By: Daniel Cencic
Twitter: @DC_EFL
The King name is synonymous with the South Croydon Football Club.
It is a name that has adorned the honour boards at Cheong Park and delighted the Doggies’ faithful for many a season.
Arguably, none more so than South Croydon captain Dan King, who plays his 200th match this weekend.
In a football CV humbling to even some of the most renowned names in the game, King’s 22-year career as a Bulldog leaves very few honours left to add.
A strong family tie to the club through the King and Dinnell names saw the dawn of one of the Eastern Football League’s most decorated careers, which began in 1995 as an eight-year-old as King progressed through the junior ranks.
From under-10s, King would go on to win the under-12s and 13s best and fairests, the latter as captain – a role he would hold for the entirety of his junior career, leading the club to a Division A flag in 2002, along with a grand final in 2003.
The born leader would go on to captain the under-18s to back-to-back flags across 2004 and 2005, leading in to a senior career which few can lay claim to matching.
“I’ve grown up playing with my best mates and having that success makes it all that bit more enjoyable,” King said.
“We were lucky enough to have some good coaching through our junior ranks (and) hopefully that moulded a lot of players to go on and play senior footy for the club also.
“Once we went through the ranks in juniors into under-18s and seniors, our club was in third division (and) it was all about sticking together.
“The guys never really thought too much about the divisions – we were just a bunch of mates that enjoyed playing together, and that success makes it a whole heap easier to keep pushing through.”
The appetite for success transitioning into the seniors was set for King, where an early opportunity presented for South Croydon in 2007 with a grand final match-up against a formidable Knox outfit.
In a season which the Bulldogs finished second, King remembers the club’s finals campaign which saw it defeated by the Falcons by 64 points in the semi-final, demoralise Doncaster by 115 points in the preliminary final, and play out a thrilling grand final against Knox in extra-time after being 22-points down at the final change.
The Dogs would go down by six points in the end, but the loss set the tone for the club going forward, according to King.
“Knox were no doubt the side to beat – we’d come up from third division the year before,” King said.
“To be fair, they were ready to go up, they’d had that successful background and we were still building (and) we had a really good year and surprised a few teams.
“It could have gone either way but it wasn’t to be on the day.
“We had some really good players at the club – the older heads and us younger guys coming through.
“We had a really good mix that held us in really good stead.”
Two years on, and a similar story would present in 2009 – this time against Mulgrave.
A goal-less first term to be 42 points down at the first break had King and his men on the canvas, but the 200-gamer remembers the belief of the group never wavering on their way to claiming the ultimate prize.
The Dogs stormed home from 27 points down at the final change to defeat Mulgrave by nine points in what King describes as the highlight of his playing career to date.
“That belief was there,” King said.
“It was probably instilled in the group – that doesn’t just come from one or two weeks, that’s from a period of playing as a group together.
“It was a really good effort and (I’m) really proud of the guys at the time to be able to come back from a deficit like that.
“It doesn’t matter how windy it is, you’ve got to dig deep (and) it was a great memory that I’ve been able to have with South Croydon.”
Among the team honours for the Dogs’ favourite son, individual honours have been plentiful over the journey.
Claiming the 2011 senior best and fairest – the first of three – led to King being named club captain in 2012, a role in which he still holds, respects and treasures today.
“That (the club captaincy) is certainly one of my proudest achievements,” King said.
“But it’s probably something at the moment that I don’t sit back and think about but when you have chats with people who have been and gone from the club, and your mates that are still there, it’s certainly a proud thing being able to lead my mates out there and lead the people that work behind the scenes at the club.
“As best you can, set that example to show what our club’s about.
“I have a lot of respect for being captain of the football club.”
Leading by example has been typified by Dan King across six years of captaincy, perhaps no example more so than when King led the club to its first Division 1 finals campaign in 2013.
South Croydon was defeated comfortably by Norwood at Jubilee Park, but the skipper famously played out the match with a broken leg.
“That was a funny one actually – I didn’t know the extent of it at the time (but) I remember coming to the trainer and I was hurting a bit,” King said.
“I said ‘I think there’s a bit of bruising on the bone’.
“I said ‘Just rub it out’ thinking it was a corky and she’s going ‘I don’t think it’s alright’ and I’m going ‘Nah, it’s alright!’, so I think a couple of painkillers kicked in in the second half and I could sort of run straight a bit, but in the end, it was a little bit of pain but probably wasn’t as bad as it sounds.”
It wasn’t until the end of year festivities had finished that the news was confirmed.
“Once I found out (it was a broken leg) after the end of year celebrations had died down, she (the club trainer) gave me the ‘I told you so!’ because she’d said there was a crack in it at the time,” King said.
“I was a sore boy for a few days.”
The soreness of a broken leg may have been short-lived as King achieved arguably the League’s highest individual honour days later, winning the 2013 Chandler Medal at the EFL’s night of nights, adding to then two club best and fairests at the Kennel in 2011 and 2012 – and subsequently, the 2015 club best and fairest.
While it was a proud moment for the skipper, individual awards have not been the driving force behind one of the EFL’s most successful current-day players.
“The individual stuff is great to get along the way (and) it’s very cliché, but I know I’d be the same as the majority of the players in the EFL that what you’re playing for is not for those things particularly but getting those little pats on the back along the way isn’t a bad thing,” King said.
“You don’t think too much about that stuff, it’s trying to keep getting better and my biggest drive is not those individual honours – I want to have success with my mates.”
Among the highs and lows across 200 games of football have been King’s immediate and extended family – supporting off the field and in a number of cases, on the field with the Dinnells and Kings playing alongside Dan.
“We’re certainly a close family so it’s good to hang out with those guys two to three times a week and try to have success with them,” King said.
“The Kings are cousins too – Michael, David and Matthew have all played at South Croydon.
“Michael, as he would like to say, would be the most well-known in football terms.
“(But) I think everyone would love to be fortunate enough to be in the position to be able to run out with your family you’ve grown up with.
“It’s certainly something I love and I know my old pop who just turned 100 this year – one of his proudest feats is to watch all of us play together.”
The signature three-quarter sleeved guernsey donned by King each week across 200 games has become the stuff of legend across the EFL.
It is a unique look that King jokingly believes makes him play to his usual lofty standards – but the long-serving Bulldog busts the urban myth of any type of ‘fashion statement’ made.
“I was a skinny kid growing up and I’ve just always worn it and I got used to it,” he said.
“I’ve played a few games without it, especially practice games at the start of the year and now I use it as a bit of an excuse if I don’t play too well, I just go ‘Nah, without the sleeves I’m no good!’.
“It’s become a bit of a joke now, it’s nothing I’ve made a big point of, I’ve just always done it.”
The appetite for success has not yet been completely satisfied for King, with a Division 1 flag on the radar, as the Dogs look finals-bound this season.
“Coming from so far back – coming up from juniors we were a third division club, (and) if I can (win a Division 1 premiership) towards the end of my career, it would be the perfect icing on the cake if I’m there if we could get that ultimate glory,” King said.
“It’d be as proud as you could get I reckon.”
