Vale Basil Fuller

VALE BASIL WALTER FULLER 

Born 29 MARCH 1936  Died 22nd March 2024 (87yo) 

 

 

 

Welcome everyone here today to celebrate the life of our club LEGEND,  

• BASIL WALTER FULLER, born on 29 March 1936 and passed on 22nd March 2024, only a week short of his birthday on Good Friday. 

I’m your host, Peter Capes, CEO of SFC.  Like so many here, I was a close friend of Basil’s , seeing him every day for the last decade or so when he was in the office – every day without fail!. 

Basil’s family are here, wife Jennifer, son Craig or Baz as he’s been known all his life, wife Donna and their 3 sons.   The oldest of those 3, Charlie will shortly join us to read the family eulogy, I will talk about his remarkable contribution to the Subiaco Football Club and then joining us with their favourite Basil stories was to be Club Patron Kevin Merifield but is a late apology, hopefully Brian Sierakowski got the message to replace him and then Life Member Laurie Keene. 

1st up , please welcome Basil’s Grandson Charlie 

 

SFC EULOGY Delivered by CEO Peter Capes 

Basil started in the property room in 1958, was elected to the committee in 1961, and from there to assistant secretary in 1963.   

Ken Worner, the President of the day said ‘’òne of the most important decisions ever taken by any club committee” was to appoint Basil the 1st full time employee in 1966.   

He said further ”his youthfulness, energy and experience should ensure many years of service”  How true was that, We got over 60 years service from him!! 

In those early years, Fuller’s persuasive powers became legendary,     he could persuade coaches and players to come to the club, and people to donate, to sponsor and volunteer. 

Basil loved David Parkin and maintained contact with him ever since their relationship developed during Parko’s coaching tenure at Subi in 1975. 

That year, legend has it that during a tense final quarter, Fuller was able to use a walkie talkie to manipulate the West Perth runner , thwarting attempts by opposition coach Graham Campbell to swing his champion ruck man Bill Dempsey on to the ball, helping Subi to defeat that seasons premiers.     

• No surprises there to those that knew Basil well,  he could by a dodgy, sly and slippery manipulator       -   but only as long as its helped out his team 

When Basil left employment with the Lions in 1979, he maintained a strong link and presence around the club and in 1982 was awarded Life Membership. 

Since that time Basil was 

• inducted as an inaugural Diehard of the Club in 2000,  

• Awarded Life Membership of the WAFL and then Life Membership of the WAFC in 2006. 

• Awarded an OAM , Medal of the Order of Australia for services to sport in 2014 

Basil went into the audio visual business that set up sound, screens  and vision at functions and events in hotels and elsewhere around Perth.    

He made yet more lifelong friends such as Peter Blewett, son Carl and their business Perth AV has been our go to for all our club events with Basil the liaison, proudly boasting that Peter and Carl will look after me. 

 

In 1987 he returned to the committee as a club director,  serving whilst still in business and then continuing for the last 20 or so years till just weeks ago. 

His Director portfolios included stints as Vice President,  as House & Social, Football Affairs, Finance, Membership and Facilities, History & Heritage  

--but always with the major raffle tucked in there somewhere! 

In an interview Millsy did with Basil on 6PR 2 years ago as part of a series about Every Community Has Heroes, Millsy was intrigued about why someone would volunteer for over 60 years, why he didn’t just show up on game day and he asked Basil why?   

His answer was simple and was always the same ‘’ it keeps me going, it keeps me alive”, and it did for a long while, seeing off 14 Presidents, 24 league coaches & involvement in 12 WAFL league premierships and more raffles than you can count 

Basil Fuller was many things to many people at the footy club,  

1. He was the face of the footy club for so many past and present members, players and coaches. 

2. He was the guy selling raffle tickets on entry to match day events welcoming people to the club, remembering everyone, recalling your father, mother or other special family with links to Subiaco. 

3. He was the guy we all asked about who did what to whom 50 years ago and there’s a fair chance he was actually there or knew who was, he knew everything about this club. 

4. Basil was a walking encyclopedia about the Subiaco Football Club and he was a constant around the club and a friend to so many. 

5. Basil organized catering for pre-season camps , scoping out the facilities week in advance and making the coach and footy manager pay attention to him and what he thought was important. 

6. Basil was our link to the past, he loved the 1973 Premiership 50th year reunion last year, he could recall the opening of the new Club premises at Subiaco Oval, who sat where in the bar during that time. 

7. He loved the hi-jinks he got up to during his time at Subiaco Oval with great mates like Kim Williamson. 

8. He particularly loved those that played for the club and spent many hours assisting families to trace information about past players for funerals or special occasions and always with a sense of fun and dedication.   Who will do that now?  He leaves a massive void. 

9. Basil was also the guy with a lopsided, slightly devious grin, plotting to organize what he thought was important and managed to ignore suggestions it wasn’t that urgent for everyone else!    

 Basil had a very loose association with the truth at times, and was truly excellent at denying all knowledge about something he knew all about.   

We often laughed about bloody Basil!! 

10. Basil was dearly loved by all the office staff and he came into the club every day, cheerful and spreading the news he got from 6PR that morning.  He thought he was funny, but that humour was totally inappropriate in the modern workplace as only a man of his age could get away with. 

11. He would often report that the Merifields were in town because he saw their chairs on the balcony during his daily walk about Cottelsoe. 

12. He was a man of habit, announcing every week that I must go now because its 11am and its Calamari Wednesdays to anyone in earshot. He would tell Debbie King and now Karen South on the way out the door things like -  I will be late tomorrow because I’m off to see Mark Lawrence at Phoenix about a new car or a service or a raffle prize. 

13. He was famous as the Subiaco Raffle king, and he ran and organized our major raffle for many many years. Raffles were in his blood as his family have experienced telling me they were drafted into folding tickets, pulling books apart and helping do what was required. 

14. In an interview with Milly on 6PR only 2 years ago, Millsy said “”JK Watts used to give you stick about winning raffles”  and Basil replied “ÿeah, early on I had a good run” 

15. Basil hassled everyone equally in raffle season Directors to come up with prizes, junior clubs and other organizations to sell tickets, Life Members to return their books - was his favourite and he was appalled when someone failed to do so!  No one was immune, players , coaches staff and club legends all expected to buy tickets. 

16. Basil was the coordinator of the maintenance volunteer group that he nicknamed the TRG or Tuesday response Group.  Notables such as Clyde Goddard, Gerry Stokes, Ray Cornford, Chick Jackman and Magic Mickey Bailey have all passed through this group, now Basil joins them.  Thanks to those in the TRG that are continuing without Basils contribution.  

Basil was very loyal to the club and people that helped the club.  He was one of Mark Lawrences best customers over a long period and he always spoke highly of ML’s business. 

He was Motive Travel’s longest active customer, Basil booked his cruises there even before George Michalcyzk bought the business in the early 70’s – he loved George and George tried his best to help Basil with his raffle 

Mark and Debbie Lawrence and I have had so many roast beef lunches at WAFL games with Basil that it’s difficult to recall, but he was always up and about.   

His favourite shout outs at games were smother, poster and waste. When they had the ball he called out smother, when they were taking a set shot it was poster and if we had the ball and it got turned over he called out “”a waste, what a waste,  in disgust!

 I will miss listening to him answer the phone, simply with “Basil” and then in response to the caller“how am I ? - well I’m bordering on dangerously well’’  

Put simply, Basil Fuller was indeed a legend of Subiaco Football Club 

He has made a greater contribution to the club,  over a longer period of time,  that just about everyone else, thankyou Basil and very well played.