2024 GOTAFE Goulburn Valley League Hall of Fame Inductee
Matthew O’Sullivan
When looking through the list of top footballers in the GVL you come across many who not only succeed at football, but excel in other sports as well. The GVL now inducts such a person who would have to be regarded as the best all round sportsman at Seymour Football Netball Club
Matthew O’Sullivan is a part of a well-known Seymour family who have produced top sports performers as well as taking on important roles as administrators and supporters.
Matts football life began as many Seymour players have, as a junior at St. Marys junior football club in the under 10s. After juniors, he was elevated into the Seymour 3rds in 1983 where he played under the coaching of Robin Gardener.
He took to the game with gusto and it was no surprise when he became a member of his beloved Seymour Lions senior team in 1985 after playing 6 reserves games. Peter Gorski was the coach.
Matt relished the opportunity to play with top players and in his second season in 1986 he won the Seymour Best player award. By 1987 he was the senior captain of the Lions. He settled in to the team as a top player and guided the Lions during their team building towards the ultimate prize which came in 1991 when the Lions defeated Tongala by 9 points to become GVL premiers.
Then there were some lean years during the nineties when Matt played his heart out in a club which was struggling to play finals.
He was selected to represent the League on 7 occasions and loved the opportunity to be involved in Interleague games and enjoyed wearing the purple and gold GVL jumper. He appreciated the friends he made and the opportunity to play with top players in the League. He also won the Shepparton News Award selected by the News football writers.
He took the opportunity to accept a coaching role with the Broadford club in 1995 & 6 then returned to the Lion’s Den. At the end of the nineties, he decided to retire on 199 games. However, he was talked into returning to play 2 years later to notch up his 200th game. This gave him a qualified Life membership of the GVL to add to his Life membership of Seymour. In 2000 he was named in the Seymour Team of the century.
Following his playing days, he remained highly involved with the club. He was president of Seymour in 2001 and 2002 and then was a selector on the match committee for the premiership years of 2005 & 6.
Matt also supported junior football as coach of St. Marys under 16s from 2009 – 2011 and moved on to coach the Seymour 3rds from 2012 to 2014 which was a grand final year. He coached the Reserves in 2016 & 17 and also spent more time on the match committee. What a wonderful commitment to Seymour.
In the year 2017 only 2 players in the Seymour senior team had not been coached by Matthew. It is also important to note that Matt did not receive any money from the Seymour club either as a player, an administrator or a coach. His commitment was voluntary.
As mentioned, Matt has also excelled in other sports. He was amongst the best performers in the Seymour Cricket Association, he is a champion lawn bowler, and plays golf off scratch.
With that wonderful sporting record and an example of what a dedicated player can do for a club he loves. It is with great pleasure that we welcome Matthew O’Sullivan as a member of the GVL Hall of Fame.
