We were proud to be joined at Arkaba Oval this week, by Owen Bevan, to do us the honour of tossing the commemorative Life Member coin for our match against Uraidla.
Until recent years Owen was a lifelong Stirling resident who played for Stirling in the 1950’s and through to the 70’s. A very fair but determined player, Owen was a ruckman in Stirling’s 1960 Premiership side, runner up Mail Medalist in 1965 and the inaugural chairman of the Mt. Lofty District Football club in 1979.
Owen juggled his sport with life as a Police Officer and he retired as Chief Superintendant after decades of service to South Australia – for which he was recognised in the Australia Day Honours List with an Australian Police Medal.
Years of service also saw Owen recognised with Life Membership of the Stirling Football Club. He continued his voluntary service on the formation of Mt Lofty Football Club and was our inaugural President in 1979, holding that position until 1981 when Mt Lofty won its very first A Grade Premiership playing in the then SAFA competition. He has continued to stay in touch and was one of a good number of 1960 Stirling Premiership players who attended the 2021 reunion.
Owen’s son Mark is with him today, with Mark being a member of our 1990 A Grade premiership side, and four of Owens Grandsons have gone on to play junior and senior football with the devils
We sincerely thank you Owen.
It was great to see Owen and his son Mark on Saturday, and thanks to Hadyn Cutting and the LLG for these great photos from the archives.
