AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game
Full name
Peter Phillipou
Known as
Peter Phillipou
Senior clubs
West Torrens
Recruited from
West Torrens (1974); Eastlake (1977)
Family links
Sam Phillipou (Son)
Club | League | Career span | Games | Goals | Avg | Win % | AKI | AHB | AMK | BV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
West Torrens | SANFL | 1967-1973, 1977-1984 | 272 | 124 | 0.46 | — | — | — | — | — |
Eastlake (Original) | CANFL | 1974-1976 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Total | 1967-1984 | 332 | 124 | 0.37 | — | — | — | — | — |
Peter Phillipou’s class as a footballer is shown by his accomplishment in winning the 1974 Mulrooney Medal while playing in Canberra with Eastlake, despite not commencing his season until June. Phillipou’s 60 game, three-season stint with Eastlake came in the middle of a career which also saw him play a total of 272 SANFL games for West Torrens between 1967 and 1973 and from 1977 to 1984. Eastlake’s 1974 Annual Report described Phillipou as “an elusive mover” whose “main attributes were a high mark, plenty of pace and anticipation and an ability to kick to position accurately with either foot”.
A half forward flanker early in his career, Phillipou’s mobility and canniness made him ideally suited to an on-ball role, which he occupied with distinction for most of the 1970s. An interstate representative for South Australia in 1970, he also played representative football for the ACT on every possible occasion during his three seasons in the capital. Peter Phillipou, who gloried in the nickname ‘Flipper’, captained both West Torrens and Eastlake, and was a member of the Eastlake team which trounced Manuka by 69 points to lift the 1976 ACTAFL premiership. When the all time ACT Legends team was announced in 1999, Phillipou was named in the centre.
Author - John Devaney