Gerry Griffiths was immortalised when one end of the ground was named in his honour.

Veronica Griffiths was flanked by family and friends as the new sign was unveiled in honour of her late husband.

One of those friends was Graham Nuttall who also played a huge part in the survival of AFL in the region.

"Gerry's contribution, becoming the inaugural president and then staying on as the president for 13 years to drive it along was an amazing effort," Mr Nuttall, who - like Mr Griffiths - is an AFL North West life member, said.

"And to stay on as a committee member and continue his input and his direction was amazing. We were all very saddened at Gerry's passing.

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"On behalf of, also, the Tamworth Kangaroos...we'd like to pay tribute to Gerry.

"We didn't always agree with his umpiring decisions. I tried on a number of occasions to lend him advice which he never took any heed of, probably because I was wearing a Kangaroos jumper.

"He never changed his decision and was always confident in blowing his whistle."

Mr Nuttall also paid tribute to an array of people on the day who helped grow the game in Tamworth.

He also made note of one of Gerry's dreams which is now coming to fruition.

"We always discussed it at league meetings - about how we got juniors involved. It's been an amazing growth and I congratulate those [who helped get the juniors up and running]," Mr Nuttall said.

Tamworth Swans president Josh McKenzie and Mrs Griffiths also spoke on the day, paying tribute to Gerry.