Born in England in 1928, Fred Villiers started work as a cadet on the Essex Southend Times in 1942 as a sports journalist.
He later worked as a football writer for the Greyhound Express in London.
Villiers served in the Royal Navy from 1945 to 1948, played football for the Navy and returned to journalism as a football writer for the News of the World.
In 1954 Villiers emigrated to Australia, joining first the Melbourne Herald and later the Argus.
He launched Soccer News weekly and in 1957 began an 11-year run as soccer editor of the Sporting Globe.
He also hosted a weekly soccer news program on Melbourne’s radio 3KZ. In 1961 Villiers joined Channel 7’s World of Sport as soccer commentator, a position he held for 23 years.
Elected in 1961 to the council of the Victorian Amateur Football Association, Villiers became public relations officer for the Victorian Soccer Federation in the late 1960s.
He was appointed soccer editor of the Sunday Observer in 1968 and in 1972 introduced two full pages on soccer in the Melbourne Truth.
Villiers became secretary of the Trustees of the Victorian Soccer Federation and has been a member of the Hall of Fame honours committee since its inception.
His contribution and encouragement of the game was constant high standard through print media, radio and television.
He sadly passed away in 2018.
Hall of Fame 2006 Inductees
