22/04/2026
The Imperial Football Club are proud to name their 2026 ANZAC Day medal in honour of ex-National Serviceman Mervyn (Merv) Schopp. As a 20-year-old in October 1967 and at the height of the Vietnam War, Merv’s number came up in the “birthday ballot” and subsequently he was sent off to National Service. He soon found himself at Puckapunyal in Northern Victoria where he was given some basic army training and after a ten-week stint there he was transferred to Singleton in NSW for infantry training. After some intensive jungle training in Far-North Queensland, Merv arrived in Vietnam in July 1968 where he was posted to the 3rd Royal Australian Regiment as a machine gunner.
During the next six months he would be deployed on numerous patrols where they would often encounter the enemy and Merv was, in his words, “slightly wounded” in one of these battles in September 1968 but recovered well. In January 1969 the 3rd Royal Australian Regiment left Vietnam, Merv however, stayed on to help provide logistical support to the war effort being based in the port of Vung Tau. In July 1969 he returned to Australia and vividly remembers the anti-war protests and the way National Servicemen were treated by certain elements of the public. After completing the final stint of his two-year service at Keswick Barracks in Adelaide, Merv returned to normal civilian life in October 1969.
Merv then joined the Imperial Football Club and played senior football from 1971 through to 1975 where injury would unfortunately curtail his playing career. He was then coerced into becoming a trainer which he continued to do for the next 12 years culminating in Life Membership of the Imperial Football Club being awarded to him in 1987. In more recent years Merv has immersed himself in the local Murray Bridge branch of the RSL where he has served as committee member, Vice-President and President. In October of 2025 Merv received one of the highest honours the veteran community can bestow – that of life-membership of the RSL.
We are therefore proud to name our 2026 Imperial FC ANZAC Day medal in honour of Merv, and we thank him for his service to his country, community and to our football club. Well-deserved Merv and we hope you enjoy being part of this Saturday’s ANZAC Day proceedings 💙
