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FORMER Carlton rover Terry Board, who completed his senior debut on the same day Ron Barassi led his players down the race for the first time as Captain-Coach, has died at the age of 74.

Recruited to the club from South Warrnambool and handed the No.24 now on the back of Nic Newman, Board and Pascoe Vale hopeful John Kemp were each named in the Carlton senior team for the first time on Saturday, April 17, 1965, in what was the opening match of the season with John Kennedy’s Hawthorn at Glenferrie Oval.

36,000 supporters somehow crammed into that sardine tin by Linda Crescent, to see Barassi  lead his Blues to a famous 37-point win – on an afternoon in which Board, named in a forward pocket, earned Hawthorn’s David Parkin as his opponent and fared well.

Adrian Gallagher, the three-time Carlton Premiership rover and club best and fairest, was adjudged BOG in that historic ’65 season opener. Gallagher recalled going head to head with the Hawks’ No.1 rover Ian Law on what was a typically boggy ground “and I vaguely remember Serge (Sergio Silvagni) thumping a couple of torpedo goals from centre half-forward”.

“The place was so narrow that the people hanging from the terraces appeared to be on the ground,” Gallagher said. “You can imagine what it would have been like – Ron Barassi’s first game as Carlton Captain-Coach, John Kennedy bellowing from the Linda Crescent wing and ‘Barass’ more or less telling him to shut up.”

A recent photograph of Terry Board at Warrnambool with his grandchildren (clockwise) Eliza, Lana and Patrick.

Gallagher shared roving duties with Board through those first two seasons on Barassi’s watch and (later) Denis Munari through the Premiership season of 1968. As he recalled: “Terry and ‘Shark’ (Munari) were vying for the role of No.2 rover and in ’68 Shark got it”.

“Perhaps Terry’s kicking mightn’t have been what it could have, but he was very good,” Gallagher said.

“He was quick, he was smart and he had courage.”

Board strung together 16 games in his maiden season, but only five in 1966 – a year in which he also copped four weeks for whacking Richmond’s Peter Hogan in the 12^th Round match on the MCG.

By the time Carlton contested the 1967 finals series, Board had been displaced by Munari, who partnered Gallagher in the straight sets September losses to Richmond and Geelong.

Board broke back into the senior team in ’68, stringing together five consecutive games between Rounds 4 and 8 – only to be omitted after the Round 18 match with Collingwood – his 41^st and last appearance – on the cusp of the finals series which culminated in the drought-breaking Grand Final victory over Essendon.

“For whatever reason it came down to how you were with ‘Barass’,” Gallagher noted. “Back in those days, whenever Barass had a go at you, you had to go back and say I’ll show you, you bastard’. But Terry got the s..ts with Barass – he took it to heart.”

In the end, Board accepted a coaching position with the North Gambier Football Club – on ten times the coin he earned at Carlton.

Off the field, Board was fabulous company – “great fun as Gallagher put it. At Princes Park he earned the nickname ‘Crockett’ after the last man standing at The Alamo, as he tended to prevail in Sunday euchre nights with Brian Kekovich and Peter Jones at the Brunswick home of the then Chairman of Selectors Jack Wrout.

According to ‘Gags’, “Jones used to make out that he was a big punter, which is where he inherited the nickname ‘Percy’ – after Percy Galea, Sydney’s prince of punters”.

“Jones, Kekovich, Terry and myself all got on well because we were all the same age and it was just a great era,” Gallagher said, “and Terry did very well with his life after football.

“He was the biggest hotel broker in the country going around, and he worked his way up from nothing. He put himself through school and with John Thomson the solicitor who played at Richmond he more or less turned that industry around.

“TJ Board was big. People like the Mathiesons dealt with Terry.”

Board died in his home town of Warrnambool last Saturday (November 23) after a brief battle with melanoma. He is survived by his sons Terry jun. (a 15-game former Fitzroy player), Peter and Michael, together with Peter’s wife Michelle and their three children Eliza, Lana and Patrick.

Peter described his father “as a huge inspiration to me both in life and in business”.

“It makes me feel very proud to know how appreciated and admired Dad was,” Peter said. “He was absolutely adored by his family and friends.”

The Carlton team, including debutant Terry Board, which met Hawthorn at Glenferrie Oval

in the opening round, Saturday, April 17, 1965

B:            36 Roger Hoggett             26 Graeme Anderson     5 Ken Greenwood

HB:         11 John Goold                   17 Gordon Collis               12 John Gill

C:            30 Murray Kick                  19 Ian Collins                      39 Cliff Stewart

HF:         9 Berkley Cox                     20 Wes Lofts                      33 Jim Pleydell

F:            16 Maurie Sankey            1 Serge Silvagni                 24 Terry Board

Ruck:     2 John Nicholls (vc)          31 Ron Barassi (cc)           10 Adrian Gallagher

Res:        7 John Kemp                      21 Barry Gill

Recruited to the club from neighbouring Princes Hill having earlier chased the leather for Brunswick YCW, Williams furthered his football through Carlton’s Under 19s and reserves, and turned out at senior level for the first of 25 matches in total wearing the No.31 later made famous by Ron Barassi.

That happened in the opening round of the 1959 season – Saturday, April 18 versus Essendon at Princes Park – just four days after Williams turned 19. Named at centre half-forward, he contributed a goal to Carlton’s 13.20 scoreline, with Sergio Silvagni booting four of his five goals up front in a match-winning opening quarter.

As fate would have it, the Essendon match would double as Williams’ only senior appearance for the ’59 season. But season 1960 would offer a 12-game return, during which time he was a more than handy contributor whether as ruck-rover or forward pocket (booting a personal best three goals in the 11^th round match with Melbourne).

In 1961, Hands in his wisdom resolved to switch Williams to defence, and there he represented the club in ten more contests. But as the season progressed, he was more often than not consigned to the bench, and after managing just two senior appearances in the Grand Final year of 1962 – the legacy of a serious injury to his kicking foot (the right) – he parted company with the club.

Almost 30 years later, Williams saw his boy Mark take to the field for the first of 19 senior appearances for the old club to which they were both zoned. As with the old man, Mark was 19 when he completed his Carlton debut, against Footscray in the 13^th round of the 1983 season at VFL Park.

Mark Williams during his time with the Blues. 

Mark was adjudged the club’s best first year player in ’83, but the ensuing five seasons would provide a return of just 14 senior games – during which time he represented the Blues in their reserve grade back-to-back Premiership teams of 1986 and ’87 – before rounding out his League career with 13 senior appearances for Footscray.

In 1998, Mark was appointed senior coach at VFL club Preston for what would be the first of six seasons at the helm, during which time the club amalgamated with Carlton and transitioned to the Northern Bullants.

In 2004 he was appointed senior coach at Sandringham with immediate success, taking the Zebras to three successive Premierships in 2004-05-06. Whilst at Sandringham, he combined his duties with the role of development coach at Melbourne, and after eight seasons with the Demons, joined Richmond as a senior assistant to Damien Hardwick.

Earlier this week, Mark took the opportunity to reflect on his father’s life, his seismic influence as a family man, and his precious father/son relationship at Carlton.

This is Mark’s story:

Mark and John Williams. 

Dad was a fantastic leader, teacher, great confidante and counsellor. He was one of a kind. He was a hero to our family and we loved him deeply.

We were all really close to him, but I had a great connection because of the footy. He was mates with ‘Collo’ (Ian Collins) and Vasil Varlamos and there’s not many others of that era left.

Dad originally lived at 319 Lygon Street. It’s a pizza shop now, but back then it was a barber shop as Dad’s Dad was a barber and they lived above the shop upstairs.

Though he lived in the Carlton area, Dad had some early allegiance to Collingwood because his maternal uncle Harry ‘Bottles’ Chesswas played for the Magpies in he 1920s and ‘30s. But from the age of eight or nine, when he started going to Princes Park, Dad supported the Blues . . . and supported them ever since.

At Carlton, Ken Hands gave Dad the nickname ‘Effie’ because he always used to swear. He came through the thirds, seconds and firsts and he always had to play above his age group, so it was never easy for him. He got beaten up a bit early, but he often said that he got his own back when he got bigger. He was a utility as they called it back in those days – he stood 6’1” in the old measurement and weighed about 85kg. He had massive hands and massive feet, and from all accounts he was a tough nut.

Dad related a really funny story to me about his time at Carlton. He recalled that a lot of the players used to play table tennis in their down time at the club, and on one particular occasion the ball got crushed. He told me that Brucey Comben the then captain got hold of the key to the property room and the players helped themselves to the footy jumpers and socks while they were in there. It was like Christmas for the players because the then property steward was a miserable character who hung onto everything – and the players knew that they could only ever wear the stuff at home as the property steward would twig otherwise.

Dad started going alright with his football, but early in the ’62 season at his workplace a massive iron bar rolled off the bench and landed on his foot, crushing his big toe into about 20 pieces. The doctors told him they were going to cut his toe off but he talked them out of it. He couldn’t walk for a while, and when he told Carlton that he couldn’t train the club delisted him and he never went back. Mind you it was no big deal then.    

After Dad recovered he went to Coburg YCW where he played and coached them to a flag. He then had a year at Black Rock and a year at Tongala, which he really loved – until a car accident left him with a broken jaw and forced him to step down.

Dad later captained and coached Merlynston to a flag – and then he gave the game away.

On the eve of my first senior game in ’83 I knew I was in the squad, but I went to bed on the Thursday night before. Back in the early 1980s, League Teams would be broadcast at around 11pm on a Thursday and I can remember Dad running in to the bedroom saying “You’ve got a game. Congratulations”. Dad was super proud. He was really rapt.

When I played for Carlton I got to meet Dad’s old teammates, so they looked out for me. I reckon Dad came to most games that I played, whether seniors or reserves. He used to work overtime, knock off at 11 o’clock on a Saturday morning then front up to wherever I was playing. When I played for Footscray later on, I remember he mistakenly went to the Carlton ground, because old habits die hard I suppose . . .

I was very lucky that I remained in footy for a long time, because while he always let me find my own way he was also happy to pass on advice. I remember as far back as Under 11s him telling me: “You need to be on the move whenever there are ball-ups or throw-ins – you can’t stand still”. After all these years that still sticks in my mind.

When I coached at St Paul’s East Bentleigh, I used to pick him up in the car on the way down and we discussed the game together. On the way home we’d dissect the game too and he pretty much consolidated my thoughts on coaching.

A little while ago, Dad developed lung cancer and I used to drive him into ‘Peter Mac’ (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre) for treatment. One day we had a couple of hours between sessions, so I said to him – “Come on Dad, let’s go for a drive to some of your old haunts”. 

I took him on a tour of places like the Lygon Street barber shop where he lived, the place at Moreland near Northcote Golf Course (Glenross Stainless Steel) where he worked and the old East Brunswick Footy Ground where he used to play. I also took him to the new development at the old Carlton ground.

Dad was too crook to get out of the car, but he really enjoyed returning to those places that were so important in his life. He pointed out a few things on that drive and I recorded some of them on audio and later video . . .

As I said earlier, my whole family was extremely close to Dad. I’m very emotional at the moment just thinking of him. The thing I’ll miss most is just being able to talk to him, particularly about footy. He was a great fellow.

John Leonard Williams was the 724^th man to represent the Carlton Football Club at senior level since the foundation season of the VFL in 1897.

He died on October 9 after a short illness. He is survived by his wife Lynette, son Mark, daughters Megan and Linda, daughter-in-law Michelle, son-in-law Stephen Gumley (a former Carlton reserve grade player) and six grandchildren.

John’s funeral is to take place at the Cordell Chapel, Fawkner Memorial Park, commencing 12 noon this Thursday (October 17).

FORTY years ago this Saturday, Wayne Harmes famously thumped the footy Ken Sheldon’s way to help land the 1979 Premiership for Carlton over good old Collingwood.

Last night, in a  week where which Richmond readies for a tilt at its 12^th League Premiership, Harmes and fellow members of the ’79 team returned to the MCG to savor the memory of what was the Blues’ 12^th of 16 Premierships in their storied VFL/AFL existence.

Following the reunion dinner in the Keith Miller Room, Harmes, the inaugural Norm Smith Medallist, was photographed on the hallowed turf with fellow members of the ’79 Premiership outfit – Barry Armstrong, Rod Austin, Peter Brown, Jim Buckley, Mike Fitzpatrick, Wayne Johnston, Peter ‘Percy’ Jones, Trevor Keogh, Robbert Klomp, Alex Marcou, Peter McConville, David McKay, Ken Sheldon and Geoff Southby.

 

’79ers Greg Towns, Vin Catoggio and Wayne Harmes, MCG 

Also pictured for posterity were ’79 squad members Vin Catoggio, Kevin Heath, Warren Jones and Greg Towns, together with former club staff members George Frigo, Bob Lowrie (whose grandson Michael Gleeson took these photos) and Shane O’Sullivan, and the former committeemen John Minuzzo who, aside from Ian Collins, is one of only two committeemen of that year still living.

Lowrie, the Carlton runner on that frenetic last Saturday in September ’79, said that those whose fortune it was to be present on the ground following a reunion dinner in the Keith Miller Room would be forever thankful to reunion organisers Mike Fitzpatrick and his wife Helen.

“It was a really down to earth, lovely night. Mike and Helen are to be commended for what they did for those who were there. They made their dreams come true, “Lowrie said.

“Geoff Southby officiated as MC at the dinner and a number of players took the microphone to reflect on the ’79 Grand Final and what it meant to them. At one point, Kevin Sheedy, who was attending a Richmond reunion next door, bobbed up in the room wearing a Richmond and GWS scarf.

“I heard Tom Lynch say in front of 95,000 after Richmond’s win in the Preliminary Final against Geelong that footy doesn’t get bigger than this. Back in ’79 there were 114,000 at the Grand Final and Carlton beat Collingwood, so I’d say it doesn’t get any bigger than that.”

1979 Carlton Premiership players unable to attend the reunion gathering were the Captain Coach Alex Jesaulenko, Bruce Doull and Peter Francis.

The ’79 Premiership wingman Michael Young, who swapped guernseys with Collingwood’s Ricky Barham moments after the final siren sounded, died one year and ten days ago.

THE Bacchus Marsh Football Club, at which AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan launched the AFL’s $18million joint-funded investment into country football, brought welcome focus to a place in which the Carlton Football Club has greatly benefited in an historic on-field sense.

Bacchus Marsh was in fact the area from which former club greats Harry ‘Soapy’ Vallence, Keith Shea and Ollie Grieve all hailed.

Vallence represented Carlton in 204 games between 1926 and 1938 – the last of them the ’38 Grand Final victory over Collingwood. He topped the club’s goalkicking 1929, 1931–1933 and 1935–1938, and in the ’31 season earned VFL honours for most goals kicked.

Shea turned out in 91 matches for the Blues between 1932 and ’37 – the first of them before he turned 18 – and was a four-time Victorian representative.

And Grieve’s war-interrupted career through seasons 1942, 1944 and 1946-’52 took in 137 matches including the ’47 Premiership, and ended with him earning B & F honours in his final year.

The League’s country Victoria investment, in conjunction with the State Government, has also brought focus to the contributions rural footballers have made to the great Australian game at the highest level, Carlton included.

As such, the following is a Carlton team comprising some of the greatest Victorian country recruits ever to lace a boot. The team comprises players recruited from clubs 40 kilometres or more from the Melbourne CBD, under the watch of Carlton’s three-time Premiership secretary/coach Jack Worrall.

Amongst the starting 18 are no fewer than 12 Carlton Team of the Century Members (including emergencies) – Rod Ashman, Bob Chitty, Horrie Clover, Garry Crane, Adrian Gallagher, Ken Hands, John James, Rod McGregor, John Nicholls, Geoff Southby, Harry Vallence and Greg Williams.

Also in their number is:

• the most capped state representative John Nicholls, the club’s record five-time Best & Fairest winner (1959, ’63, ’65, ’66 and ’67);
• three Carlton Premiership captains – Jim Flynn (1906 and ’07), Chitty (1945) and Nicholls (1968, ’70 and ’72 (the latter also as coach));
• three Brownlow Medallists – John James (1961) Gordon Collis (1964) and Greg Williams (1994); and
• three club Best & Fairests in a Premiership year – Southby (1972), Jim Buckley (1982) and Brett Ratten (1995).

Maryborough’s Horrie Clover, considered Carlton’s greatest player between the First and Second World Wars.

David McKay, Carlton’s four-time Premiership player through 277 matches in 13 seasons, was recruited to the club from Newlyn.

“Zoning must have been introduced in ’68, the year I as recruited, because I was the first player from the Bendigo zone to play at Carlton. I remember I played a game in the seconds against Collingwood at Princes Park. I played on Vaughan Ellis who looked like a man mountain and I was just a skinny kid from the sticks,” McKay said

“I was lucky as Newlyn was in the Clunes League which only just fell into the Bendigo zone.

“The Bendigo League contributed the greatest number of country footballers to Carlton in my time – so many good players like Brian Walsh, Paul Hurst, Geoff Southby, Trevor Keogh and Rod Ashman.”

Carlton’s greatest Victorian Country team is as follows;

Backs: Jim Flynn (Benalla), Geoff Southby (Sandhurst), David McKay (Newlyn)

Half-backs: John James (Ballarat), Gordon Collis (Healesville), Bob Chitty (Cudgewa)

Centres: Garry Crane (Yallourn North), Greg Williams (Golden Square), Rod McGregor (Katamatite)

Half-forwards: Brett Ratten (Yarra Glen), Horrie Clover (Maryborough), Keith Shea (Bacchus Marsh)

Forwards: Ken Hands (Geelong Scouts), Harry Vallence (Bacchus Marsh), Rod Ashman (Eaglehawk)

Rucks: John Nicholls (Maryborough), Jim Buckley (Kyneton), Adrian Gallagher (Yarram)

Interchange: Bryan Quirk (Morwell), Ollie Grieve (Bacchus Marsh), Graham Donaldson (Clunes)

Emergencies: Jim Clark (Enmore), Peter Dean (South Bendigo), Ian Robertson (Wonthaggi)

Coach: Jack Worrall (Chinaman’s Flat)

IN SEPTEMBER 1987, amid euphoric scenes in the winner’s circle following the Grand Final triumph over Hawthorn at the MCG, Craig Bradley handed his Premiership medallion to Peter Motley, whose career as a Carlton footballer had been cruelly cut short in a road accident that almost claimed his life.

Fast forward 32 years to September 2019, Adelaide Oval – and Bradley, Carlton’s dual Premiership player and club games record holder, was there again for his old mate ‘Mots’, who tonight (Monday) followed him into the South Australian Football Hall of Fame.

“To be there in the inner sanctum with the Motley family for Peter’s induction into the Hall of Fame has been a real privilege for me,” Bradley said. “Unfortunately Peter’s mother is no longer about but she would be just as proud of Peter as his sister and his Dad.

“I know Peter is just as proud of his induction as I was . . . to be inducted into the Hall is a massive honour.”

Bradley, Port Adelaide’s Premiership player in 1981, three-time club best and fairest in 1982, ’84 and ’85 and member of its coveted Team of the Century, said that whilst it might be difficult for children of the current era to appreciate how it was , “growing up in South Australia all that kids like ‘Mots’ and me knew was SANFL footy, the game and its heroes”.

“Peter was and is very much Sturt, and while Carlton was robbed of a superstar he’s also a fanatical Carlton tragic. He’s Blue through and through – as passionate as any Carlton supporter,” Bradley said.

“As a player he was also fanatical. Yes, he was exciting, high-leaping and brought a lot of charisma to his play, but he was also fiercely-driven – a competitor who would fight to the end.

“As a person he’s a very humble guy – ‘the people’s person’ you might say.”

Motley’s time at Princes Park encompassed just 13 senior matches through 1986 and the opening six games of the following season, and a stellar playing career was assured until fate intervened. But by the time he’d completed his much-heralded arrival with Bradley and Stephen Kernahan, Motley’s handsome reputation in his home state had already been forged.

A member of the Sturt Football Club’s Team of the Century, Motley represented the Double Blues in 92 league games between 1982 and ’85, during which time he earned the club’s best and fairest awards in 1984 and ’85. He also represented South Australia on six occasions, winning the Fos Williams Medal in 1985 and All-Australian status in the same year.

Such was his status at Sturt that in 2015 the club saw fit to rename its home ground – once Unley Oval, now Peter Motley Oval.

The South Australian Football Hall of Fame of which Motley is now an esteemed member was established in 2002 when 114 individuals were declared inaugural inductees. In the years since, administrators, media representatives, umpires and players like him have been included, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to football in that state.

Those who currently make up the Hall of Fame selection committee are Leigh Whicker AM (Chairman), John Halbert AM MBE, Neil Kerley AM, Chris McDermott, David Shipway AM, Michelangelo Rucci, Bill Sanders AM, Julian Burton OAM and Tim Pfeiffer.

Motley now joins Carlton’s four other inductees to the South Australian Football Hall of Fame – Stephen Kernahan and Mark Naley (both inducted in 2002), Craig Bradley (2006) and Andrew McKay (2007).

FORMER Carlton forward Tony Thiessen, who turned out in 13 senior matches through the Blues’ Centenary year of 1964, has died at the age of 77.

Originally hailing from the Huon Valley and an on-field rep for the now-defunct Sandy Bay Football Club, Thiessen crossed town to Princes Park on the eve of the ’64 season after a brief seven-game stint with Melbourne.

Thiessen’s cousin and Carlton Member Jeremy Thiessenrecalled that his lifelong friend was recruited to the Redlegson the recommendation of the three-time Premiership player Peter Marquis (then acting as the club’s Tasmanian scout) – and that he earned two Brownlow votes on debut at the MCG (Round 4, 1963) when he took the honours on Fitzroy’s Kevin Murray.

Jeremy added that on the Demons’ ’63 end-of-season trip to Honolulu, Tony was advised by the resident coach Norm Smith that he had been earmarked for centre half-back the following season – which didn’t sit well with the player who considered himself a forward. However hewas eventually delisted.

Jeremy said. “He then met up with the Carlton coach Ken Hands, a deal was struck and he was recruited to the club as a centre half-forward.”

As fate would have it, Thiessen earned his first senior call-up for Carlton for the Round 3 match against the Redlegs on the MCG. Wearing the No. 24 now featured on Nic Newman’s back, he was named on a flank in a front six comprising Kevin Hall, the Gill brothers Barry and John, Jim ‘Frosty’ Miller and the late Maurie Sankey.

Tony Thiessen and John Gill thwart Mike Delanty’s marking attempt, in the 12^th round match of 1964 between North Melbourne and Carlton at Arden Street. The Blues went down by a point.

Regrettably, the visitors managed just four goals for the afternoon in what was a 46-point hiding inflicted by Smith’s men.

Thiessen would get to belt out the Carlton song just three times through the course of the ’64 season, until his last hurrah in the 17th round against St Kilda – the same game in which the future club best & fairest and three-time Premiership wingman Garry Cane completed his senior debut in dark navy.

The Saints got up by 16 points in that one, in what would be their last triumph over the Blues for the next 29 years.

Gordon Collis, Carlton’s Best & Fairest and Brownlow Medallist in the ’64 season, remembered Thiessen as a physically robust footballer.

“He wasn’t overly quick, but he was a fit and strong young bloke. He stood around six one in the old measurement and he was pretty well-built. I got the impression that he was as hard as nails,” Collis recalled.

“He was also a great toiler. You couldn’t say he was one of those blokes who didn’t get the best out of himself. He was pretty honest and a good team player.

“I suppose ‘Barass’ came in with his standards. He was always looking at the big picture and considering which players, Tony included, would be part of a future Premiership side. On that basis, perhaps Tony found it a bit hard to go on.”

The Carlton team, 1964. Thiessen is in the second back row on the far left. 

When 1965 rolled around and Barassi took the helm as Carlton captain-coach, Thiessen’s papers were effectively stamped. 

Thiessen then relocated to Arden Street, where he managed four more senior appearances for North Melbourne to round out his League career.

In 1966, Thiessen furthered his football with the VFA’s 1st Division reigning Premier Waverley, then coached by the three-time Melbourne Premiership half-back and (later) Carlton coach the late Ian Thorogood. On returning to Tasmania, he played on, memorably representing his state in a match against ‘Polly’ Farmer’s Western Australia. Ironically playing at centre half-back, Thiessen took six towering marks over the West’s Mal Brown in the last quarter and, according to Jeremy, was the chief reason the Taswegians got up.

“ . . . and if he’d listened to Norm Smith and Barassi in the first place he probably would have been a great centre half-back,” Jeremy added.

More than 30 years later, Thiessen watched on with pride as his son James, the seven-game former Richmond wingman, played his part in Adelaide’s comfortable Grand Final victory of 1998 over the Kangaroos.

Tony Thiessen was the 761st player to represent the Carlton Football Club at senior level since the VFL’s inception in 1897.

He died on Tuesday (September 3) after a short illness. He is survived by his wife Virginia, sons Peter (a regular VAFA representative player through his years at Old Haileybury) and James, and daughter Hermione (who represented Victoria in softball). He is also survived by his daughters-in-law, son-in-law and grandchildren; as well as his sister Megan and brother Roger. Older brother Brian pre-deceased him.  

A service to celebrate the life of Anthony (Tony) Thiessen will be held at the Boyd Chapel Springvale Cemetery, 600 Princes Hwy, Springvale on Tuesday, 10 September 2019 at 2pm.

FORMER Carlton Premiership coach David Parkin has paid heartfelt tribute to the club’s property steward of 30 years, the late Ken Kleiman.

Parkin acknowledged Kleiman’s lifelong love for the club, following a magnificent eulogy delivered by Ken’s son Mark and deeply personal reflections from grandchildren Samantha and Joel, at a funeral service at Tobin Brothers Reflections of Life Chapel in Doncaster on Monday (August 12).

Amongst those in attendance to bid farewell to Ken were former players Rod Austin, Craig Bradley, Jim Buckley, Ian Collins, Des English, Kevin Heath, Ken Hunter, Phil Pinnell, David Rhys-Jones, Warren Jones (who jetted in from Sydney), Ken Sheldon, Dennis Munari, Sergio Silvagni, Stephen Silvagni and Geoff Southby.

Also present were members of the club’s board, administration and coteries past and present, including Paul Brody, Alan Espie, Wayne ‘Bulldog’ Gilbert, Laurie Hayden, Col Kinnear, Bob Lowrie, Dick Merton, Bob Moore, Shane O’Sullivan, George Varlamos and Lionel Watts.

Neil Balme and David Buttifant, who formed associations with Ken’s son Mark when he was football operations manager at rival club Collingwood, were also there to pay their respects. Balme and Geoff Southby were on-field adversaries through those heady days of the early 1970s, but they too came together for Ken.

The Carlton players wore black armbands into last Sunday’s match with Richmond, in tribute to Kleiman, who died at the age of 93 after a short illness.

Less than 24 hours later, ‘Parko’ delivered the following tribute.

I’d like to thank the family, Mark in particular, for giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf of so many people obviously part of the Carlton family. I’m very honoured to speak on behalf of so many people here today who are so intimately associated with the life of Kenny Kleiman and the Carlton Football Club.

I’ve been around VFL/AFL clubs for the past 60 years and I can’t think of another man more loved than Kenny Kleiman. In my mind’s eye now and whenever I was in his company, even of late in the clubrooms at our regular morning teas, his amazing and genuine smile was unforgettable.

Ken had time for everyone. In conjunction with Ken Monk, he formed a special partnership as the club’s property stewards for just on 30 years. That’s an unbelievable record when you think it through. It was ‘Hard Monky’ and ‘Soft Climax’ – a duo that seemed to work beautifully. When you add Wayne Gilbert, Peter Newbold and Frank Finn in later years, it was a very special team within the team. As Col Kinnear reminded me, when it was a training session or matchday they were always there first . . . and certainly always last to leave well after we’d gone.

Together they were genuine contributors to the most successful period in Carlton’s great history, with the Premierships of 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987 and 1995.

The players worked Ken over unmercifully with their unreasonable demands and practical jokes. But his demeanour never ever varied – it was all just in good fun.

Ken’s ongoing support for the Navy Blues never diminished. He and Pam attended the staff functions religiously over the past 30-plus years. The newspaper eulogy summed Kenny up perfectly. “It was a privilege to be his friend. One of the more endearing and enduring characters. A magnificent man who was Carlton to the core” . . . rest in peace dear friend.