Australian Football

A tough, aggressive defender who sometimes got into hot water over his excessively vigorous approach, Vasil Varlamos was a highly respected clubman at Carlton in 44 VFL games between 1960 and 1964. Included among his appearances was a place on the bench as 19th man in the 1962 grand final, in which the Blues lowered their colours to Essendon.

However, the most noteworthy phase of Varlamos’ career came after he transferred to Waverley in 1965. The Panthers were relative newcomers on the VFA scene and they surprised almost everyone that year by getting as far as the first division grand final. Opposed by a finals hardened Port Melbourne outfit, they were widely expected to falter at this final hurdle. However, after looking outclassed early on they recovered magnificently, and went on to achieve a 14.13 to 10.25 triumph. A key factor in their victory was Vasil Varlamos’ feat of totally blanketing Borough centre half forward and captain-coach Laurie Mithen, who had been a match winner in the previous week’s preliminary final defeat of Dandenong.

Varlamos carried on as a player for one further season, and once again Waverley made it through to a grand final date with Port Melbourne, but on this occasion the Borough proved too strong. His time with the Panthers had seen him play 21 games in total. He also represented the VFA at the 1966 Hobart carnival.

Author - John Devaney