A quest to restore the grave of Australia’s first cricket great and the father of Aussie Rules has brought a Melbourne teacher personal salvation. Phil Dimitriadis, an English as an additional language teacher and amateur football historian, spearheaded the restoration of Tom Wills' grave at Warringal cemetery in Heidelberg, 13km north-east of Melbourne.
When Dimitriadis first approached the monument two years ago, he found it in a state of total neglect, with rusted cast-iron railings and a broken central slab. 'When I found it in a state of total neglect it pissed me off,' he said. He posted a call to arms on the Footy Almanac website, which stirred a response from readers.
With 150 donors contributing to a $15,000 crowdfunding campaign, the grave has been restored to its original state. The campaign was driven by Dimitriadis and a cohort of football history buffs, including John Harms, Greg de Moore, and Marius Cuming.
For Dimitriadis, the project has been deeply meaningful. 'I’ve had the same issues with alcoholism and delirium tremens that he [Wills] suffered, so I had an empathy for that as well,' he said. 'I was struggling with a relapse myself at the time and it was as if this guy was reaching out from the grave and saying, “Do something to help yourself.”'
Tom Wills is widely recognised as Australia’s first truly great sportsman and a central figure in the creation of Australian rules football. He also had significant ties with Indigenous Australia, coaching the country’s first Aboriginal cricket team after his father was killed in the Cullin-la-ringo massacre.
