By KRISTEN ALEBAKIS
IT will be a special moment when Christopher Stephens runs onto the field on Saturday.
The Wyndham Suns stalwart will play his 550th game of footy and to make the game even more significant, Christopher will be playing alongside his son Jarrod for the first time.
Christopher has been playing footy for more than 30 years. He says he first began playing the game in the early 1980’s for St Albans in the Under-9 competition.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he laughed.
“I didn’t even realise I had played 500 games let alone 550 matches, so the milestone has come as shock.”
Christopher has always played footy in the west, he has been involved with the St Albans, West Footscray, Laverton, Glen Orden and now at the Suns.
He also coached at Westbourne and played for a short period with Rockbank.
“I grew up as a kid in St Albans and then moved to Melton,” Christopher said.
“Noel Crump worked with my Dad and he asked me if I was interested in playing at West Footscray when I was 17-years-old and then I just kept playing.”
Christopher said having the chance to play footy with his son Saturday will be a special experience and will be a highlight of his footy career.
However he has also won two flags over the journey, saying it was incredible to be a part of those premierships.
“The 2006 premiership win with Glen Orden was special, I was actually the Rex Swann medallist in that game,” he said.
“Then winning the Reserves premiership in 2015, that was another good day. I have tattoos of both premierships.”
Christopher, who has played in both the Seniors and Reserves for the Suns this season, will most likely hang up the boots at the end of the year.
“A few of the boys I have been playing with think I could go on and reach 600 games, but at this stage I would say it would be my last year, but I have been saying that for the past 10 years.”
The Wyndham Suns take on Laverton at Goddard Street Reserve on Saturday. The Reserves start at 12.15pm and the Seniors kick-off at 2.15pm.
Last Modified on 02/08/2017 12:06