St Kilda Football Club has sadly lost a person who was truly one of its finest across a span of six decades.
John Beveridge passed away overnight at the age of 85.
His standing as one of the great football recruiting men was widely acknowledged across the competition, but within the club itself his hallmarks were integrity and genuine care for those around him and especially for the generations of players who he was instrumental in recruiting.
He was instrumental in the high draft selections such as Nick Riewoldt, Brendon Goddard, Justin Koschitzke and Luke Ball, but it was the gems he swooped on in the later selections which showed his mastery of the recruiting art. Eventual champions such as Max Hudghton and Nick Dal Santo were two classic examples.
Max was a surprise draft choice to the media at the time. He had been a Melbourne boy originally and had moved to Queensland as a teenager. Essendon flew him down to Melbourne for a meeting with Kevin Sheedy. Other clubs started showing interest.
"I spoke to all these clubs but never ever heard from Johnny. I think he had been doing all this research on me and he didn’t want to alert everyone that St Kilda was interested. It’s a game of poker. Essendon was all over me and they were going to draft me," Hudghton said.
"On draft day Sheedy asked Andrew Ireland why Brisbane hadn’t been interested in me. Ireland said Hudghton hasn’t come on this year, we don’t reckon he’s in the top 10. Sheedy went to the draft table and told Noel Judkins (their top recruiter) that they wanted Daniel McAllister. Johnny got wind of it and thought they would grab me. Johnny had never said a word to me. He rang me after the draft and welcomed me. I said he had bamboozled me because he hadn’t been in contact. He said never mind Max, I had people working behind the scenes!”
John’s family has a rich footballing history across three generations. His father Jack was a champion player for Collingwood during the Magpies triumphant four successive premiership era and while names like the Coventrys and Colliers strike a chord with fans, Jack Beveridge was every bit a star, earning Victorian selection in that glittering time.
And today we know John’s son Luke as the Western Bulldogs coach and a former St Kilda player.
John Beveridge’s football journey started at Collingwood’s under-19s and reserves, and he then spent the 1961 and 1962 seasons with Sandringham in the VFA. He subsequently played for Castlemaine and East Malvern. He began his involvement with junior football as coach of St Peters East Bentleigh in 1966. Later, he would be coach of the initial St Peters under-17s team in 1973. He also coached younger sides at the club from 1979 to 1981.
During those years he had a strong positive influence on hundreds of young players starting out in local football and imparted a philosophy and ethical approach that they were able to extend to their lives away from the football field.
John also worked on collecting match day statistics on VFL games for Footy Week magazine from its inception in 1965 and subsequently carried out the statisticians role for St Kilda coach Allan Jeans.
In 1982, John joined St Kilda’s Junior Development department and the following year became a Development Officer in charge of a defined region. After zoning finished in 1991, he became involved in St Kilda’s recruiting department and was appointed Recruiting Manager in 1994. It was a position he held up until 2007 when he stepped down from the full-time role. After that, he continued in what was nominally a part-time role, but he continued to work for many hours above and beyond the normal call.
Although known for his recruiting ability, but his input not only to St Kilda Football Club but the game in general has extended way beyond that. He has at all times displayed a general interest in the well-being of players and their families who have come to the club, and has been a guiding light and sounding board for them whenever they needed him.
He embodied the ideals of selflessness, co-operation and care that we trust are the principles of all young players in their football careers, and on which our game is built.
From a personal point of view, I can vividly recall taking John to the best and fairest night a couple of years ago. He was in an aged care facility at the time and when my son and I arrived to pick him up he had a large bandage on his head and explained that he had taken a tumble during the afternoon. I asked him and the nurses whether he was actually OK to attend the night. They assured me he would be right and muttered that they couldn’t have stopped him anyway.
As we drove to the event it was clear that John’s speech was impaired, but underneath, the mind was as sharp as ever. My younger son helped him into his wheelchair to get to the event and during the night there was an endless stream of former players who flocked to “JB”.
The night showed me John’s courage and determination, and emphasised how loved he was within the club at all levels.
A truly remarkable man.
