How far can a migrant go?
Jim Stynes - footballer and youth worker

Jim Stynes was brought from Ireland to Australia as part of a mid 1980s experiment to recruit Irish footballers for the Melbourne Football Club, the world’s longest surviving élite football club. Since then, he has been described as “Australia’s most successful sporting experiment.”

Jim won Melbourne's Best and Fairest Award four times and won the Fairest and Best player for the Australia Football League in 1991. A tribute to his guts, determination and commitment was his extraordinary performance in playing an AFL record breaking 244 consecutive games between round 17 in 1987 and round 4 in 1998, when his hand was broken.

Since quitting football Stynes is now equally famous for his work with children through the Melbourne-based non-profit, non-denominational Reach Youth Organisation he set up with friends in 1994, to run camps and workshops. The organisation is dedicated to inspiring young people from all walks of life between 8 -18 years. Since founding the organisation Jim has helped realise the dreams of more than 100,000 young Australians, from the drug affected and homeless, to teenagers simply searching for direction.

In recognition of his hard work and contribution to the wider community, Jim Stynes was named Victorian of the Year in 2003. Now, Jim has taken on the Presidency of the Melbourne Football Club, in a bid to rescue it from financial mismanagement and hard times on the field.

He’s come a long way from Dublin.