Faces in the crowd: HawkHead Peter Brettell

During the Illawarra Hawks' 43-year existence, 221 players have pulled on the club's jersey.

But the number of fans who have supported the foundation club during that period is exponentially more.

As such, the club has decided to profile some of the most prominent and longest-serving HawkHeads with our new 'faces in the crowd' series.

After profiling the journeys of Yvonne White,  Anita Bout and Graham Lancaster, we decided to tell the story of the one and only Peter Brettell, who was a key cog in getting the Hawks included in the NBL's foundation season in 1979.

He first moved to Wollongong in 1963, which Brettell says is when his love for hoops commenced.

In 1977, he was elected the president of the Illawarra Basketball Association (a position he held for 15 years) and once the Hawks were successful in their NBL application, he spearheaded the club's board as chairman for the next 20 years.

"The early years were interesting as the coach and players were not paid, a situation that changed in about year three," Brettell said.

"The team was competitive, the fans were passionate, to say the least, and we played in the 'old Snakepit'."

Those early teams were memorable for the inaugural skipper, the late Bob Kubbinga, the brilliant Gordie McLeod (who Brettell labelled as one of his all-time favourite players saying 'he had a heart the size of Phar Lap, would always give 150 per cent and will go down as one of the best point guards to ever play in the NBL') and Illawarra's first imports Michael Jones, Benny Lewis and Doug Overton - who Brettell described as 'unbelievable players who set the league on fire and made the Hawks even more competitive'.

The interest in Brettell's side continued to soar, seeing them build the 'new Snakepit' in 1983, thanks to funds from fans, sponsors and a major state government grant.

"We could now cram in a couple of thousand extremely passionate fans and the atmosphere was simply electric with all games played before capacity crowds," he said.

"The likes of McLeod, Ray Borner, Jim Bateman, Don Bickett, Alphonse Hammond and Norman Taylor, to name a few, set the stadium alight.

"None of this would have been possible though without the support of the unpaid board, the countless number of unpaid volunteers, our fans, the media and our remarkable sponsors."

According to Brettell, basketball in the late 1980s and early 1990s had now reached a level of popularity in the Illawarra and in Australia never seen before.

"On the back of this, we appointed our first full-time paid office administrator in Yvonne White - a great appointment to say the least," he said.

During his tenure, Brettell was involved in the hiring of the club's first nine coaches - the last being Brendan Joyce, who took the Hawks to their first title in 2000-01.

"All of these coaches, albeit with different egos and personalities did a remarkable job for the Hawks," said Brettell, who remained chairman until 1998 (as the Hawks up until then were still run as a separate entity to local basketball and still owned by the IBA).

Following the hire of Joyce, the likes of Glen Saville (who Brettell labelled 'one of the most athletic players ever to play the game - his all-round skills were amazing and a joy to watch'), Mat Campbell and Melvin Thomas all arrived - highlighting the increased professionalism of the club and competition, forcing the Hawks once again to relocate to a larger home court.

"The Hawks became the major driving force in obtaining the $20m NSW government grant that allowed the WIN Entertainment Centre to be built - a great achievement by the club that is sometimes forgotten," he said.

"It was also then as a board, and after 20 years of blood, sweat and tears by so many people, we all realised that as well as a new larger facility private ownership would need to become involved if the Hawks were to remain financially viable - which led to John Carson (Beechwood Homes) becoming the first private owner of the Hawks in 1998."

Although he was excited to move to the 'Sandpit', it was at this time that Brettell stopped to think about some of the everlasting memories he'd made at the Snakepit.

"The time we played our old rivals the Kings at the Snakepit (a game we won) and the punch-up that occurred just before the final buzzer," said Brettell, whose sons Chris and Jason spent time with the Hawks as players.

"But no Hawks players were involved, as the punch-up was between a couple of Kings players - an interesting sight to behold and great for team harmony.

"Another memory at the Snakepit was when the lights would go out in the final quarter of a game, the stadium was in sheer total darkness - it would then take 10-15 minutes to get the lights back on.

"We were often accused of doing this on purpose as it only seemed to happen if we were losing, not true of course.

"Finally, the time one of the opposition import players lost his cool at half-time and punched his fist through the door (the glass part full of wire), the change room was then at the end of court one.

"Not good, because if not for our resident doctors Roger Parrish and Robin Yarrow, he could have lost his arm, not smart on his part."

But like everyone else, the move to the new facility allowed the Hawks to create many more memories, including the club's run to its maiden championship.

"Watching Damon Lowry sink those three free-throws after the full-time buzzer to send the team to Townsville for the grand final is a moment I and everyone else in the building that night won't forget," he said.

All this Brettell believes has made the Illawarra fans some of the best, if not the best, in the NBL - which he hopes are rewarded with its second banner in May.

"Being a small regional club, we are always the underdog and classified as 'a little brother' in the NBL, which always gave fans/supporters that little bit extra to cheer about and boy they sure have done a fantastic job from 1979 to 2022," he said.

"Our current crop of fans are just as passionate as they were in our first season, especially as they can sense we're on the cusp of a second NBL banner.

"In my humble opinion, we have great prospects, thanks to the best coach in the NBL/country, good team harmony and stability (from the owners down to the fans).

"We're shaping up well and I can speak on behalf of all the fans and say we deserve another championship and 2022 has a nice ring to it."