A sell-out crowd of more than 1300 celebrated 135 years of rich Swans history at Crown Palladium and watched as Bob Skilton, Bob Pratt and Paul Kelly were inducted as ‘Bloods Legends’.
More than 1500 players have represented the club as South Melbourne or the Sydney Swans.
The selection committee of Rick Quade (Chairman), Dean Moore, Mark Branagan and Jim Main had the difficult task of picking the initial 23 players to be inducted.
“While there are so many players worthy of induction no one could dispute that the 23 players selected from our VFA/VFL/AFL eras all thoroughly deserve their selection,” Sydney Swans chairman Richard Colless said.
“A wonderful aspect of the Hall of Fame concept is that the players not selected in this inaugural intake are not excluded from being inducted over the next few years.
“For me, what the night highlighted was the unusual circumstances which this Club has faced, its extraordinary powers of survival, and the unbelievable number of champion players that we have produced.”
Those inducted into the Hall of Fame were chosen from five eras. Peter Burns was the sole representative from pre-1897. Three players were chosen from 1897-1918, six from 1919-1945, again six from 1946-1981 and seven from the last era, 1982 to the present day.
For a player or coach to be eligible for selection they must have been retired for at least three years. There was no minimum number of games played or coached, but in the committee’s opinion the player must have had a profoundly positive impact on the club.
The dinner took place following the Sydney Swans' game against Carlton at Docklands, a match that commemorated 100 years since the Swans’ first VFL premiership win, in 1909 against the Blues. The Swans players, who wore commemorative guernseys during the match, attended the dinner.
Also at the event, the book ‘In The Blood’ authored by Main was officially launched by Herald Sun chief AFL writer Mike Sheahan.
The collectors edition book details the journey from the establishment of the South Melbourne Football Club in 1874 to the present day Sydney Swans.
Swans Hall of Fame 2009 inductees
Pre-1897: Peter Burns
1897 -1918: Vic Belcher, Herb Howson, Bruce Sloss
1919 -1945: Bob Pratt (Legend), Roy Cazaly, Mark Tandy, Laurie Nash, J. Herbie Matthews, Jack Bisset
1946 -1981: Bob Skilton (Legend), Billy Williams, Fred Goldsmith, John Rantall, Peter Bedford, Ron Clegg
1982 -2009: Paul Kelly (Legend), Tony Lockett, Barry Round, Mark Browning, Dennis Carroll, Gerard Healy, Greg Williams
