New Cookbundoon pavilion to be named in honour of Graham Coe

The decision to name the building in Coe's honour was made during a meeting of the Goulburn Mulwaree Council last night.

It came as a result of a push from the STFA to recognise Coe's contribution to the association in its early days.

"The history of the game is important to me personally, I like the stories and knowing what's come before," STFA director of football, Craig Norris, said.

"A lot of people dedicate their time to the game, and 10 or 15 years down the track, it's important the their contribution is known.

"A lot of the people who were around in the early days were quite adamant in coming forward and telling us that we need to push hard for this."

Coe was a founding member of the MBK United Soccer Club which began the STFA in 1970. He began as a delegate to the association and eventually became its secretary before progressing to the role of publicity officer, in which capacity he began a 15-minute radio program on 2GN which ran for two years.

He also became a referee when the Referee Association was first started, and remained a member until his death.

Alongside his brother, Stewart, who was a bricklayer by trade, Graham worked to construct the STFA's first clubhouse at Goodhew Park.

Shortly after he was made a Life Member of the STFA in the early 1980s, Graham passed away of heart failure on the sidelines of an Under 12s mid-season cup final in 1982, at the age of 32.

On grand final day later that year, the building at Goodhew Park was dedicated to his memory. When the STFA relocated to Cookbundoon in the early 1990s, the plaque was also moved and a new plaque placed alongside it which read:

"The plaque has been removed from Goodhew Park, the former home of the STFA so that our friend and college Graham Coe could be reunited with his soccer family."

Norris was pleased that the association was able to secure this honour for Coe, and said it represents one of the final steps in the preparation of the new building at Cookbundoon.

"There's a lot of excitement around the building being finished, and giving it a football name really brings home that it's there, it's a facility for football and the game," he said.

"It's quite exciting, it really is."

The effort to name the pavilion in Coe's name, Norris added, was championed in council by councillor Margaret O'Neill.

During last night's meeting, Cr O'Neill spoke warmly of Coe's dedication to soccer in Goulburn.

"I was around in those days, and Graham sunk his heart and soul into the facilities," she said.

"His family is still involved in things, and I just believe his name is very well presented in this area, and I believe we should move forward.

"We should be naming things after people, because we've got so much heritage in this area ... that's our heritage, Mr Mayor, and I think we should be looking at it."

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