R.I.P. Allan McAlister

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PIEWITHSAUCE

PIEWITHSAUCE

Premiership Player
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Sep 29, 2014
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AFL Club
Collingwood
I posted earlier in another thread about the early word but now unfortunately confirmed. Like many here Allan was the first President of Collingwood that I can really identify with - he may not have been the first in my life but was the first "iconic" president for me. He certainly had his ups and downs but I never doubted his love for the club or his quality of character.

I'm sure many others have more personal memories. I never met the man but he was an important part of my childhood as a Pies supporter.

Rest In Peace Allan.

"He only batted for Collingwood"
 
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Rest easy big Al



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His presidency saw the club break it's longest premiership drought and he was certainly visionary as a President even if those visions never came to be, or at least not in the way he intended. While along the same theme Olympic Park would be so much better if had we been able to retain the properties and developed the facility next to Victoria Park.

https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/the-presidents-allan-mcalister/
He rallied for a time to keep Victoria Park not only as Collingwood’s home base, but also as a viable AFL ground, to the point of unveiling plans in 1989 that would have seen the ground turned into a 40,000-seat stadium.

Ambitiously, and some would say bizarrely, he dreamed of ‘Maggieland’, which was meant to be Collingwood’s answer to Graceland. Under his direction, the club bought up properties near the Victoria Park ground which was to designed to one day include a precinct that had an indoor sports area, a theatre, a boutique hotel, a new social club, a museum, and even a restaurant chain.

That vision never eventuated.
Click to expand...
 

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How old was he? I was always fond of him as a kid when he was president, he gave off a friendly, loving vibe and you could tell he loved the club.

Dragged the club out of a shithole both onfield and offfield financially from 1986 to breaking the drought in 1990 and become a loved figure.

He was a bloke you could be fond of unlike the staid and business like presidents we usually see.
 
It has to be said he was not immune to controversy and put his foot squarely in his mouth in the aftermath of the Nicky Winmar incident with some unsavoury racial comments that ended up with Aboriginals pointing the bone at us but he shouldn't be remembered for just that but it was a big moment in the history of the game he was involved in there.
 
Reading about Al McAlister's passing, takes you straight back to the 1990 premiership, and even further back to when he launched the "save Collingwood" campaign. He certainly brought this club back from the brink, and look where we are today. So huge gratitude to Al for all he did to save this great club. To this day however, cannot believe his comments regarding indigenous Australians, and lm sure he tried to rectify that later in life, but unfortunately is a stain on his tenure.
 
Condolences to family and The Collingwood family.

Allan certainly was a fascinating character study.

I’ll start by saying the two greatest things Allan McAlister did was, one, bring Leigh Matthews to Collingwood and, two, support him.

From this our 1990 premiership arrived.

Allan started his Collingwood committee work if I’m not mistaken from the New Magpies, as treasurer.

From the ashes of the New Magpies, somehow he scraped through and then ascended to the presidency.

He was extremely adept at being visual and being the face of Collingwood. The media lapped it up. No doubt the little folding seat on the boundary gave him great exposure, and constantly, to the Collingwood masses.

He wanted to bring in John Kennedy Snr as our coach after all the dramas at the end of the Hafey time, with the idea he would mentor the next Coach. (Coach succession plan before it was fashionable.) his idea was John Kennedy followed by either in time Leigh Matthews or Don Scott. (It became clear around the time Don Scott couldn’t coach. That’s another story.)

Allan actually got agreement from John senior and it was set to happen but the Board over ruled him.
Allan told the tale once, when I was there, how he had to go back to Kanga (John Kennedy) that the Board over ruled. Kennedy was fantastic about it all. Just accepted it as part of football.
Allan also said, how good would it have been with Kennedy followed by Matthews.

We won the flag and it was all by the good decisions made in my view at the time.

Allan was no stranger to controversy. Being Collingwood that was always part of the deal.

Unfortunately, comments made by McAlister during the sensitive time of indigenous Australians in our game, didn’t help his legacy. Collingwood and the outer, and Nicky Winmar’s responses captured by the media all left our Club in a lesser light. McAlister said words to the affect “if they behaved like everyone else...”
Very poor words that smacked of old white Australia.

I do not believe he had any malicious intent, I actually think he jumbled his words, but it revealed an old fashioned Australian view. Australia was moving forward. He was a bit behind. Over the years I’d think he reflected and became better in understanding of such sensitivity.

As his time was ending for his presidency, he moved Leigh Matthews on for Tony Shaw. A mistake in my view, though Leigh was understanding. He has spoken about it, saying he knew his time was up.
I believe Allan wanted the coaching resolved for the next president, so he’d go in clean.
Kevin Rose took over the mantle for three years before a young Ed McGuire kindly “shoved” him aside.

Allan spent less time at the football and the club is my understanding. He didn’t feel he should be a distraction and perhaps just wanted to fade from public view.

He certainly got interested in harness racing going to the trots as his then preferred pastime of pleasure.

There’s so much more, investments and Magpie Land but others can comment on that.

In his stint at Collingwood his positives I’d venture outweighed his negatives.

He loved Collingwood and did run things well overall.

His passing should be noted by our Club and he deserves our thanks for his great contribution to our Coub.

Vale.
 
Vale Mr McAlister,a sad day for the club he did bring us a flag in 90 and was desperately unlucky in 92 and we were still drunk in 91.
We know he made a terrible error in judgment over his statement about indigenous people and did bear it the rest of his days but he did not have a history of such remarks just the one and he carried right to the end.

It should also be noted we actually tried to sign Nicky Winmar when he was president and we received 90 which will go down as 1 of our greatest flags ever no doubt about that,godspeed mr president.
 
Sad news.
A great Woodsman.
Wore his heart on his sleeve and for all his faults everything he did he did for the Pies.
 
Right up their with Ed, great president through the drought breaking 1990 flag era.
R.I.P big Al.
 

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R.I.P Allen you helped get that premiership that l was starting to think that it would never arrive, rest easy, job well done
 
Great Collingwood club man. Fantastic contributor to the history of the club. Fond memories of Big Al as president.

I have great respect for him as an administrator, always looking out for the best interests of the club. Even when he left, he gave the club clean air to move on.

To think he had Lockett signed sealed and delivered only for the board to veto it. What a legend.

Thank you for your service, and again 1990.

Rest In Peace
 
Saintly Viewed said:
Condolences to family and The Collingwood family.

Allan certainly was a fascinating character study.

I’ll start by saying the two greatest things Allan McAlister did was, one, bring Leigh Matthews to Collingwood and, two, support him.

From this our 1990 premiership arrived.

Allan started his Collingwood committee work if I’m not mistaken from the New Magpies, as treasurer.

From the ashes of the New Magpies, somehow he scraped through and then ascended to the presidency.

He was extremely adept at being visual and being the face of Collingwood. The media lapped it up. No doubt the little folding seat on the boundary gave him great exposure, and constantly, to the Collingwood masses.

He wanted to bring in John Kennedy Snr as our coach after all the dramas at the end of the Hafey time, with the idea he would mentor the next Coach. (Coach succession plan before it was fashionable.) his idea was John Kennedy followed by either in time Leigh Matthews or Don Scott. (It became clear around the time Don Scott couldn’t coach. That’s another story.)

Allan actually got agreement from John senior and it was set to happen but the Board over ruled him.
Allan told the tale once, when I was there, how he had to go back to Kanga (John Kennedy) that the Board over ruled. Kennedy was fantastic about it all. Just accepted it as part of football.
Allan also said, how good would it have been with Kennedy followed by Matthews.

We won the flag and it was all by the good decisions made in my view at the time.

Allan was no stranger to controversy. Being Collingwood that was always part of the deal.

Unfortunately, comments made by McAlister during the sensitive time of indigenous Australians in our game, didn’t help his legacy. Collingwood and the outer, and Nicky Winmar’s responses captured by the media all left our Club in a lesser light. McAlister said words to the affect “if they behaved like everyone else...”
Very poor words that smacked of old white Australia.

I do not believe he had any malicious intent, I actually think he jumbled his words, but it revealed an old fashioned Australian view. Australia was moving forward. He was a bit behind. Over the years I’d think he reflected and became better in understanding of such sensitivity.

As his time was ending for his presidency, he moved Leigh Matthews on for Tony Shaw. A mistake in my view, though Leigh was understanding. He has spoken about it, saying he knew his time was up.
I believe Allan wanted the coaching resolved for the next president, so he’d go in clean.
Kevin Rose took over the mantle for three years before a young Ed McGuire kindly “shoved” him aside.

Allan spent less time at the football and the club is my understanding. He didn’t feel he should be a distraction and perhaps just wanted to fade from public view.

He certainly got interested in harness racing going to the trots as his then preferred pastime of pleasure.

There’s so much more, investments and Magpie Land but others can comment on that.

In his stint at Collingwood his positives I’d venture outweighed his negatives.

He loved Collingwood and did run things well overall.

His passing should be noted by our Club and he deserves our thanks for his great contribution to our Coub.

Vale.
Click to expand...

Saintly, the version I heard was John Kennedy snr suggested to Al, he was wasting his time pursuing him to coach when the best coach currently not coaching in the competttion was under their nose. Bob Rose. The rest is history. Though it did take Bob some convincing to do it again.
 
The Kennedy business was detailed in his book “Big Al”. He pursued Kennedy for weeks and eventually won him over only for the board to overrule it.
Then, after he had to go and tell Kennedy there was no job for him after all, the board decided they DID want Kennedy as coach and sent Al back to offer him the job again. Not surprising that Kennedy politely declined after all that.
 
Pacman Carney said:
Saintly, the version I heard was John Kennedy snr suggested to Al, he was wasting his time pursuing him to coach when the best coach currently not coaching in the competttion was under their nose. Bob Rose. The rest is history. Though it did take Bob some convincing to do it again.
Click to expand...
I do recall something like that actually.
Though they really wanted Kennedy.
Kennedy to Matthews would have been perfect though Leigh did the business all the same.

Bob Rose was so respected within football.
Great shame he didn’t coach a flag.
Lost three grand finals by 4 points, 1 point, 10 points.
That’s wow.
 
Rest in Peace.
Thank you for your outstanding service Allan.
Peace and blessings to the family.
 
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