Perth’s Kingsley Football club will forever be linked to the Bali Bombings – where seven of their players lost their lives on an end-of-season trip.
The Kats held a special ‘tribute match’ last week- inviting back former players, families, and friends – to mark 20 years since the terror attack.
A total of 202 people were killed, including 16 from West Australia.
You won’t see the number seven at the club as it was retired after the players were killed.
They were inside the Sari Club when the second bomb went off.
Brad McIlroy was the youngest survivor. He was 19 at the time.
“It was all pretty harrowing, we were lucky to be over there as a group that we could lean on each other,” he said.
“I don’t know how I would have handled it, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it if i was on my own.
“It became our identity for a long time it and it was hard to shake.”
A week later Kingsley’s home ground is where Perth went to grieve.
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McIlroy addressed the crowd of thousands.
He reflected on the “incredible,” event, which was broadcast around the world.
Fundraising later helped build the memorial clubrooms, where the seven who lost their lives are immortalised on the wall, alongside two of the survivors who have since passed away.
One photo shows Phil Britton, the team’s gutsy ruck rover and the moment he escaped the inferno by climbing the Sari Club’s back wall.
When the image was published, he was still listed as missing, but he survived.
McIlroy said Britton was recognised by his Nana.
“That was Phil’s last opportunity to get out with his life,” he said.
Every new batch of juniors are told about Kingsley’s history, and how 20 players and officials travelled to Bali, and 13 came home.
It has also impressed upon young men to deal with their issues by talking and leaning on each other.
