THE Queanbeyan Tigers Football Club will see one chook move on and a new egg hatch when general manager of 26 years Ron Fowlie hangs up the tie on Monday in leaving his post.
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'Chook' Fowlie, as he is nick-named, has been the foundation of Queanbeyan's Australian Rules club for 42 years now, having been a part of the club's administration since 1972.
He will hand his position over to Michael Goiser, whose involvement with the club extends back some 25 years and 300 club games. Goiser will leave the ACT public service to take up his new role.
Fowlie said he made his decision "six or seven weeks ago", and said it had nothing to do with his club dropping from the NEAFL competition a fortnight ago, instead suggesting a younger person was needed to continue running the club.
"I've been an official at the club for 42 years now in some sort of capacity, so I just thought it was time to let a younger person come into the position and go forward," said Fowlie.
"Goiser's family is buried in tradition at the club. His father played here, his grandfather played here, and he's played over 300 club games...I think once he found out I was resigning, he was interested in the position. It will be a big change for him."
Fowlie has basically built his life around the Tigers, and while he will still be found around club events, he admitted it would be different not working there anymore. He said running the football club over the last five years during its NEAFL involvement had been challenging.
"It's been a hard five years. It's been fairly consistent, and it's 24/7, and I'm not getting any younger," he said.
"It was just as busy before NEAFL, but the club became a lot more professional. And with the requirements by the NEAFL and through the AFL, we had to adjust to more stringent controls. I just didn't want to do that anymore."
Fowlie has achieved a lot with the club, which stretches back to his efforts in the early 1970s to lift the club from near collapse, to making interstate signings in 2011 which led to the NEAFL Eastern Conference premiership in 2012.
But he said the most significant step he had taken was establishing the Tigers Licensed Club- the football club's most significant income stream.
"The most important part was when we opened the licensed club. That was a pretty substantial achievement," he said.
Fowlie said it would have been better handing over his reigns with the club still involved with the NEAFL, but promised it would still provide a pathway for players to the NEAFL in the future.
