Under the Auld Pump: Kevin Fulton played for multiple football clubs in south-west Victoria

Born: Warrnambool on June 2, 1954.

Wife: Kerry. Children: Dannyelle, Korey and Paige.

Parents: Les and Muriel. Siblings: Ron, Margaret, Joan, Trevor, Jan and Carol.

Education: Woolsthorpe Primary School before attending Merrivale Primary School in Warrnambool and then the old Annexe in Warrnambool.

Sporting highlight: Playing for Merrivale when it won the 1979 Warrnambool and District Football Netball League premiership.

What are your memories of going to Woolsthorpe Primary School?

It was a great little school. I've got fond memories of riding my little pony to school.

There were four other children who would ride their pony to school. The teachers used to let us let the ponies roam around in the back part of the school to eat the grass down.

It was a tight-knit community out in Woolsthorpe back then. My dad Les used to milk cows for the Jones sisters at the Union Station. I think there were about 130 cows on the Union Station back in that era.

I was 10 when we moved to Merrivale.

Can your remember your first job?

I was just over 14 years old and got a job with Youngers before getting a job with Fletcher Jones.

My memories come flooding back to my time at Fletcher Jones.

There were 1300 workers at the factory back then.

Fletcher Jones and the Warrnambool Woollen Mill were the two big places that offered jobs.

I can still remember the pay-van would drive up to Fletcher Jones on a Thursday and our wages which comprised of cash were in an envelope. I worked at Fletcher Jones as a store-man for three years.

Let's talk about your footy career. In some circles you've been known as a footy journeyman. Where did your career begin?

I started out playing down at Merrivale. I was fortunate enough to play in a under 17 premiership win for them under coach Jack Kelson Sr in 1971.

I'll never forget we beat CBC. Michael Turner, who went on to be a top player for Geelong, was playing for CBC. I started doing some pre-season training with South Warrnambool in 1972 and I went there to play under coach Ken Timms.

I played with South Warrnambool from 1972 to 1974. My highlight in playing at South Warrnambool was going up against the great Port Fairy player Kevin Leske. I was lucky enough to kick five goals against Kevin. It was a huge thrill because Kevin was a hero of mine. I got married in 1975 and me and Kerry moved to Melbourne for one year. I played for Highett in the old Federal league before coming back to play with Warrnambool in 1976.

Why did you play with Warrnambool?

I wanted to play under Les Cameron. He had coached Koroit to its first premiership in 1971.

Les had taken over up at Warrnambool. He was a fitness fanatic and I wanted to get super fit.

Les was one of the nicest blokes I've ever met. I'll never forget we lost a game one day and Les addressed the players after the game and said he wanted a two-page essay from the players on why we got beat.

I waited around until the other players had gone and I told Les I struggled to read and write properly.

I couldn't express my thoughts on paper. Les and his wife Heather were school teachers. Les organised I went to their house for tea each Tuesday and Thursday night for four months and after tea the exercise books would come out and they would help with my reading and writing. I've never forgotten that Les and Heather did that for me.

I played in the game for Warrnambool against Koroit in 1976 and there was a major fight on the field.

Fans jumped the fence to get involved. The whole thing was a disgrace.

The worst part was Les Cameron got a broken jaw. The whole incident really rattled me. I ended up quitting playing for Warrnambool after that game and I had a few weeks off and got a clearance out to Caramut because my brother-in-law David Burrows was the president and my brother Trevor was the under 17 coach.

I was appointed playing coach of Caramut in 1977.

I was paid $40 a week to be coach at Caramut before I went back to Merrivale for three seasons and played in its 1979 premiership side under Bert Peperkamp.

My footy career took another interesting turn in 1981.

What happened?

I joined Tower Hill as its playing coach in 1981. Tower Hill were an incredible club. They were a fantastic bunch of blokes out there.

The late Frank King was a great player for the club so was Mick Quigley. It used to get freezing cold in the depths of winter when the wind swept over the Killarney ground which is right on the sea. The players used to come into the rooms at half-time and have a mouthful of stones ginger wine to warm them up.

Frank King took over as coach in 1982 while I stayed on as a player but sadly Tower Hill folded in 1984.

I ended up going to Old Collegians to play for them before going out to Panmure for one season when Mick Finnigan was the coach.

Jack Kelson senior encouraged me to go back to Merrivale for a few seasons.

I then went and played seniors for South Rovers and coached its under 18 side in 1988 and 1989 before going back to Merrivale and then in 1996 I took up umpiring.

I did that for four seasons. My family moved up to Queensland in 2000 and we've been up here ever since. I played a couple of seasons in the old boys' footy competition but my days of footy are well behind me.

How is life treating Kevin Fulton now?

I'm still staying active. I work part-time doing a bit of delivery driving. I had a health scare in 2018 when they found I had cancer on the bladder. I had an operation and some treatment and all is well now. I have regular check-ups.

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