Retirement of Peter Nicholls

The Yarra Junior Football League would like to acknowledge and pay tribute to its longest serving staff member Peter Nicholls, who in September retired after spending 24 years at the YJFL.

The YJFL has 11,000 children playing and over 500 teams, making it the largest junior football League in Australia. Peter has worked at the YJFL for the whole of the YJFL’s existence (24 years since 1997), and the YJFL through Peter was important in the development of girl’s football in Victoria.

It is hard to imagine someone having had a more significant contribution to junior football than Peter Nicholls.

In 2011 Peter was appointed to the full-time role of Joint League Manager and the timing of the appointment could not be any better as the League took its first steps into the Female Football space. Peter was instrumental in working with the five-trail blazing YJFL clubs and five neighbouring clubs to promote, recruit and run the YJFL’s first ever Youth Girls football competition. Girl’s football became a particular passion of Peter’s, and its growth and success can be largely attributed to Peter’s drive, support, and advocacy throughout the League.

In 2014 Peter was appointed as General Manager of the League, a position that he held up until his retirement at the end of the 2021 season. Peter was awarded Life Membership of the Yarra Junior Football League in 2019. YJFL CEO Tim Murray at the presentation of Peter’s Life Membership stated, how grateful he was for the wisdom and experience he has bought to the League. ‘We would not be anything like the

League we are today without Peter Nicholls’. “We will be forever grateful for his contribution: he can’t be replaced, and he will never be forgotten’.

Peter’s football journey began as a 13-year-old in 1967 when he strapped on the boots for his first official game with Burwood Uniting Football Club. Peter’s coach that day was none other than Jim Honey, a man well known for his contribution to community football, and whose deeds and actions set a great example to a young boy with a keenness to just be involved.

16 seasons, 250 games and 4 Premierships later, Peter may have hung up his playing boots, but it was certainly not the end of his involvement in community football. Finishing as a Life Member of the club, Peter got a taste for the administrative side of the game having spent 5 years as the Assistant Secretary at the club.

As a young father, Peter took some time out to focus on his children Adam and Emma but in 1991, when Adam started to play football with the Hawthorn Citizens Junior Football Club, Peter was quick to pick up where he left off. He soon became Club Secretary, a position he held until 1996 when he transitioned to the Administration Manager of the Hawthorn District Junior Football League.

With a large contingent of boys committing themselves to school football, Adam was suddenly left without a team so moved on to play his football with De La Salle. And despite his existing workload, who do you think stuck his hand up to be team runner for the next 3 years – Peter of course.

During the 1996 season, the Hawthorn District Junior Football League entered talks with the Doncaster and District Junior Football League which resulted in the merged entity that we now know as the Yarra Junior Football League. Long-time friend and colleague Shaun Dowling, YJFL Senior Football Operations Manager will always appreciate the life lessons he has learned during their time working and volunteering across community sport together. ‘Peter has had a massive impact on community sport for a long time and just as big of an impact upon those lucky to work with him in both a voluntary and professional capacity. He always led by actions rather than words and if there was ever anything that needed to be done Peter was there doing it’.

For the first 14 seasons of this new League, Peter performed the part-time role of Assistant Administration Manager, an all-encompassing position that saw Peter perform various duties ranging from being Tribunal Secretary to acting as Tour Manager for Representative Team trips to Queensland and even Nauru. And if you were ever at Bulleen Park on a Sunday during those first 14 seasons, you would no doubt have seen Peter charging around the field with the original line marker, ensuring that players and umpires got to play on the ground in its best condition.