Proving that his talents are not only restricted to the football field, midfielder Matthew Boyd became the first player in the Club’s history to win the inaugural Community Leadership Award at the 2007 Charles Sutton Medal Best & Fairest count on Tuesday 2^nd October.

While he polled extremely well in the Best & Fairest count, finishing fourth overall, Boyd was honoured earlier in the evening when he was named the winner of the award as recognition of his outstanding contribution to the community in 2007.  

As the community club of the AFL, the Western Bulldogs endeavour to engage themselves as much as possible within the local community, with all players attending dozens of community events including Auskick clinics, primary and secondary school visits, citizenship ceremonies, hospital visits and community visits in Darwin and Canberra during the lead up to the home games this season.

In 2007 the Bulldogs also worked closely with a number of community based groups including the Footscray Community Arts Centre, Victoria Police, Maribyrnong Council, Gould Group, Macquarie Bank foundation and the Beacon Foundation as part of the clubs commitment to being a leader of the local community.

While all Western Bulldogs players contributed many hours to the community this year, Matthew Boyd was selected as the winner of the award by the clubs community services staff after receiving many nominations from various community groups.

Amongst a group of nominees including Brad Johnson, Luke Darcy and Ryan Griffen, he was identified as a player who went above and beyond to better service the community, setting a great example and showing leadership to the clubs younger players during community appearances throughout the year.

The Community Leadership Award will become a regular feature of the Best & Fairest count and is a relevant example of the club’s commitment to actively strengthen and assist the local community.