The late Noel Rainey and Arthur Lang became the second and third ‘Legends’ in 151 years of the Lancefield Football Netball Club (LFNC) when they were inducted at a luncheon attended by life members, sponsors, and members recently.
They join Lancefield’s only other ‘Legend’, original member Barry ‘Mocha’ Hunt in the exclusive club.
Their wives Glenice Rainey and Shirley Lang, along with their families, were on hand to receive the awards and heard fellow life members Russell Pattinson and John Chisholm speak glowingly of their great contributions to the Club over many years.
Noel Rainey wore the yellow and black from 1953 to 1961, winning the Rovers’ Best and Fairest award in 1954.
Teammates of the day described him as a ‘hard and keen player who always gave 100 per cent.’
However, it was as a committee member for not only Lancefield, but also the RDFL, that he made his greatest contribution.
Joining the Lancefield committee in 1958, Rainey was President from 1966-69 and again from 1974-79, some 22 years of continuous service to the Club, supported along the way by his wife Glenice.
Rainey also joined the board of the RDFL where he was Vice President from 1977-79. He would go on to become RDFL President from 1980-83 and was awarded Life Membership of the league.
He also sat on the RDFL tribunal over the years resulting in a number of people, when they would bump into him, saying, ‘Hey, you rubbed me out!’. Rainey was born in 1929 and died in 2022, at the age of 92.
Arthur Lang grew up in Broadford where he played until he was invited to try out for Footscray in the Teddy Whitten era. He played in the Reserves there until his family needed him to come back home.
He continued to play football with success at Broadford, but it was when he met a young Lancefield girl, Shirley Crowder, at a Kilmore dance that his long involvement with Lancefield began.
After marrying, they moved to Lancefield where Lang played for Lancefield, winning the 1966 premiership against Romsey. He would go on to win the league’s Best and Fairest for the Reserves with 25 votes in 1969.
Lang took over from Rainey as the official ground marker. Marking the ground in those days was a big deal, taking two full days using lime. Whenever Lancefield needed a job done, Lang would be called on and the committee would rest easy knowing that it would be looked after and they had nothing to worry about.
For over 35 years, Lang helped to keep the ship going at Lancefield and it’s through the deeds of people like Lang that the club was able to celebrate its 150th year recently.
Mrs Rainey and Mrs Lang were presented with plaques commemorating the elevation to ‘Legend’ status by LFNC President Joe Schembri. The wording on each of the plaques read, ‘In recognition of his exceptional achievements, extraordinary service, exemplary character and the way he has made a profound contribution to our club.’ There can be no doubt that the great contributions of Noel Rainey and Arthur Lang fully match those words.
