Trevor Barker’s footy highlight reel is one of the best going around, full of breath-taking high marks and wide-ranging skills.

But it doesn’t go anywhere near telling the full story of the man whose place in the St Kilda story and the overall League football world is genuinely remarkable.

Thirty years after his sad passing at the age of 39 Trevor Barker’s impact is still etched in the minds of everyone from teammates and opponents through to those who were young kids and received an autograph, a letter of encouragement or a word of kindly advice at a footy clinic.

With the blond hair and good looks he was a natural focus for the celebrity pages. Initially the club was desperate to generate media attention as on-field fortunes waned and when Lindsay Fox took over as president he appointed Barker as the club’s Promotions Officer with instructions to publicise the St Kilda name wherever possible.

In his latter years Trevor admitted he was irked by the possible perception of him as merely the blond-haired playboy/footballer. Inside the four walls of St Kilda and to his many friends he was much more than that. In football terms he had ground level skills that were acutely refined, was one of the most technically perfect tacklers you could ever wish to see, and in an often struggling side could always produce under pressure in roles that his light build wasn’t suited for.

The depth of his football acumen could easily have been under-estimated, but after he retired as a player and became the coach of VFA club Sandringham he instantly proved the doubters wrong with a premiership in his first season and then repeated the effort two years later. In time he would have definitely become a coach at League level.

He was a St Kilda fan through and through during his time with the junior Bentleigh Tigers team and then in Cheltenham’s under age sides. He was one of the first graduates of the Little League who made it through to League level. One of his teammates in the Demons Little League team was Steven Smith, today’s president of Melbourne.

Melbourne was keenly interested in recruiting him as a teenager, but he was always going to be a Saint. An echo of that early wish to see him in red and blue came a decade later when he was offered a monster contract in the Melbourne board room to join Ron Barassi’s team, but could never turn his back on St Kilda.

Back in 1975 when he joined St Kilda he played as a rover and half-forward in the pre-season practice games and had no higher expectation than just making the under-19s side. But after one game in the reserves he was promoted to the senior team and never looked back. Within a couple of years he was playing in the surprise role of full-back against bigger and stronger opposition full-forwards, earning state selection and winning the best and fairest for the first time.

As a writer for the club magazine I naturally knew him during his playing days, but was lucky to get to know him better after his playing career ended. I  was sports editor for the local Leader newspapers and Trevor was Manager of the King Club at Sandringham. In that role he dealt with local and international stars and with a keen eye for a good story would often arrange interviews at the King Club. It was professionally beneficial for both of us.

Like many of Trevor’s mates I would get a phone call out of the blue with an obscure sports trivia question. It would usually begin with something like “you reckon you know about sports history, who were the last seven left-handed Australian opening batsmen?” After hearing the response naming three or four he would say “well I have to go now” and leave you pondering the question for the rest of the day!  

He was always a gracious host at his Dingley home whether it be for one of his big Melbourne Cup day parties or for a dinner prepared by his partner Melinda. Those footy youngsters adored him during his days at St Kilda and Sandringham and never forgot the warmth of his welcome.

As a kid he helped premiership captain Darrel Baldock tend his racing pigeons and Barks maintained that hobby for the rest of his life.

As a footballer his career spanned playing alongside Carl Ditterich and Ross Smith through to Tony Lockett and Nicky Winmar.

He truly loved sports and sports people. And that affection remains today in the hearts of those who were lucky enough to know him.