An overwhelmingly positive response from fans saw the event officially sell out two weeks ago, with the capacity crowd of 900 guests now looking forward to celebrating the evening together with some noteworthy individuals from the Club’s past and present.
Former Chairman Graeme Downie, who also chaired the Hall of Fame selection committee, believes the event could prove the most important in the Club's merged history.
“I’m delighted to hear it has sold out. It’s a fantastic effort on the Club’s part and the Melbourne support base to get behind this project,” Downie said.
“I see this as probably the single most important initiative to bring the Club together.”
“People from all eras of our history are being acknowledged in the Hall of Fame, which can only further help unify this proud Club.”
Downie is confident his committee has selected the most worthy candidates for the inaugural induction, but understands that others might have different opinions.
“It probably wasn’t quite as difficult as we first thought at the beginning, but as we started to narrow down the field, there were some very spirited discussions among the selection committee,” Downie said.
“It certainly wasn’t resolved quickly. In fact, our deliberations actually finished in a stalemate, and we couldn’t come to a unanimous agreement for the final positions.”
“In the end, I think that we’ve selected the right people. But that’s for other people to judge.”
“Invariably there will be people who are miffed that they weren’t selected in the inaugural group. But most will understand that individuals can still be inducted into the Hall of Fame in future years.”
“There is a long list of people who deserve to be part of this exclusive group, we just simply couldn’t fit them all in first time around.”
Downie also revealed that the selection committee had agreed to award exclusive ‘Legend’ status to two individuals at the inaugural induction.
The inaugural Brisbane Lions Hall of Fame inductees and Legends will be unveiled this Saturday night in Melbourne.
