William Roe (Snr.) BEM
Bill Roe BEM was born
William Ernest Roe in Broome (WA) in 1934 the eldest child of William and Mary Roe.
Bill Roe excelled in
Australian Rules football and Basketball; he began his long football career from 1954 to 1967 with St. Marys Football club
in Darwin.
Bill was one of the first
players to play with St Marys in their first season in the NTFL. He missed the first couple of games because he was waiting
for a clearance from the Wanderers Football Club.
In the 1954/55 season
Bill won the prestigious NTFL Nichols Medal, he was the first St Marys
player to win this award.
Bill played in seven
winning Grand Finals with St Mary’s Club they were in 1954/55, 1955/56, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1961/62, 1965/66 and 1966/67.
Bill also played in the Grand Finals of 1960/61,
1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70 and 1970/71
He won the Clubs Best
and Fairest in 1954/55.
Bill was made
a Life Member of the St Marys Football Club in 1959 and Life Member of the NTFL in 1973.
It is estimated that
Bill played about 190 games, but unfortunately records were lost during Cyclone Tracy, so there are no correct figures.
Bill moved to Western
Australia and played football for East Perth, where he played thirteen games,
he played in their premiership side in 1956 and was voted best player on the ground.
Unfortunately a car accident
cut short his career in the Western Australia Football League, and he moved back to Darwin
and continued to play for St Marys Football Club.
In 1972 Bill coached
the first Aboriginal Australian Rules Football team to play in Papua New Guinea.
Bill represented the
Northern Territory in Basketball many times and played professional Basketball
in Perth WA.
In 1978 Bill was awarded
the BEM (British Empire Medal) in the Queens Birthday Honour list for his contribution to sports in Darwin
and particularly in Aussie Rules.
Season 2001/02 has
been very special to Bill as the club (St Marys Football Club) he loved and played for celebrated fifty years in the NTFL.
Bill was elevated by
NAIDOC to legend status on the 12th July 2002.
Bill was inducted into
NT Hall of Fame 10/11/2012
Sadly Bill passed away
on the 3/04/2015
