“I played to win, I’ll tell you that now,” says Les Waldron, 86, who has a lifetime of memories – and trophies – to mark his decades of sporting accomplishments.
Les Waldron’s a man who’s played it all.
The 86-year-old Albury resident is somewhat of a living sporting institution, having picked up nearly every bat and ball in town.
And long before the era of single-sport specialisation, Les had a pretty decent crack at mastering them all – from Aussie rules football, basketball and bowls to table tennis, squash, cricket, and golf.
He’s played and coached in countless championships and premierships, can lay claim to scoring two holes in one in the space of three months (at the Hume Country Golf Club) and wishes he’d taken up lawn bowls sooner.
At one stage, during the heady heydays of the 1960s, he was playing or training for a different sport every day of the week.
“I loved my sport,” says Les, who has a lifetime of memories – and trophies – to mark his decades of accomplishments.
But it was on the footy field that Les really made his mark in both the O&M and Hume leagues, kickstarting his career with the Albury Tigers in his teens before heading bush to coach Rand and (later) Balldale.
By all accounts he was a pretty handy rover, winning a Tigers Best and Fairest (1961) and coming fourth in the Morris medal.
At one stage the VFL came knocking with offers from Essendon, South Melbourne and Footscray (the letters take pride of place in a well-worn photo album at home).
Instead the 23-year-old agreed to take on the coaching role out at the embattled Rand club in 1963, steering them to a grand final in 1964 (which they lost to Jindera).
His reason was pretty simple – he’d found the love of his life in Nancy, and the pair were about to marry and wanted to buy a house.
“George Cooper had introduced himself and offered me 25 pounds a game to coach and play at Rand,” Les recalls.
“I was working for Chubb’s sports store at the time and was only being paid about 18 pounds. I’d played 88 senior games at Albury and never got paid. While the Tigers didn’t want me to go, they couldn’t match it.”
Two weeks later George and Les sealed the deal with a handshake.
Almost unbelievably, Les was playing golf a week later when he ran into Ian Schilg from Brocklesby, who turned around and offered him 30 pounds a week to coach there.
“I told him I’d shaken hands with George and I wouldn’t go back on it,” Les says. “Back then a man’s handshake was as good as his word – and you didn’t need to sign a piece of paper to stand by it!”
Region caught up with with Les (and Nancy) after he visited his old stomping ground for The Rand Football and Netball Club 100-year centenary celebrations on 18 July:
What was it like returning to Rand?
Les: It was the second time I’d been back to the ground in probably 60 years. It looked nothing like it did in my day, when we only had a tin shed and played on dirt. It’s covered in grass and has a lovely pavilion now.
How did you and Nancy meet?
Les: Before I joined Chubb’s, I worked at Macquarie Worsteds and Nancy was working in the office. My mate Tommy (Groch) got married the year before – I was his best man – and Nancy and Tommy’s wife were best friends … it went from there. We were married in 1964 at St Matthew’s Albury.
We bought a house in Lavington and lived there 22 years before we moved up the street to this house, where we’ve been for 40 years.
You’ve been married an incredible 62 years – what’s the secret to a good marriage?
Les: We get on well together. Looking back I played a lot of sport and I have to give Nancy the credit for bringing up the kids.
Nancy: Any marriage has its ups and downs, but you’ve just got to be able to move on and not hold grudges. When you’re married to someone who is a sportsman … well, he was a very busy man. I was home alone with the kids a lot while he played any sport that was going!
(The couple have three children they are deeply proud of – John, now 59, Melissa, 54, and Angela, 48, who all live locally.)
What did sport teach you about life?
Les: I played to win, I’ll tell you that now, but when the game was over you’d shake hands with your opponent and head off to the bar for a beer! Being fair and being there for your teammates … well it bonds you as a person.
How do you think Australia is going as a country?
Les: It’s not going too good at the moment with the cost of housing, food, and petrol prices. It makes it hard for young people working to buy their own home. We had the best of it in my day.
What do you think has changed over your lifetime?
Les: The only drugs around in my day were cigarettes and beer. It’s worrying the drugs they have in schools these days. I’ve got nine grandkids but they are all real good, thank Christ!
Speaking of beer, tell us about the drive home after footy training at Rand?
Les: One of the conditions of getting my mates Tommy and John (Fornasiero) out to Rand was we took my car to training on Tuesday nights. On the way home to Albury we’d have to stop at Walbundrie, Burrumbuttock and Jindera pubs for a few beers. Even though I was the only one being paid, really Rand got three players for the price of one, which was a pretty good deal (particularly given both Tommy and John won B&Fs for the club).
Any regrets?
Les: I took up bowls at 64 and I’m sorry I didn’t take it up earlier – it’s a great game. And I’m disappointed I didn’t deliver the grand final flag for Rand that they paid me for, but I gave it 110 per cent and so did the players.
Perhaps, the last word should go to Les’s better half when asked to reflect on their long life together:
Nancy: We had a friend, he was a bit of a joker, who used to say I deserved a gold medal for putting up with him. I reckon it should be two gold medals!
