Premiership player Shaun Burgoyne was awarded Port Adelaide Football Club Life Membership during Tuesday night’s John Cahill Medal event presentation.
Burgoyne played 157 AFL games for the Power across nine seasons, including the club’s AFL premiership victory in 2004.
He also recorded 26 SANFL games for Port Adelaide, including 10 appearances before he was taken at pick 12 in the 2000 national draft.
While at Port Adelaide, Burgoyne was awarded an All-Australian blazer in 2006 and took home the 2005 Showdown Medal for his 32 disposals and a goal in a seven-point loss.
In a career that spanned more than two decades, he still sits in fourth place for most VFL/AFL games played with an incredible 407 matches across his two clubs.
Burgoyne returned to Alberton in 2021 and has since held roles across the football department and Power Community Ltd., particularly working within the club’s Aboriginal programs.
While accepting the honour, he thanked the club and his family for their support.
“Thank you to the Life Member Committee for acknowledging my career at Port Adelaide,” Burgoyne said.
“It’s very humbling to join the Life Members who have received this award before.
“You don’t get to play footy without the people who are there to support you. To my family, for setting me on the right track as a kid, providing me a path into football.
“To my wife Amy, thank you for your love and support and your sacrifice through a number of years of football. And to my kids, thank you for being the best part of my life.”
The club’s Life Membership committee unanimously voted to bestow the honour on Burgoyne this year, with the 42-year-old the only Life Membership to be awarded in 2025.
