![Last year's Premier League premiership winners Coniston will hold a memorial day in honour of the late Johnny Poposki (inset) on Sunday. Picture by Adam McLean Last year's Premier League premiership winners Coniston will hold a memorial day in honour of the late Johnny Poposki (inset) on Sunday. Picture by Adam McLean](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/4sZx2UeLhML2LRYLyd2FGM/908e747d-bb8c-4cd4-8c16-5c192a845cd7.jpg/r0_0_2400_1349_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
One of Coniston Football Club's favourite sons will be celebrated at JJ Kelly Park on Sunday.
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'Cono' will hold its inaugural Johnny Poposki Memorial Day in honour of their legendary figure, who sadly passed away on January 5, 2024 following a long battle with cancer.
He was 56 years old.
Poposki's contributions to the club included being a junior and senior player/coach, however, he was best known for keeping Coniston's home pitches in pristine condition.
Coniston club president John Karayiannis told the Mercury that Poposki was sorely missed by the local football community.
"This will be our first day back at home since he passed. There were a lot of people who couldn't attend his funeral, so they wanted to share their condolences. And his family will come down to the ground where he spent so much of his time," Karayiannis said.
"Johnny was born and bred in Coniston. He played in the juniors, coached in the juniors, played in the seniors, coached in the seniors. He was a committee member and restored JJ Kelly to what it is today.
"He was very popular and very likeable. He spent a lot of time at the Coniston Hotel and there would be lots of talks there, whether it was about football, golf or whatever his passions were.
"He was also very generous, he gave a lot of his time to people. So the fact that he passed away so young makes it a big loss for a lot of people."
The 2024 Johnny Poposki Memorial Day will see last year's Premier League premiers take on Liverpool Olympic in two trial matches on Sunday.
Karayiannis said there would also be some other special things happening at JJ Kelly Park.
"Johnny and I had a dream about building new technical areas that would be the best ones in the Illawarra," he said.
"We wanted them to have two tiers, we wanted them to be big, we wanted them to be a little innovative - as opposed to the the standard plastics seats. Those have been accelerated and we completed them yesterday, so his family is coming down to unveil them. We also hope to have a memorial plaque ready, but we might not have it on the day.
"Johnny's good friend Bobby Mazevski, who he played golf with for 15 years, will come out of retirement to referee. And the club will be donating all of the profits from the bar to his family."