Western Bulldogs senior coach Luke Beveridge and former Club President Peter Gordon will be awarded AFL Life Membership at the competition’s Annual General Meeting in March, as announced by the AFL Commission today.

Beveridge automatically qualifies for life membership after reaching 300 total AFL games as a player or coach during the 2021 season, while Gordon was recognised under the provision of ‘Special Service to the Game’. 

Since taking over at the Bulldogs in 2015, Beveridge has coached 160 home-and-away and finals games and nine pre-season games, including the drought-breaking 2016 Premiership. 

He was also named the 2016 All Australian coach. 

As a player, Beveridge featured in 118 games and 16 pre-season games across Melbourne, Western Bulldogs and St Kilda. 

Gordon first served as Bulldogs’ President from 1989 to 1996, most memorably helping save the Club from a potential merger with Fitzroy through the famous 1989 Fightback campaign. 

A life-long Bulldogs fan, Gordon returned to the role in 2012, guiding his beloved side to a second flag in the Club’s history.

Alongside AFL, AFLW and VFL premierships, Gordon managed to lead the eradication of significant Club debt, formulate the return of Footscray’s VFL team, drive the exit from the gaming industry, create a partnership with the City of Ballarat, strengthen the Bulldogs’ Community Foundation and lay the foundation for the Whitten Oval Precinct redevelopment.

He also served on numerous AFL steering committees and key groups for the wider benefit of the competition, including the AFL Commission/Club President Emergency Advisory group through the initial stages of Covid-19 from March 2020, when the competition had to negotiate major changes to all key agreements within the game.

Gordon stepped down from the role of President at the end of 2020.