Brian Joyce was a man who was ahead of his time in football.
In today’s footy every club has a full-time media manager responsible for liaising with news outlets, arranging interviews with players, and ensuring that the club communicates effectively with its fans.
Brian did all of that and more on a purely voluntary basis.
A Saints Life Member, Brian passed away on January 12 at the age of 91.
He remembered as a 10 year-old kid in 1945 being allowed to wander through the dressing rooms at the Junction Oval on a training night and seeing a large painting on the wall of a black Panther – a short-lived attempt by the club to add more ferocity to its image than the more widely used nicknames of the “Saints” or the benign “Seagulls”.
A few years later as teenager he worked for his builder father alongside Graham Huggins another teenager working for his father, who owned a plastering company. It began a lifelong friendship.
In the years that followed, Brian pursued a media career and took up a job in 1958 with Channel 9 Brisbane. In the meantime Graham Huggins had been working tirelessly for St Kilda Football Club, firstly as a recruiter who helped coach Alan Killigrew rebuild the list from 1956 and lay the foundations for a great era. Huggins had become President of the club by the time Brian Joyce returned to Melbourne in 1962 to work with Channel 7 as a reporter.
Encouraged by Graham Huggins, Brian was only too happy to help out his beloved Saints wherever possible and often met with club secretary Ian Drake (equivalent of today’s CEO) to discuss strategy around planning and promotional events. As the Saints’ on-field success tapered off in the late 1970s, Brian had an increasing honorary involvement – no easy task as by now he had left television to become Principal Personal Assistant to Victorian Premier Dick Hamer.
Brian built a strong link with media covering Saints games including promptly advising them during the match about the extent of player injuries so radio and TV could quickly ease concerns for family members watching or listening to the game. When Lindsay Fox took over as club President in 1979, Brian Joyce was instrumental in resurrecting the Saint magazine along with Russell Holmesby, and was co-opted to board meetings in an “ex-officio” capacity. His expertise in public relations was invaluable across the coaching spans of Ken Sheldon, Stan Alves and Tim Watson.
In 2003 Brian retired to the Gold Coast where he lived for 11 years but he continued to closely watch the progress of his Saints. When returning to Melbourne in 2014 he was always a part of the Past Players and Officials Association reunions and when his health declined in November last year he was unable to attend for the first time in a decade.
On a personal note this writer appreciated the friendship, guidance and creative thinking of Brian Joyce whose direct involvement on the club spanned six decades and a lifetime that included eight decades as a Saints fan.
Vale Saint Brian.
