There was a touch of footy royalty on the guest list for Saturday’s Deniliquin Rams Past Players’ Day.
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Although you would never know it.
Trevor Sutton and his wife Sally blended in with the crowd seamlessly, keenly watching the thirds game between the Rams and Echuca United.
Trevor is described as a 186cm footballing nomad with a ‘have boots will travel outlook’.
It has taken him to football fields in every Australian state and territory.
When the Pastoral Times caught up with him, we uncovered a special reason he was watching the thirds game.
“I’m actually going for Echuca United,” he said with a sneaky grin.
“My nephew Max Connolly is playing for them in the thirds.”
He then divulged a significant secret that he had recently made a decision about, regarding his memorabilia.
It pertained to the 1979/80 season he played for Nightcliff in the Northern Territory, in which he was the first person to kick 100 goals in a season for.
“This season meant the most,” he said.
“I’ve kept my guernsey all this time and I was going to get it cremated with me one day when I’m gone,” he said.
“Then I thought, well that’s no good, it may as well live on.
“So I brought it with me today to give to my nephew Max Connolly who is playing for the thirds and it can live on through him.”
Trevor’s most famous achievement is kicking 249 goals in a single season in 1982.
He was playing for the Deniliquin Rams in the Murray Football League, and it is the reason he is considered footy royalty.
He broke William Pearson’s 58 year-old record kicking the astonishing 249 goals from 22 matches at an average of 11.32 goals a game.
To this day Trevor’s record has been challenged by a rare few, but never broken.
In previous interviews he has said that he always gets a call at this time of the season by media presuming someone has come close to his record.
When asked if he has had a call this season his reaction came with a sly grin and a little bit of an extra spin at the end.
“No calls,” he replied, grinning in the knowledge his record is safe ... at least for now.
“Mark Howard and Garry Lyon usually ring and I just say, so ‘who is this bloke getting close?’,” Trevor joked.
The number eight jumper Trevor wore is proudly framed on the walls of the Deniliquin Rams clubrooms as a reminder of the 1982 record, and of the legend that graced their club.
He spent two years in Deni (1981-1982), had 23 more years at senior level after the Rams.
He won five premierships and kicked in excess of 3700 goals across his career.
During his record breaking season at Deni he kicked 24 goals against Coleambally alone, allegedly while wearing a pair of running shoes.
When asked about said running shoes there was no secret to be found.
“I’ve never worn footy boots, just running shoes,” he said promptly.
“Never have, never will; I’d go barefoot if I could.
“I tried in one game and when the umpire saw me he said, ‘what do you think you are doing?’. I said ‘what does it look like?’.
“He said ‘you can’t do that’ and I said ‘well show me a rule that says I can’t’.”
As the umpire could not produce such a rule he finished the game Sutton-style - barefoot.
Trevor’s best known party trick was to take a mark and, when walking with his back to the goals, he’d suddenly kick the ball over his head.
“I used it to demoralise my opponents a bit and play with their head,” he said.
Rams teammate Greg Danckert, who was also present on Saturday, has previously said “he (Trevor) packed crowds in like we have never seen”.
“It’s fair to say he wasn’t a huge trainer, and he did enjoy the after part of football,” Greg recalled.
Trevor conceded that he would have been a better player if he wasn’t worried about “chasing girls and having a drink”, which makes the mind boggle at the possibilities.
Another feat that may have given rise to a bit of a puffed chest, was a kick resulting in a goal at half-time against Finley at the Rams oval.
“I remember kicking a goal at half-time against Finley from the players’ race here in Deni and it landed in the council yards,” he said.
“I walked off and I was like, ‘well I got onto that one’.”
We’re certain many more legendary tales - from Trevor and other players - were told as the Past Players’ Day activities continued on Saturday.
As for what’s next Trevor, he will return home and enjoy the quiet life with family, friends and wife Sally.