Fremantle’s inaugural Chairman, Ross Kelly will receive the West Australian Football Commission’s highest level of recognition early next month when he is awarded WAFC Life Membership.

The achievement is distinct from the life membership awarded by individual football clubs and associated bodies, and is awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding overall contribution to football.

Kelly played 132 games for West Perth and 10 for Western Australia between 1958 and 1965 and was also a committeeman and selector for West Perth in 1968.

An inaugural Fremantle Life Member, Kelly was the chairman of Fremantle’s Interim Board in 1994 and the inaugural Chairman of the Fremantle Board from 1995 to 1998, before becoming Chairman of the Fremantle Football Club Foundation in 1999. He was a West Australian Football Commissioner from 2002-2009 and has been the Chairman of the Clontarf Foundation since 1999.

Kelly will be inducted along with other long-serving football identities Dave Clement and Ian Taylor.

WAFC Chairman Frank Cooper said he was delighted to welcome such worthy recipients to the hallowed ranks of WAFC Life Membership.

“They have all given a lifetime of service to football and their significant impact on the game makes them thoroughly deserving of this honour,” he said.