Vale Ron Lord | Football Australia

Ron Lord, the second eldest of 5 siblings, was born in Rozelle on July 25, 1929 and passed away yesterday following a short battle with illness and after giving a lifetime to the game he loved.

Widely regarded as one of, if not the best goalkeeper Australia has produced, Ron, like so many others, came to be a custodian after starting his playing career on the field & only stepping in to replace a missing colleague during his early days with the Drummoyne club.

When I first met Ron & his wife Kathleen at their Illawarra home many years ago I found a humble man keen to talk about football in all its forms but a man keener to talk about the myriad of fine players he’d played with and against during his lengthy career.

Ron began playing in a scratch club of local youths nicknamed the ‘Rozelle Waratahs’ at King George Park on the shores of Iron Cove in Sydney’s inner west. He grew up in an area steeped in football history and not far from fellow Socceroo legend Joe Marston.

Attending Drummoyne Boys High School, Ron excelled at cricket, hockey and waterpolo before focussing on soccer. He made his 1st grade debut as a teenager with Drummoyne as a full back, playing in a game where strength, speed and fitness were paramount and the silky skills of the modern day players were yet to be seen. He clearly recalled the day he was called into the reserves team after their keeper was a no show. Ron was recovering from injury that restricted his movement but was still capable, and more importantly, willing to stand between the sticks. Anything for the team. From that day he was hooked.

Lord’s playing career lasted almost 20 years at the top level starting with Drummoyne and ending with Sydney Prague in 1964. It included a long stint