Russell Ebert OAM
It has been a sad week for the Port Adelaide family with the passing of Russell Ebert. A legend and hero to so many people whose contribution transcended football boundaries.
Russell’s humility, fairness and dedication to the broader community post his football career was universally admired and respected, and the stories and tributes that have flowed all week have been testament to that.
Our thoughts and sincere condolences to Dian, Tammie, Ben, Brett and the Ebert family.
When I think of Russell, there are numerous key thoughts that stand out.
The pride and love he had for his family. He’d just light up whenever talking about them.
A football legend in the truest sense and a record without peer. He also loved everything about his Club, his teammates, the supporters and he had very special relationships with the support staff and volunteers – Russell Ebert is Port Adelaide.
He had an unbelievable passion and drive to give back and help people through countless charities and his community work for the Club, and finally he was quite simply a great person to go with it all. To see him interact with people was incredible and of course he had this amazing presence about him … you certainly knew when Russ was in the building!
He just loved being in schools and ironically, for the last 15 years, the kids didn’t know who Russell Ebert was (?!) – but the galleries of teachers and parents who’d come out to watch their childhood hero who was teaching these kids certainly did! It just proved, it was never about Russ.
Everyone who had the fortune of working with Russell will remember with great fondness his many sayings … “I’ve been better Richo, I just can’t remember when” or “I shouldn’t be this good Richo”.
His one-liners were priceless and the number of ‘Russ’ stories that will be shared for years to come will be another of his great legacies.
Russell will be farewelled at a State Funeral at Alberton Oval this coming Tuesday at 11am. Gates open at 9am.
If you are yet to register and you would like to attend please click here to register. There is still capacity if members and supporters would like to attend.
For those of you who can’t attend, the service will be live streamed and will be broadcast live on Ch 7 and 7plus.
And if you would like to leave a tribute to Russell feel free to do so on our club website.
Alberton Oval precinct re-development
Everything else seems insignificant at the moment, but I do want to briefly update you on our Alberton Oval precinct re-development plans.
On Tuesday night the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council officially approved our re-development and I want to thank the Council for their support and confidence in our vision for Alberton Oval.
Over the next 18 months we will transform the Alberton Oval precinct into an elite AFL and AFLW high performance facility, which will host SANFL and AFLW matches, but importantly also provide increased access for community sport.
We are hopeful of being able to share some good news very soon on the final funding commitment from the Federal Government to secure the total funding of the $30m project.
Our sincere thanks to the AFL, the Office for Recreation & Sport and also a number of generous Club benefactors for their commitments. The project will be fully funded and at the same time the Club will reduce its debt in 2021. Work on the administration and training facility is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2022.
And we can’t wait to welcome you back to Alberton Oval in March when we plan to open the new museum, retail and hospitality venue. It is quite deliberate that the first stage of the precinct re-development is the facility for our members and supporters. We can’t wait to have you back. It’s been a long two years and think you’ll be blown away by the new facilities.
Conclusion
A tough week for the Port Adelaide family and the South Australian community.
We’ve lost a legend both on and off the field. We’ll come together at Alberton Oval or online from around the country and across the world to celebrate and honour the life of our great champion, Russell Ebert OAM.
Rest in peace great man.
