The Port Adelaide Football Club mourns the passing of premiership player and club life member Eric Freeman who passed away last night at the age of 76.
The man affectionately known as “Fritzy” was a key forward representing Port Adelaide in 116 games from 1964 to 1971, kicking 390 goals.
Freeman won a premiership with Port Adelaide in 1965 and the following year won the Ken Farmer Medal after kicking 81 goals for the season.
He also topped the club’s goal kicking list on five occasions – 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970 and 1971 – and represented South Australia on six occasions.
Port Adelaide chief executive Matthew Richardson says Freeman’s passing was a sad day for the Port Adelaide family.
“The Port Adelaide Football Club passes on its heartfelt condolences to Eric’s wife Dianne, daughter Michelle and the entire Freeman family during this time,” Mr Richardson said.
“Eric was everything that Port Adelaide stood for. Born in Semaphore, he was always part of the Port Adelaide community, and across his playing career represented everything our club stands for – humility, fairness and brilliance.
“Eric was a key component of the Port Adelaide side throughout the 1960s that created a legacy for our club on the national stage today. He always enjoyed staying connected with his club, a regular at events when he could attend and was terrific company. It is a very sad day for the Port Adelaide family.”
Port Adelaide champion Russell Ebert, a teammate of Freeman from 1968 to 1971, described him as the ultimate clubman and a wonderful storyteller.
“Eric had a heart as big as he was in stature. He was just a wonderful man who just wanted to help others and make them better people,” Ebert said.
“You always wanted to be around Fritzy because he had so many stories to share and he always made you smile and feel better about yourself.
“I roomed with Fritzy on some away trips which was a pleasure because you had this person who you knew cared about you and wanted to see you do well. It was never about him.”
Ebert described Freeman as a champion forward who was super competitive and always wanted the ball.
“Fritzy was top shelf, as good as there was. He played mostly at full forward and he would say ‘just get the ball to me’ and he invariably did something with it,” Ebert recalled.
“He was a beautiful kick and such a strong competitor who never, ever wanted to be beaten and always wanted to contribute to the team and our success.”
Apart from his brilliant football career at Port Adelaide, Freeman was also an outstanding cricketer representing Australia in 11 Test matches from 1968-70 taking 34 wickets and scoring 345 runs.
Freeman played first-class cricket for South Australia from 1964-74 taking 241 wickets and scored more than 2000 runs. He was a key part of South Australia’s Sheffield Shield winning team of 1970/71.
Upon his retirement from the sporting field, Freeman enjoyed a long and successful career in the media with ABC radio, covering football and cricket, until his retirement in 2010.
Port Adelaide will honour Freeman with black arm bands in its opening AFL and SANFL games next year.
