Geelong sport has lost one of its great characters following the death of Kevin Purcell.
The star former footballer and cricketer died on Thursday morning at the age of 54.
“I’m absolutely shattered,” former teammate and coach Ray Sarcevic said.
“He was always the first bloke to do something for someone else.”
From a tightknit Anglesea Football Club family, Purcell’s mum Margaret has the canteen and late father Barry the bar named in their honour at Ellimatta Reserve.
He was a premiership player at the Roos in their most recent Bellarine League success in 1999 in a team co-coached by his brother Bernie.
Purcell also helped GFNL club Bell Park to a famous grand final win over North Shore in 1991.
At the Dragons, he was named to their 1990s Team of the Decade and is a member of their Hall of Fame.
Purcell also represented both the BFL and GFL at Interleague level.
“Kev was fantastic … he was a great athlete,” Ray Sarcevic, who had Purcell in his bridal party, said.
“He, (brother) Bernie and Troy Renfrey came across after he did a pre-season down at Geelong, and he was firing down there.
“When he got to Bell Park, he was just fantastic.
“I coached him, and when I asked for a special effort, he always stood up and did his best.
“He was great a bloke to have (at the club) and a great bloke to play with.
“Everyone loved him.”
Former on-field rivals Matt Kershaw (Lara and North Shore) and Simon Grundell (Leopold) took to social media to pay tribute to Purcell.
“Had some great battles on the field with Kev, and we played interleague together,” Kershaw, part of K rock’s GFNL coverage, wrote on Facebook.
“Loved seeing him at the footy for a yarn.
Grundell wrote: “lovely fella and (a) fantastic, tough footballer.”
He also excelled on the cricket field, taking to the field with Anglesea, Bell Park, Geelong City, and St Luke’s Highton in the defunct Geelong Churches Association.
At the Dragons, he was good enough to win the Champion Player award in the former Geelong and District Cricket Association and feature in premiership success at Hamlyn Park in the late 1990s when they transitioned to the Geelong Cricket Association.
While at City, he played 170 matches, captained the 3rd and 4th XIs, and was an active member of the Great White Sharks coterie group.
Purcell was also a regular at Country Week.
“He was an all-rounder, but he could hit a ball,” Sarcevic said. “I saw him hit a few sixes watching him.
“The thing about him, he’d hit a six, and then he’d crack a joke.
“I think the reason Kevvy did do well at sport was because he enjoyed it so much.”
Kevin Purcell is survived by his mum Margaret, children Molly, Pat and Jack, their mother Tracey, and brothers Terry and Bernie.
He will be farewelled at a funeral service next Wednesday, with the location and time to be confirmed.
