Australian Football

From Crib Point, Alan Mannix made his senior VFL debut with Footscray in 1965, while still aged just 17. Equally at home on a wing or a half forward flank, he was a capable all round footballer in 112 games in which he registered 44 goals. A career highlight was playing in the Bulldogs’ 1967 night premiership-winning team.

The 1973 season saw Mannix embarking on the second, and arguably most eventful, phase of his career with VFA first division club Coburg. So keen was he to make the move that he paid the $500 clearance fee out of his own pocket. His first season with the Lions was inordinately disappointing in that, despite winning five and drawing two games, they ended up in last place and were therefore relegated to second division.

Coburg made light of this indignity in 1974 by earning an immediate return to the top division by means of a 56 point grand final win over Brunswick, with Alan Mannix lining up in the centre. He went on to play 110 VFA games for Coburg, making him one of very few footballers to have played in excess of 100 games in both the VFL and the VFA. Twice voted the Lions’ best and fairest player, he skippered them in 1977, and finished third in the 1975 Liston Trophy voting. His impact at Coburg was later recognised by his inclusion on a wing in the club’s official ‘Team of the Century’.

Mannix’s final port of call as a player was struggling VFA second division side Werribee where he won another club best and fairest award in 1979, and served as captain-coach the following year.

Author - John Devaney