weekend and let’s hope we do him proud.
“He’ll be up there looking down, I know he’ll be barracking for Southport but he’ll also be hoping Gold Coast do alright because he did have a big heart for them as well.
“I think there’s still two coaches here in myself and Matty Primus who coached at Gold Coast, we’ve still got a couple of real good friends at the club and I think there’s about 10 or 11 players here who played at the Suns and a few of them left on not great terms the way I did – i.e. they were sacked (delisted) by the club, so they like to beat the Gold Coast Suns.
“There’s definitely a rivalry, so it’s good for football.”
Drummond said: “It’s a really big occasion for both clubs to celebrate Doc on the anniversary of his passing.
“It’s really significant to Southport, he was there for 50 years and he was an inaugural part of our bid team to get the club up and running, so he’ll forever be etched in the history of the Suns and the club is looking forward to putting on a good show for him.
“We’re looking forward to another opportunity against a quality side on their home deck, a big occasion and seeing if our boys can rise to another challenge.”
Daniel also had a thought for Matthew Schneider, who succeeded Mackenzie as president after his death last year but was diagnosed with cancer shortly after and sadly lost his own battle only a few short months later.
“That hit the club really hard unfortunately. We lost two quality people around our football club and they’re sorely missed.
“Doc was a long-time servant of our football club and Matt had such a massive impact in such a short time.”
The match is scheduled to start at 12.05pm on Saturday at Fankhauser Reserve, with free entry and the game being streamed on the AFL website, AFL Live Official App and VFL App for those who are unable to get there.
