Graham Fraser Campbell (22 July 1936 – 30 January 2022) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played 151 games for the

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of City of Fitzroy, Fitzroy, the club is base ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

from 1956 until 1964.

Playing career

In his playing days Campbell was both a

rover Rover may refer to: People Name * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Stage name * Rover (musician), French singer-songw ...

and

half-forward In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-forward line refers to a position on the field of play. 3 players are positioned in the half-forward line, a left and right half-forward flank player, as well as a centre half-forward. A hal ...

, at his peak in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

when he won Fitzroy's Best & Fairest award, the Mitchell Medal. He was a handy and consistent goal-kicker for the Lions, kicking at least 18 goals in all but his first and last season. Although the club had limited success in this era he did play in a Preliminary Final with the club in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and in their Night Premiership side (Pre-season premiership) in

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

Coaching career

Campbell later turned to coaching and after a stint with the reserves he got his first taste of the big time when he was briefly Fitzroy's caretaker coach following

Graham Donaldson Graham Donaldson (20 June 1935 – 31 August 2001) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League. Donaldson made his debut for the Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a profession ...

's resignation in 1974. The next year he joined West Perth and coached them to the 1975 WAFL premiership. He was coach of West Perth until 1977 before returning to Fitzroy where was appointed their senior coach. It started well for Campbell as he steered the Lions to another Night Premiership but the 1978 season would be his only year in charge as the Lions finished out of the finals in ninth position. When Percy Johnson was fired as West Perth coach during the middle of the 1979 season Campbell was brought back and he stayed until the end of the 1981 season. However, he had no further success at West Perth with the club failing to make the final four in any of the years from 1979 to 1981. Ross Gibbs debuted for West Perth in 1979 and he later played under Campbell again at Glenelg. From 1983 to 1984, he was coach of

Glenelg Football Club The Glenelg Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or the Bays, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Their home ground is Stratarama Stadium (formerly Glenelg Oval), located in the so ...

in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

. Campbell's career in Adelaide got off to a bad start as Glenelg lost their first eight games of the 1983 season. He was actually sacked by the club at one point during this run, but was re-appointed the following day. After losing their first eight games, the Tigers started to return to the form which had seen them play in the previous two Grand Finals as they made a bid for the finals. Their run was halted with a 74-point loss to eventual premiers West Adelaide in Round 21 (of 22 rounds). Campbell continued as Glenelg coach in 1984 with the team improving to finish a strong 3rd, but he wasn't retained at the end of the year, bringing the curtain down on a 28-year career in league football. He was replaced as coach by former Glenelg champion player

Graham Cornes Graham Studley Cornes OAM (born 31 March 1948 in Melbourne, Victoria) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, as well as a media personality. From 1995 until early 2013, Cornes co-hosted a weekday drivetime sports program that he ho ...

Television career

A natural speaker with the "gift of the gab", Campbell stayed in Adelaide and put his vast football knowledge to good use, spending the next few years as an analyst for various Adelaide based television stations covering the SANFL.

Personal life and death

Campbell died after a long illness in Adelaide, on 30 January 2022, at the age of 85.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Graham 1936 births 2022 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Fitzroy Football Club coaches Fitzroy Football Club players Glenelg Football Club coaches Mitchell Medal winners West Perth Football Club coaches