David Buckley arrived at Uni Blues in 1986 from Bell Park (where he was recently picked in the Centre in the club’s Footy Trip Team of the Century). After a stint overseas, he returned to play for Blues from 1989 to 1992. Typically selected in defence, Bucko’s contemporaries recall that he was an unorthodox “left or right foot kick (no one was quite sure which was his natural side)”. His service to the club both during his playing days and subsequently earned him a Chris Brown Trophy for best clubman in 1997 and life membership of the MUFC.
Bucko recalls playing on Blues spearhead Don MacInnes – the leading goalkicker in A-Section in 1983 – when Uni met Redan in a pre-season practice match. Don was playing for Redan at the time but his stint with the country club was short-lived. Bucko says that Don returned at Uni Oval after three weeks “due to extreme attention from the country style opposition”. Off the ground, Bucko makes special mention of Steve Carroll’s nocturnal antics in the Pavvy.
According to Bucko, the finest player he saw at Blues was Darryl Gust but he also has fond memories of Bernie Angel: “he played with a hankie up his long sleeve jumper – the opposition were devastated when he would pick up 35 touches a match, run off his man only to return to position where he blew his nose and waited for the next easy possession”.
Bucko is now a partner at Fordham Business Advisors, providing services to small business owners. He and wife Robyn have two kids, Alex and Laura. Alex is a member of the Under 19 squad under the Uni Blues “father/son rule”.
