Imperials Football Club members celebrate 25 years since their triple premiership victory with reunion

The Imperials Football Club’s clubhouse was full of laughter, conversation and anecdotes when the Imperials held their 25 year Premiership Reunion to celebrate their triple premiership victory. The rare feat, achieved in 1998, saw Imperials win the Lower South West Football League premierships in the league, reserves and colts. The 40 returning premiership players, coaches and club members attended the all-day reunion on Saturday at the Imperials Football Club, with food being catered by Cilantros Restaurant and the day’s events including panels from former players as well as a video of the 1998 Grand Final matches playing throughout the day. Former premiership league coach Darren Chatley said the day was a good opportunity to catch up and share anecdotes, while former premiership colts coach David Booth thanked the club for keeping former players involved within the club and its activities. “I haven’t seen most of these guys for over 20 years, so it’s really good to catch up with them again and reminisce,” Mr Chatley said. “It’s good to catch up with the committee and some of the League guys that I knew and played against and just like to thank the Imperials for keeping us guys involved and not forgetting about us,” Mr Booth said. Imperials Football Club president and event host Anthony Stubberfield said the day went well, given the weather, and he was happy to see the amount of people “It’s a significant day for our club when we won three premierships and we wanted to celebrate it,” he said. “It was a fantastic outcome, seeing how it was the middle of a wet winter and people made a large effort to catch up with old mates.“ Mr Chatley said looking back at the premiership season, the camaraderie and community spirit brought by the Imperials team was the highlight of the season. “It was great, not just coaching the team but being involved with the club, I thought was a great experience,” he said. “To me, it was great to win the premiership, but more about the club, as a whole, embracing it and there was a real sense of community about it. Mr Booth noted the efforts and respect the colts players gave him as their coach and the satisfaction of leading them to a premiership was a memorable moment for him during the season. “The effort of the colts side was very good, they missed the 1997 premiership by three points, whatever effort was needed they made up for it and were very respectful to me and what I said.” “I think I got more reward for the boys to win a premiership at their age.”