When asked why he’d been made a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2025 Australia Day honours, Geoffrey Collinson struggled to put it succinctly.
“It’s predominantly for the work I’ve done for cricket in the western suburbs, particularly Footscray over the last, what’s it……..48 years.”
No wonder the Council for the Order of Australia chose to honour him.
When it comes to the Footscray Cricket Club, it’s more a case of what Mr Collinson hasn’t done than what he has.
After first representing the club in Dowling Shield as a 15 year old, Mr Collinson played for Footscray for the next 15 years, sharing changerooms with the likes of club legends Merv Hughes and Ray Bright and even playing against a very young Shane Warne.
Finally pulling up stumps in 1991 and with a young family and a career at consulting giant PWC well underway, no one would’ve begrudged Mr Collinson if his involvement with the club ended there.
Instead, Mr Collinson went straight onto the committee and has been serving ever since.
He served as vice president from 1993 to 1998, his first term as president from 1998 to 2002 and a second stint from 2012 to the present day.
Mr Collinson was also a member of the club’s Centenary Committee in 1984 and served as the club’s Cricket Victoria delegate from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2013 to the present.
He’s also a member of Western Region Cricket Development Board, co-founder of the Western Region Junior Bulldog Cricket Academy and a supporter of the Cops v Street Kids charity cricket matches.
But as much as he’s given to the club and cricket in the west, Mr Collinson said the club and the sport had given him much more in return.
“The club has been a tremendous source of friendship for me since I’ve been 15 years old. A lot of my friends have been involved in the club over the years.”
Mr Collinson said the Footscray Cricket Club was currently in rude health both on and off the field and served as the gateway for young west suburbs cricketers to the top of the sport.
But despite this and receiving an OAM, he has no plans to step back now.
“I’ll be involved in the club forever,” said Mr Collinson.
“It’s hard to imagine my life without the club.”
