1953 VFA premiership medal has surfaced and the search is on for its owner

A 1953 VFA premiership medal — kept and treasured for many years by Port Melbourne Football Club matriarch Lill Goss — has surfaced and the search is on for its owner.

AFTER Lill Goss died in 2015, the family of the Port Melbourne Football Club matriarch had the task of sorting through her belongings.

Much of it related to the Borough and her husband, the legendary player and administrator Norm.

A lot also related to their son Norm Goss junior, who emerged from Port to have a tremendous career in league football.

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A medal from the 1953 VFA season was also found among the boxes and drawers.

The words “VFA Premiers 1953 Port Melbourne K Houlihan’’ are on one side. An image of Queen Elizabeth and the words “Coronation Elizabeth II 1953’’ are on the other.

The late Lill Goss, aged 89, in her Port Melbourne home.

The Goss family assumed the medal was presented to player K Houlihan after Port’s 1953 grand final victory over Yarraville (a match dominated by legendary hard man “Mopsy’’ Fraser) and for some reason ended up in possession of Norm Goss.

In fact, K Houlihan — Kevin Houlihan — did not feature in the grand final team.

Perhaps he had been given the medal in recognition of playing senior football that season? Or perhaps the Port Melbourne reserve grade team had also won the flag that year?

Jennifer Foster, the partner of Michael Goss, handed the medal to Leader last week, saying the family wanted it to go to Mr Houlihan or his descendants.

“It’s probably been sitting there since 1953,’’ she said.

Foster said there was “so much’’ Port Melbourne Football Club material in Mrs Goss’s belongings.

“She kept everything,’’ she said. “It was all split up among the boys (Norm, Paul, Kevin and Michael). It was lovely to go back through all of it.’’

But what of the origins of the medal?

A call to Port Melbourne diehard Tony “TJ” James cleared things up.

James said Kevin Houlihan made his debut in 1947 and played 78 senior games for the club (he is player No.978 to have represented the Borough at senior level).

Port did not win the reserve grade premiership in 1953.

But James tracked down details of a match played on Tuesday, June 2, 1953 (the Coronation Day holiday). It was a representative fixture at the St Kilda Cricket Ground between teams representing the six north-of-the-Yarra clubs (Brunswick, Coburg, Northcote, Preston, Williamstown and Yarraville) and the eight south-of-the-Yarra clubs (Box Hill, Brighton, Camberwell, Moorabbin, Oakleigh, Port Melbourne, Prahran and Sandringham).

“Surely it must have been this game for which Kevin was awarded the medal?’’ James said.

Anyone with information regarding Kevin Houlihan can contact Port Melbourne Football Club on 9646 2094 or [e-mail]