So who was Maurice (Maurie) Kirby?

Here’s a selection of news articles and photos from Mauries media career in Melbourne and recent articles on saving Maurice Kirby Velodrome at Dunblane Road, Parkfield Reserve, Noble Park. 

• Read the Kirby’s family account of the larger than life sporting legend and local resident of Noble Park.

Dandenong Journal: What’s in a name (4 September 2018) There’s a larger than life figure recognised by the under-threat Maurice Kirby Velodrome in Parkfield Reserve.

Mr Kirby was well known for establishing the popular Pedal Clubs of Victoria in the 1950s, which got 50,000 children across the country on their bikes. He ran a bicycle shop for decades in Noble Park, and was a popular, versatile sports broadcaster on radio station 3XY and Channel 9.

He called greyhounds at Sandown Park, ‘Golden Gloves Boxing’, basketball at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics as well as trots, futsal and wrestling. As the founder of Channel 9-Yooralla-Sportsmen committee, he raised thousands of dollars for the charity Yooralla.

Raised by his grandfather and step-grandmother, Mr Kirby’s generosity was legendary.

He and his wife Eileen supplying lunches and lending bikes for many of the kids at his free Pedal Club events. The club passed on the edicts of bicycle culture such as road rules, bike maintenance as well as organising competitions and social activities.

It had a regular spot on TV’s Happy Hammond Show or Tarax Show, and is credited to help cut the local bicycle accident rate by 30 per cent.

Maurice Kirby – News articles and photos: 1940s-2001