Vale former coach

[gokangas]

Vale Brian Dixon, Melbourne champion and former roos coach.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/melbourne-football-club-great-and-groundbreaking-politician-brian-dixon-dies-aged-89/news-story/82c415ca4a78c73046b9a68c48400b0d

 

[gokangas]

Melbourne Football club great and ground-breaking politician Brian Dixon dies, aged 89​

Brian Dixon, one of the Melbourne Football Club’s greatest players and a ground-breaking politician of almost 20 years, has died, aged 89. Glenn McFarlane remembers the hall-of-famer.
Glenn McFarlane


4 min read
July 10, 2025 - 7:54PM


Brian Dixon, one of the Melbourne Football Club’s greatest players and a ground-breaking politician of almost 20 years, has died, aged 89.
A pivotal member of the club’s greatest era in the 1950s and early ‘60s, Dixon played in five premierships under legendary coach Norm Smith in a stellar career across 252 games and 15 seasons.
He won a best and fairest in a flag-winning season (1960), secured All-Australian selection and a Tassie Medal (1961), was selected on the wing in Melbourne’s Team of the Century and was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
Years after his playing days were over he staged an important role in Melbourne’s anti-merger campaign during the 1996 season.
Dixon also spent 18 years in state parliament as a “moderate” Liberal, representing St Kilda from 1964 to 1982, with former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett saying on Thursday his former colleague was “years ahead” of his time in his commitment to important initiatives including health and road safety.
He played a significant role in Victoria’s world-first seat-belt legislation in the early 1970s and introduced the highly-successful ‘Life Be In It’ campaign in 1975.

Melbourne great Brian Dixon has died aged 89.

The premiership hero with wife Carmel at the AFL Hall of Fame Induction Dinner.
Melbourne president Brad Green said: “Brian was a great of our club and someone who has left a lasting mark, not just on Melbourne, but on the game as a whole.”
“He was a five-time premiership player, a life member, a Hall of Fame inductee, and was honoured in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, recognition reserved for the very best our game has seen.
“Brian’s football achievements speak for themselves, but his love for the club was just as significant. He was proud of our history, and helped shape it, both through his on the field success and his connection to the club in the years that followed.

“On behalf of everyone at the Melbourne Football Club, I want to extend our condolences to his wife Carmel, and to Brian’s family and friends.”
Kennett said Dixon, in conjunction with then police surgeon Dr John Birrell, worked to mandate seat-belts, which played a huge part in reducing Victoria’s road toll at the time, and he paved the way for the community to become more active with popular fitness and health campaigns.

Dixon played 252 games.
He also strongly opposed the execution of Ronald Ryan – the last Victorian prisoner to be hanged in 1967 – and clashed repeatedly with then Premier Henry Bolte.
“There are few politicians who, it can be said, were ahead of their time,” Mr Kennett said.
“Not only was he a wonderful footballer, but Brian, together with Dr John Birrell, who was the police surgeon at the time, was responsible for introducing seat belts (in Victoria).”
“The seat-belt legislation was a world-first, and Victoria is still seen to be the leading state in relation to road safety.
“Then the ‘Life Be In It’ campaign, through Vic Health, still has a life today.
“Very few politicians can be remembered for anything more than their own local contribution. But Brian’s contribution had international ramifications.”

Dixon, middle with Barry Bourke and Ron Barrassi at the 1964 Melbourne premiership reunion.

Dixon appealing to Joseph Gutnick at a meeting of Melbourne supporters at the MCG regarding the merger with Hawthorn in 1996.
Having joined the Demons from Melbourne High School, Dixon played his first senior game for the club in 1954 and swiftly established himself as one of the best wingmen of his era.
He played in a losing grand final in his debut season but missed the Demons’ 1955 premiership a year later after he was dropped by his coach for playing in a university game against his expressed wishes just before the finals.
He would recall years later in The Australian: “I played for the Commerce faculty against Dentistry in the grand final, I’d left my gear behind so I couldn’t play but a fellow called Rex Thompson had a car, which was unusual in those days, he drove me home to Nunawading from Melbourne University and I got my gear and played.”
“When Norm heard about it he said ‘I told you to look after yourself, you didn’t’ and I was dropped”.
Twelve months later Dixon won the first of what would be five VFL premierships with Melbourne, with his flags coming in 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960 and 1964.
He played in seven grand finals – including losing ones in 1954 and 1958.

Dixon was elected to state parliament in 1964.
Dixon scored a unique double in 1964 when he won his fifth flag with Melbourne and was also elected to state parliament.
“My main memory of the (1964 grand final) goes back to the last five minutes,” Dixon told this reporter five years ago.
“I was fortunate enough to take a mark (late in the game) and kicked it forward towards (Neil) ‘Froggy’ Crompton who had followed the (Collingwood) rover down, and he kicked that goal. If it hadn’t been for Neil’s goal, we wouldn’t have won it.
“There was tension late in the game, so it was fantastic to win.”
Dixon retired after the 1968 season but went on to coach lowly North Melbourne for two seasons from 1971-72 before his former Melbourne teammate Ron Barassi took over.
Dixon proudly watched on from his home in Jamieson in 2021 when the modern-day Demons ended a 57-year premiership drought, with a victory over the Bulldogs in Perth.
He said at the time: “We would have looked on in disbelief if someone had said after 1964 that we wouldn’t win another flag in 57 years.”

 

[Groucho]

Only won 4 games in his two seasons as our coach but he was one of us

 

[zoomba23]

Only won 4 games in his two seasons as our coach but he was one of us

He promoted early 2020s North before it was cool :/

 

[Bertie22]

Only won 4 games in his two seasons as our coach but he was one of us

And brought on youngsters who would be solid role players a few years later like Cowton, Feltham, Henshaw, Gumbleton.

 

[Gumble Frankieton]

I remember my brother telling me about meeting Brian at some publicans function he’d somehow inveigled his way into. They had a good chat about North and his time there, and about how he felt proud about bringing through such a lot of young talent, though he wasn’t able to benefit from it.

 

[giantroo]

Vale Brian Dixon

Former North Melbourne coach and Melbourne player Brian Dixon has died, aged 89

www.nmfc.com.au

 

[Frank Thring]

Only won 4 games in his two seasons as our coach but he was one of us

He was the Schimma of the early 70's. Blooded a lot of the younger players who went onto to win a flag or 2.