After being overlooked last year, former PHC marksman Earl (Townsey) Russell vowed he would never return to the Bermuda Sports Hall of Fame Awards.

But after a calming visit by Hall executive committee chairman Rick Richardson in recent weeks, the 77-year-old had a change of heart and was present at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel on Saturday night to take his place along with nine others among the Island?s most celebrated sporting personalities.

?I?d made up my mind that I was not going to come here tonight,? the man who won three FA Cup titles with the Zebras between 1957 and 1961 told an audience including Premier Alex Scott.

?But they kept on and on at me, and here I am. So after all that?s happened, it?s a privilege to be here and to be recognised alongside so many others.?

The ?class of 2006? ? the third year of the Hall?s existence ? also included the chairman of the National Sports Centre Trustees Gerard Bean, rower and triathlete Jim Butterfield, referee Keith Dunstan, football administrator Dudley Eve, bowler Joan Hollis, cricketers Sheridan Raynor, Dennis Wainwright and Warren Simmons and footballer Arnold Woollard.

In stark contrast to the previous two ceremonies, where the omission of Olympic-medal-winning boxer Clarence Hill and Russell somewhat overshadowed the event itself, the evening passed off without any semblance of controversy, while organisers had also taken the unprecedented step of informing the lucky ten ? selected from a list of 24 ? in advance.

First up to be inducted was Dr. Bean ? the Hall?s first administrator ? whose list of accomplishments include the founding of Bermuda Football Association in 1972 by bringing the Bermuda Football Union, the Bermuda Junior Football Association and the Commercial League under one umbrella.

President of the BFA from 1971 to 1986, he also became the senior vice-president of CONCACAF and head of the Bermuda Olympic Association and was the man behind the establishment of the Martonmere, Dudley Eve and Charity football Cups.

However, Dr. Bean admitted his biggest challenge was still ahead.

?Despite what I?ve achieved, I?ve been saddled with a greater responsibility in delivering to the public the Bermuda National Sports Centre,? he said.

?It is a centre that will take us to the next level. It has taken many years to bring this situation to fruition, but we will be breaking ground on the Centre Core in the next several months and once we?ve started we cannot stop!?

Next on stage was 55-year-old Butterfield, who began his athletic career as a rower before blossoming into one of Bermuda?s best-known runners and triathletes.

The only man to represent the Island at rowing ? in the Munich Olympics of 1972 ? nine years later the businessman also finished seventh in one of the most demanding sporting events on earth, the Hawaii Ironman.

His marathon time in Hawaii of three hours and five minutes still stands as one of the fastest legs ever run in that event while his best marathon time overall came in Boston in two hours and 27 minutes.

Keith Dunstan, the only Bermudian to referee in a World Cup finals, was the next to be honoured.

As the first local official to gain his Class One referee?s licence in 1965, he took charge of many games in both the CONCACAF and Pan-Am Championships in the next five years, before being selected as a linesman for the opening game of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico between the hosts and the USSR, played in front of 107,000 people in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

The name Dudley Eve was synonymous with local football in the 1950s and 1960s, even though he was more of a cricketer himself and rarely played the game he was to eventually leave an indelible mark upon.

Eve was responsible for organising the merger of the black and white leagues, a long-time secretary of the BFA and the manager of Bermuda?s first national team in 1956.

Meanwhile, Joan Hollis was Bermuda?s first ever world-champion bowler, a title she won in 1980 soon after being crowned the top lady bowler in the Americas. With the highest average of 186, she was also the captain of Bermuda?s first bowling squad in 1964.

Sheridan Raynor is better known to the younger cricketing generation as the grandfather of local groundsmen, though as a player in the 1950s and 60s he was so good that the great West Indian captain and all-rounder Sir Garfield Sobers once asked his selectors to bring the young Bermudian down for a trial ? a request they ultimately refused.

Raynor scored 740 runs in 24 Cup Match innings while he plundered many more in the Western Counties competition, finishing with the second-highest aggregate of 1,395.

Another cricketer recognised on Saturday night was Warren Simmons, the grandfather of Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton who played a key role in the construction of Somerset Cricket Club.

A feared all-rounder in the 1910s and 1920s, he was the first player to register 500 runs in Cup Match and his 94 wickets in the classic still stands as the third-best effort.

The penultimate inductee of the night was Dennis Wainwright, regarded by many of those who watched him as one of, if not the finest wicketkeeper the Island has ever had.

He has the highest number of Cup Match dismissals (37) as a ?keeper, captained the St. George?s team in 1974 while he was also a highly-regarded goalkeeper for Flatts, Social Club and Wellington Rovers.

Credited by former West Ham striker Clyde Best as having paved the way for Bermudian footballers in the English professional leagues, Arnold Woollard was the final athlete inducted.

The 75-year-old left Bermuda in 1947 to play at Northampton Town, before enjoying various spells at Peterborough, Newcastle United and Bournemouth in a career spanning 18 years.