Mandurah City Football Club received the news of Mr. John Talbert's passing with deep sorrow on Tuesday. John played a crucial role in the design, planning, and fundraising efforts for our stadium.
Former club president, John Fitzmaurice, shared some heartfelt words about John's contributions to the stadium's development.
The late John Talbert
To understand the impact that John Talbert has had on football in the Peel Region and Mandurah in general we need to go back to the late nineties.
At that time the Junior Soccer Association (JSA) and Mandurah City Soccer Club (MCSC) as they were known then, were two separate entities with two separate committees.
Our clubhouse at the time was a shared facility at Bortolo Park in Greenfields.
As good as Bortolo was, football was experiencing exponential growth at all levels, and we had outgrown the facility. Also, the club had applied to join the Saturday Soccer West Coast competition and Bortolo was deemed not suitable for the competition.
If football was to continue to develop, we needed our own facility, our own stadium, but that would require some serious funding. Funding was only available to organisations that had a very well-established Junior Football association.
To access the relevant funding from Federal, State and local council level we needed to put a structure in place to bridge the divide between the aspirations of both the JSA and MCSC.
It was decided to set up the Peel Regional Football Council (PRFC).
The PRFC would be made up of members of both the Junior and Senior committees with an independent Chairperson.
The independent Chairperson had to have a suite of skills that allowed them to manage the football aspirations of both the JSA and MCSC, an excellent understanding of the relevant Federal State and local funding and the tenacity to engage and seek commitment from politicians at every level.
It just so happened that John Talbert was available at that time and agreed to step into the role as Independent Chairperson of the PRFC.
As they say the rest is history, and John Talbert was involved in every step from gaining access to Peelwood as the home of football to the development of the Peelwood Parade Stadium.
· 2000 the Football family started to work closely with the City of Mandurah to locate a new facility and an Active Reserves Study was commissioned.
· 2001 the study plan was published with a strategy to establish Peelwood as footballs home base.
· 2003 the Club hosted a match between Perth Glory and the Singapore national team. Organised by John Talbert through the Department of Sport and Recreation, the game drew a crowd of 5,000 to Peelwood.
· A Steering committee was set up in 2003 to work with the relevant organisations to design, fund and build the stadium that now exists at Peelwood.
· 2005 architects Holton Connor had been appointed to design the new facility.
· 2006 construction had started by local builders JD & ME Moore.
· March 2007 the $2,096,000 facility was officially opened by Mayor Paddi Creevey and Federal Member Don Randall MHR.
John Talbert’s influence on the funding, design, development and delivery of the stadium at Peelwood cannot be underestimated.
Steering Group members with the building foreman from JD&ME Moore.
John Talbert on the right, involved in the funding, design, development and delivery of the Stadium at Peelwood.
A job well done, Rest In Peace JT
After leaving PRFC, John continued his involvement in football, earning life membership with Football West and serving as the chairman of the Junior Football Standing Committee. Mandurah City acknowledged John's work and dedication by naming the boardroom "The John Talbert Boardroom". Peter Koulizos, who succeeded John as PRFC chairman, described John as a "True Legend" in the region and credited him for the game's growth in the Peel region. Another former chairman, Jim Webb, praised John's mentorship and caring nature towards football in the area. Our thoughts and condolences go out to John's wife, Sue, and the entire family.
Rest in peace, John.
Peter Koulizos (Current chairman PRFC), Jim Webb (Former President) & John Talbert
On behalf of John's wife Sue and his five children, thank you for the lovely tribute. Dad thoroughly enjoyed the years he spent involved with Mandurah FC and he would have been genuinely surprised and honoured by the kind words written. He loved the beautiful game and steadfastly refused to call it soccer. Even when he was unwell in hospital, he was still able to watch and enjoy the Matilda's fantastic run in the World Cup. He greatly missed being involved in the club when he and Sue moved up to Perth, but still enjoyed the Father/sons trip that we tried to do annually to watch a game. Regrettably we were unable to get down for a game last season…