Steve Ambler, who has died at aged 61, is remembered as a fine sportsman

Steve Ambler played Sub-District cricket for Ormond and football for Caulfield in the VFA, winning a senior best and fairest.

Steve Ambler follows the play at Ormond.

HEARTS are heavy in the southern bayside sporting community after the death of former leading footballer and cricketer Steve Ambler at the age of 61.

Ambler collapsed while running on Thursday, January 24 and died at Monash Hospital four days later.

It came as a shock given he kept himself fabulously fit.

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Ambler had been Ormond Cricket Club’s First XI scorer and team manager, and when news came through that he was fighting for life the Monders postponed a one-day match against Elsternwick.

His brother, former Ormond president Brian, said it was a “wonderful tribute’’ and had “given us strength to cope with this tragedy’’.

Ambler played 132 matches for the Monders and was also the 132nd player to represent the First XI.

The club made him a life member and everyone at EE Gunn Reserve regarded him as a gentleman.

He was also an accomplished and respected footballer with Caulfield in the VFA, winning the 1981 best and fairest in Division 1 and having high finishes in other years.

Bears great John Einsiedel said Ambler was a lightly-built left footer but rugged enough to cop the bumps that came with association football, despite a debilitating back injury.

He played 88 senior games between 1978-84.

“He was a complete all-round sportsman,’’ an emotional Einsiedel said.

“He excelled at football and cricket and he was a single-figure golfer at Yarra Yarra.

“People at Caulfield remember Steve as a quiet, humble, unassuming person with a steely determination who got the absolute best out of himself in sport, business and life.’’

He added: “In the jungle warfare of running a football club he was the type to restore the faith of administrators.’’

A memorial service for Steve Ambler will be held at EE Gunn Reserve in Ormond on Tuesday, February 5, at 2pm.