The first sweater number to be retired by the London Beefeater Football Club was #72. Ron Almeida wore the number from 1980 to 1982. Ron was one
Ron Almeida
of the greatest athletes to play for the Beefeaters and during his career he captured many awards. Ron was a three time Ontario Football Conference All-Star, O.F.C. Rookie of the Year in 1980 plus he was the league's leader in scoring and receiving in 1981 and 1982. In 1982 he was named the Outstanding Offensive Player in the O.F.C. This led to his selection as the Outstanding Offensive Player in the Canadian Junior Football League that year, the only London Beefeater so honoured with the award for offense.
Following the 1982 season, the team donated Ron's sweater to the auction held in conjunction with the London Sports' Celebrity Dinner for the Thames Valley Children's Centre. The team then purchased the sweater at auction and publicly declared it to be retired. Through the years, with the change in administration of the Beefeaters, knowledge of this was lost until the spring of 2003. That year, the number was re-retired at the annual banquet and became part of our archival material.
At the 2018 Beefeater Awards Banquet, a new trophy was introduced for the Beefeater Outstanding Player of the Year and was named after Ron. Ron presented the inaugural award to Quarterback Clarke McCallum.
Outstanding Offensive Player of the Year
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In 1990, the Beefeaters retired their second jersey, this time under tragic circumstances.
Defensive back Joey Camm was one of the best players on an outstanding Beefeater squad that finished in first place in the conference and came within seconds of winning the Ontario Football Conference championship. Unfortunately, Joey was killed in a motor vehicle accident prior to the end of the season.
In honour of Joey Camm's memory, the team wore #1 patches on their uniforms for the remainder of the season. Later than year at the team banquet, his sweater was retired and a trophy, the Joseph Camm Memorial Trophy, was created to be given to the most valuable defensive player on the London Beefeaters.
Again the changes in administration of the Beefeaters and the absence of a team during portions of the 1990s caused this retirement to be overlooked when the team re-formed in 2001. Due to the diligence of a former Beefeater player and coach, Brian Burgess, this information was brought to the attention of the Beefeater executive and the sweater was re-retired at the 2001 annual banquet. The trophy has also been re-introduced as a significant part of the Beefeater team awards.
