Recieved life membership in 1993.
Noel McCormack was a long time supporter of Ainslie Football Club. He was elected to the AFC Board in 1986 and took up the duties of Secretary. He remained on the Board and Secretary until 1990. Noel was the Timekeeper in the Senior Club from 1986 until 2011 with the Time Keeper’s Room at Ainslie Oval named in his honour. Noel was a great volunteer and was Ground Manager at Ơ Connor Oval and also at Ainslie Oval for many years. He was also in charge of the Ainslie Oval Security system.
Our Noel started timekeeping for Ainslie in 1986 when he first became Secretary of the footy club. He was Secretary until 1990. He is still doing timekeeping for Ainslie. Noel became a life member in 1993.
Back in 1987, Ainslie’s home ground was O’Connor Oval. The only facilities there were the ATCO sheds (that included the canteen) and a structure built above them for the timekeepers. Noel describes this structure as “precarious”. The only access to this structure was by way of a ladder that in itself was precarious. Noel says that the structure used to move quite a lot in the wind. At this time Noel was also in charge of security at the ground and his duties included marking the ground.
Noel was born at Sorrento in Victoria in 1924. His family moved to Melbourne soon after that time and he went to school in Melbourne. One of his fellow pupils was Joe Kyne who was the brother of Phonse Kyne, the coach of Collingwood at the time. Noel began supporting Collingwood.
These were the days of the great depression. Noel says that he learned to appreciate every penny during these times. He and his mates did not have a footy so they used to make one out of paper tied up with string.
The Second World War began when Noel was still at school. As soon as he turned 18 (in 1942) he enlisted in the Air Force. Because he wore glasses, he was not permitted to fly planes-the theory at that time was that a person who wore glasses could not properly fly a plane. This is odd because, many years later, Noel got his license to fly aircraft and he has logged more than 1,300 hours of flying. He has flown 3 air safaris around Australia and has flown planes for skydivers. He is licensed to fly 12 different light aircraft types and is a qualified to perform aerobatics.
Noel started in the Air Force as a trainee wireless mechanic. His initial training was at Melbourne Tech. He then went to Richmond in NSW to learn about radar and graduated as a Radar Mechanic. Then on to a radar station at Mt Saddleback near Kiama. When he turned 19, Noel was posted to the Admiralty Islands and arrived there via Finschafen in Papua New Guinea. Noel remembers the heat and humidity of PNG. Noel helped to maintain a radar station in the Admiralty Islands during the war until April 1945. After the war finished, Noel had to return to PNG (near Madang) for further duties.
He then moved back to Melbourne and returned to the Public Service in the then Department of Air. He also took up ice-skating, which included speed skating, dancing on ice and ice hockey. He appeared in several ice shows. In the early 1950’s, Noel met his great drinking mate Jack McGrath. He blames Jack for getting him drunk before one of his ice shows. Noel turned up late for the show and ended up falling flat on his bum several times during the show. The director of the show later told Noel that the audience assumed that his falling was a part of the show, and an enjoyable one at that.
Noel moved to Canberra in 1959 to work for the Treasury. He transferred back to the Department of Air and remained in Defence-related duties until his retirement in 1987. In Canberra, Noel was originally a member of Manuka Football Club and supported Manuka (At that time, Manuka wore Essendon colours. They later merged with Eastlake). In 1961 Noel moved to Turner. Jack McGrath had also moved to Canberra and they both supported Ainslie. They also had many beers together.
Noel gets on well with timekeepers from other clubs. He says that timekeeping for reserve grade is easy because there is no time on. For first grade, the 2 timekeepers (one from each club) use a clock that counts down from 20 minutes and then counts forward. One of them records the time on periods during the game. The time on (including time on after the first 20 minutes of a quarter) is then added to produce the finishing time for the quarter. The longest period of time on Noel remembers in one game is about 50 minutes.
The most memorable Ainslie game that Noel remembers was the 1987 Grand Final when, after a goal kicked by Russell Durnan from inside the centre square, an inspired Ainslie came from behind and beat Queanbeyan for the flag. Ainslie 21.9 (135), Queanbeyan 11.15 (81). The Canberra Times headline on grand final day read “Tigers Tipped to Tramp on Tri-colours”. This became “Durnan’s Deadly Day – It’s Ainslie Again” on the following day.
The best Ainslie player that Noel has seen in his time at Ainslie is Reece Langan. The best player Noel has seen in the ACTAFL is Edney Blackaby (a rover with Manuka).