George Wallace

George Wallace served in the British army in the 1940s and again in the 1960s before emigrating to Australia in 1970.

While his playing days were short lived, George soon established himself as a well respected referee where his discipline and a stentorian voice quickly helped him assert control. He took courses in refereeing and inspecting at Loughborough College and rose to the top of his profession, refereeing international matches in Nigeria and becoming secretary of the refereeing bodies of which he was a member.

As a highly experienced administrator with a deep knowledge of the game when he arrived in Victoria and, after working with Nylex, within a year was appointed Secretary of the Victorian Soccer Federation in 1971. He remained as secretary and later Chief Executive Officer of the VSF until 1991.

He very quickly put his stamp on the Federation working with a series of Presidents to develop the game in Victoria and Australia. Sir David Hill-Wood, of the famous Arsenal family, Commander Michael Parker, former equerry to the Queen, were succeeded by Theo Marmaras and John Dimtsis, while Michael Weinstein was chairman of the Federation from 1973 to 1986.

George Wallace was at the vanguard for bringing in professional referees in the 1970s and fought to reduce the unwieldy club-dominated Board and State League Management Committees to smaller more efficient bodies and helped significantly to develop the game outside the Victorian metropolitan area with excellent centers including Bendigo and Latrobe Valley.

He became President of the Federation in 1994 and remained in office for a decade. From 1997 to 1999 Jeff Kennett served as Honorary Executive President, but it was George who did the hard work behind the scenes to keep the Federation going

He was a Life Member of the VSF and Football Federation Victoria and a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, Roll of Honour.

George sadly passed away in 2011.