On Christmas Day the club lost one of its finest and truest of true believers, Trevor Allan Bidstrup.
Trevor and his wife Ailsa were inaugural members of the club in 1982. Over the next forty years, Trevor (and Ailsa and family) were rusted-on supporters. The backbone of any successful sporting club are the supporters. He was, however, much more than that. He was an early benefactor and sponsor. He and Mal Binnie were the core of the bidders we used to have in attendance at the long-forgotten Swans auction, which was in the early/mid 1990s a major revenue raiser in a period where we struggled on and off the field.
He was a member of seemingly every coterie and supporter group that existed, or was created, along the way; some long forgotten or now functioning under a different name. They included the Sky Lounge, Centre Circle and Roosy’s Red and Whites (which became John’s Red and Whites).
Trevor was born in Midland, an historic suburb to the east of Perth, but now part of the Greater Perth Metropolitan Area. He came from a family steeped in sport. Predominantly cricket and Australian Rules. Both his parents were life members of the West Perth Football Club (then known as the Cardinals) which were, at that time, the most supported and successful club in the WAFL. Trevor’s brother Barry was an WAFL umpire and his father. Allan was a timekeeper.
Trevor was an outstanding junior footballer who was transferred to Kalgoorlie by his employer, an engineering supply company, and played one season in the WA Goldfields League, a very tough competition. Trevor was restricted from meting out any retribution on the advice/instructions of one of the Club’s committeeman and work colleague, because Kalgoorlie, being a mining town, most of the perpetrators were clients of the company!
Trevor was, however, better known as a cricketer. Twice representing Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield and debuting as a 20-year-old. He was a right arm fast-medium bowler and right-handed batsman. He was a legendary figure in the WA First Grade competition, playing for Mount Lawley where he remains the club’s greatest wicket taker with 494 scalps. Some of his contemporaries included Ashley Mallet and Terry Jenner, who both relocated to SA and represented Australia.
An emerging player who was selected in the WA state squad was Graeme John, who moved from Perth to Melbourne to play with South Melbourne in the 1964 VFL season. Trevor also made his mark in the Goldfields competition, captain coaching Great Boulder to its maiden premiership in the Eastern Gold fields Cricket Association title in 1963/4.
In the late 1960s Trevor joined MSA, a manufacturer of personal protective equipment. It was a wonderful partnership between the company and its new senior executive. MSA was privately owned by a Pittsburgh based family that had been world leaders in initially making underground mining a far safer occupation. Its values and Trevor’s perfectly aligned. He ran the WA business for 20 years.
In 1980, Trevor was relocated from their home in City Beach to Sydney in the role of Managing Director of the Australian business. He was heard to bemoan the fact that he would be unable to follow any quality footy.
Imagine how tickled pink he was when, just over one year later, the Sydney Swans arrived in town. He was at the first match with Ailsa and at every match that followed. It made things easier that Ailsa was a passionate follower of South Fremantle whose colours were red and white.
Trevor was by broad consensus known as the greatest host ever known. In around 1995, the lower section of the Brewongle Stand was converted into primarily eight-seater boxes. Trevor quickly found one situated right in front of the home coach’s box, where he presided over the day’s events (and may or may not have offered some friendly advice to the then senior coach). He made sure everyone was fed, watered, and had a good view of the game.
His brainchild and lasting legacy is the Liniment and Leather Lunch Group. A project born of unbridled passion. Typically, his drive and persistence for a great organisation for genuinely true believers resulted in its success.
As his great friend and former colleague Alan Weatherhead said: “When you went to the footy with Trev, there was a continuing stream of people coming up and saying hello. I reckon that was a great indicator of his long-term involvement with the club and the fact that he just loved those Swannies. He was also a really good bloke."
Probably the greatest honour a club can bestow on someone with Trevor’s remarkable support to its success is the position on number one ticketholder. In 2010 Trevor and Ailsa became Sydney's 3rd or 4th number one ticketholders. A huge recognition given as, by then, the club had 30K members.
From everyone at the club, we send our condolences to his soulmate, Ailsa, son Tony and his wife Shannon and daughter Anne (who became the driving force behind the professionalism of the Leather and Liniment group), his grandchildren Alysha, Sam, Ben, great grandchild Mila, his brother Barry and his and nephew and niece, Michael, and Catherine.
Trevor’s funeral will be held on Tuesday, 10 January at 11am, in the South Chapel at Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens, 199 Delhi Road, North Ryde . The family have requested everyone attending wear something red and white.
