Elected 1998
Campbell played his junior and representative football at Stop Out and then joined our club in 1973. He played as a full back in the second team for many years before moving into the third team and then finishing his playing career in the Pet Shop Boys team.
At the1973 Annual General Meeting (AGM), he was elected to the Management Committee. The Treasurer position had been left unfilled at the AGM but when the Management Committee became aware of Campbell’s accounting experience, it appointed him to the position. He was thereafter elected Treasurer every year at the annual general meetings until he retired from the position in 1996 – twenty three years as Treasurer of what was to become a large entity.
During his time as Treasurer, Campbell was involved with organising finance for the erection of the floodlights on the number three ground, and with debenture issues for the development of the clubrooms (referred to at the time as our 2nd stage, the 1st having been the gymnasium itself) and then the extension of the clubrooms further into the gymnasium.
As the club developed, and especially through the 1980s, Campbell was instrumental in the development of the club financial reporting and control systems. These were initially run through a trading bank system but with the emergence, development and availability of personal computer systems the club looked for opportunities to run its own in-house accounting packages. A sponsorship arrangement with New Zealand Breweries enabled the purchase of a machine with two floppy drives costing around $6,000! Over time, a full financial reporting package was developed in-house. It included budgeting elements, as well as stock and cash control reporting. These were especially important for the operation of the bar, which in those days had a much more substantial turnover than it does today. Before long, the original two floppy drives machine was replaced with one having a hard drive – a big step forward in the club’s ability to develop further its in-house accounting and reporting.
Very few people had any concept of the amount of work involved before our accounts were computerised and, after Campbell had achieved that, he was able to share the workload with the fulltime club manager employed between 1984 and 1995.
Campbell was one of the club’s three delegates at Wellington Football Association annual general meetings for several years and, at one of these, he was invited to join the Association’s executive. His acceptance led to the club nominating him to the Association for that role each year for upwards of 10 years, during which he was Chair of Finance and Deputy Chair of the Association. He represented the WFA at numerous NZFA meetings and was one of the two WFA delegates at a meeting held in Palmerton North on 30 August 1997 to re-constitute the Central League.
After his son started playing, Campbell was also involved with the junior section of the club for many years. He assisted with managing and coaching and, as the years went on, gained his Level One Coaching Badge but missed out on his Level Two due to family illness. Through his business, he was also a sponsor for the juniors, helping to fund the purchase of playing strips. Following his son into senior football also saw Campbell have a year or two as manager of the third team.
At the AGM in 1998, Campbell was elected a Life Member of the club, in recognition primarily of his twenty three years’ contribution in a position of very important executive responsibility. Aside from the significant contribution in developing our financial systems from those of a sports club to those of a business, he spent a huge amount of time processing the club’s growing turnover. His work was not of a nature where members could see his efforts for the club – his was all long hours behind the scenes. Indeed, very few of us were in a position to see and appreciate the sustained contribution and high standards that Campbell gave to us. Importantly, he brought strong elements of confidence and consistency to an executive position that had traditionally changed hands regularly.
At the AGM in 2005, Campbell was elected as President, a position which he still holds and in which he remains actively involved in club matters. Moreover, in the last two years, the club has been fortunate to have the company owned by Campbell, and his wife Pam, sponsor our tournament for the Hilton Petone Cup.