A former player who won seven premierships in a stunning career across the Riverina has labelled his selection in the inaugural NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame as the career highlight.
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Albury resident Bill Barton was named with some of the game's greats, including fellow Border product and three-time Brownlow medallist Haydn Bunton and 1987 Brownlow medallist Tony Lockett, at the prestigious function at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where the first Australian Rules match in Sydney was held in 1881.
One-hundred people were inducted.
"I've been through some things in football, but the presentation was just unbelievable," the 88-year-old Barton enthused.
"I thought the night was the icing on the cake of my career."
Barton made his senior debut at Granya as a 16-year-old in 1952 and over the next 26 years clocked up 484 matches.
He played in North Albury's second premiership in 1955 and had two VFL games for North Melbourne that year and 1956.
"They invited me down to play on permits and I played on Allan Jeans," he recalled.
"I was a little kid of only 18-19, Allan played centre half-back and you can imagine the pressure he put on me, those things really stick in your mind."
Barton caught the train to and from Melbourne, but the city life wasn't for him.
"Had I been a city chap, I probably would have played six or seven years down there, but I was a country boy, I've lived my whole life in Albury," he suggested.
He was appointed coach of Brocklesby before his 21st birthday, becoming the youngest coach in the Hume League and led the club to the preliminary final.
"As a kid, you don't realise the importance of one man taking control of 22 senior players, it's a great honour," he offered.
"I spoke to the players they way they should be spoken to, I played the game the way they (all the clubs I coached) wanted me to play it and there's only one way to play the game, that's get in and get that football."
A centre half-forward with a left foot kick, Barton enjoyed coaching and led Jindera to the 1963 and 1964 flags, the last one undefeated.
He returned to North Albury, claiming the 1965 best and fairest, posting 151 games for the Hoppers and representing the Ovens and Murray six times.
He won a premiership at Burrumbuttock in 1969 and snared three at Walla in the 1970s.
Barton's recent achievement adds to his illustrious career, which includes the VCFL medal for services to country football, being named in North Albury's All-Star team from its inception in 1947 to 1997 and induction into the Hoppers' Hall of Fame last year, along with the Hume Football League Hall of Fame in 2016.
At representative level, he captained and coached the Hume League every chance he could and also captained the Farrer League in his two years at Mangoplah Cookardinia United.
He loved the sport, but reserved his greatest praise for wife Val, with the pair raising five children in Albury.
"I wouldn't be anything without Val."
