Football Victoria was saddened to learn last week of the passing of Green Gully Soccer Club founder Henry “Harry” Moakes OAM.
His story and the foundation of Ajax Soccer Club is synonymous with so many wonderful people in our football community, particularly in the time of Australia's post-war migration boom of the 1950’s.
Henry Moakes arrived in Australia on 29 August 1955 from Floriana in Malta, where he had already founded and coached an Under 14 team. Barely a few months after arriving in his adopted homeland, Moakes gathered a group of young boys to play football in a vacant patch of land near his new home in St Albans. This marked the formation of the Ajax Soccer Club, named after Floriana Ajax, his hometown club in Malta.
Moakes formed the club’s first committee, often holding meetings out of the garage of his St Albans home. By 1956, the Under 12 team was registered to play in its first season in the Victorian Amateur Soccer Football Association (now Football Victoria), where Moakes would remain coach for the next five years and serve as President for a single term.
By 1961 the club had five junior teams in as many age groups, playing in the same green and white stripes of their Maltese namesakes.
An integral member of the fledgling club until 1964, pressing family commitments ultimately forced Moakes to resign from the committee, but he would continue to serve the club long after his official involvement ended.
His dedication was recognised when he was ultimately made an honorary life member and inducted into the Green Gully Soccer Club Hall of Fame in 2017.
Henry Moakes was awarded the Order of Australia medal in 1996 for service to the community as founder of the Green Gully Soccer Club, through the St Albans Ethnic Association and organisations assisting the aged.
He also received the Centenary Medal from the Federal Government in 2001, a prestigious recognition saved for people who had made a significant contribution to Australian society or Government.
As the founder of one of Victoria’s proudest football clubs, Henry Moakes leaves a lasting legacy.
The FV Board of Directors, Executive and staff send our sincere condolences to the Moakes family.