Jim Auld has stepped away from his volunteer jobs with Dubbo Football after 24 years with the organisation

Joining the Dubbo and District Football Association (DDFA) board as a volunteer back in 1998, Auld has now finished up his time with the organisation.

A much-loved member of Dubbo's footballing family, Auld admitted it was a tough choice to step away but he knows he has given the game everything he has had.

"I've been on the board for 24 years, it does feel a bit strange at the moment, I'm just tidying a few things before I'm completely out of it in the next week or two," he said.

"It should hopefully be able to give us some more travel time now."

More time with his family and the opportunity to travel in his 70s is what Auld said are the reasons behind his decision.

"It's to give us some time outside of football, I'm also getting a bit long in the tooth and turn 76 next week," he said.

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The long-time servant of the game has seen the Western Premier League come and go during his time with the DDFA as well as several players go on to move to larger cities for the opportunity to become professionals.

However, Auld joked he might sit down one day to pen some of the weird and wonderful things his time with DDFA has given him.

"If I had the time or wanted to, I could sit down and write a best-seller about it all," he said.

Remarkably, Auld has been part of the DDFA for four different decades and the 75-year-old still gets a kick out of seeing talented juniors do well.

"The pleasing thing is the build-up of our numbers, the calibre of kids we've got coming through with good coaching (is great)," he said.

"They are stronger now than they have ever been, we've got some really talented players both male and female right across the board.

"This is proving when the boys and girls play their representative games against other towns, Dubbo has been number for the last six or seven years."

Dubbo has had some wonderful footballers over the years but Auld couldn't single out one player in particular when asked who was the best he had come across.

"It's a bit hard to be drawn into that, you've got talented players up front who score all the goals but you've also good goalies, mids and backs," he said.

"They all combine to make talented teams, it would be very hard to single out any one player.

"Especially with this new crop of young kids coming through from age 12 through to 17, you've got 16-year-olds playing the Western Premier League.

"Each year the standard seems to increase, it's a bit hard to pick out one player just because the standard changes each year."

Ainsleigh Bates will remain as the DDFA president for 2023 after their annual general meeting was held just a few weeks ago.

For Auld, he is just hoping the new-look board can continue to grow the game in Dubbo.

"I've finished my tenure, it's now up to the new ones and I just hope that they do well," he said.

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