By Lachlan Onions
THERE was a large turnout of supporters and family members at East Gambier when Derek Ferguson was inducted into the East Gambier Football Club’s hall of fame with a ceremony at the club recently.
Ferguson said although he has been at the club for a long time, the induction still came as a surprise to him.
“It is a huge achievement for me and I really appreciate what the club have done,” he said.
“It is a real honour, there have been some fantastic champions that have been to East Gambier, so to be recognised and be up on the hall of fame with them is a huge honour to me.”
Ferguson began at the club as a junior and played 253 senior games for the club, between 1982 and 1996.
“I have been at East Gambier since I was 14,” he said.
“I moved from Scotland when I was 10 and started playing football when I was 14, I went overseas when I was 15 to play soccer and then I came back and have been at East ever since.”
Throughout his illustrious career, Ferguson played in three A Grade premierships, three B Grade premierships and coached the B Grade side to glory in 1996.
He said those premierships remained the highlights of his career.
“I have been involved in seven premierships all up at East and every one of them has been fantastic,” Ferguson said.
“They are the memories you always keep close.”
Ferguson said the club was a fantastic place to be, especially in the 1980’s.
He spent two years as B Grade coach and two years as A Grade coach before returning for three years as an assistant coach from 2017 to 2019.
Ferguson’s achievements were not limited to premierships, as he also received individual accolades throughout his career.
He was the leading A Grade goal-kicker in 1993 and won the B Grade best and fairest award in 1996.
