GOLDEN Square Football Club great Ron McHardy marks a special birthday - 90th - this Saturday.
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A centreman in a career spanning more than 200 games for the Bulldogs, McHardy won the Bendigo Football League's best and fairest, now known as the Michelsen Medal, in 1947.
McHardy's family, which included five siblings, lived on the corner across from the Wade Street Oval.
He first trained with Golden Square in 1936, which was the club's second season.
After serving in New Guinea and Bouganville in WW2, McHardy was a key player for the Square from 1946 to '55.
"The league medal was the best thing you could win as an individual. I could not have done so without my team-mates," he said of a season in which Square was runner-up.
McHardy later coached at Mount Pleasant, Swan Hill and Kennington.
He is still a regular spectator at Golden Square's home games.
"Football's come a long way. I am not a big fan of flooding in defence, but the game keeps changing as years go by."
Ron and wife Alma have been married 57 years.
Family includes three daughters and a son, seven grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
Saturday's party is at Kangaroo Flat RSL.