 Ardent Dragons supporter NICK PEZIKIAN has collected every St George Leagues Club membership badge there is.
The Willoughby man recently wrote to the Club seeking the inaugural 1963 badge, the only item missing from his collection.
General Manager Michael Derrig found one in the archives and popped it in the post to the Red V season ticket holder.
"I'm a collector," Mr Pezikian explained.
"I have been collecting for several years and have gradually accumulated my complete collection from members and dealers.
Membership badges were first issued in 1963, the year the "Taj Mahal" opened, and the associate badges for female members came ten years later.
The badges were made of metal and produced by four different suppliers.
Issued annually for 32 years, they were eventually superseded by plastic cards in 1995.
"I have gradually accumulated my complete collection from members and dealers," Mr Pezikian said.
"Each badge has been gently washed and chronologically displayed in coin album pages.
They come in various shapes and sizes and were all issued with stylised versions of St George slaying the Dragon."
Like so many other fans, Mr Pezikian first fell under the Dragons' spell during the golden era of eleven consecutive premierships.
"I had an uncle who lived in Park Road in Kogarah Bay in the 1960s and he was a member and used to take me to the games,'' he said.
"My dad's name is George and we are a religious family so the Club is close to our heart." Together with daughter Nyree and son Garren, the Pezikians make the trip from the North Shore to watch all Dragon's games at OKI Jubilee.
Mr Pezikian is still collecting Dragons badges, so if you have any unwanted ones, contact him on (02) 9958 8176 or npezikian@bigpond.com
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St George Leagues Club
LEAGUES CLUB JOURNAL
