Graham Ion (born 12 October 1940) is a former

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 with Footscray 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 ...

(VFL). Ion made his league debut at just 17 years of age, against

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Western Oval Whitten Oval (also known as Mission Whitten Oval under a naming rights agreement) is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquart ...

in 1958.AFL Tables: Graham Ion
/ref> It was his only game of the season, but he was a regular member of the team from 1959. A key forward despite his small stature, he kicked 27 goals in 1961 to finish third in Footscray's goal-kicking. He played all 21 games that year, including the 1961 VFL Grand Final loss, where he played at centre half-forward. When

Ted Whitten Edward James Whitten Sr. Order of Australia, OAM (27 July 1933 – 17 August 1995) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL). Bo ...

was away playing interstate football, Ion captained Footscray in their round 13 fixture against

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

- he was only 20 years old at the time. His brother, Barry Ion, was also in the Footscray side that day. In 1962 he again played every game for Footscray, and also kicked three goals in an appearance for the VFL representative team which defeated Western Australia. He played 14 games in 1963, but just nine the following season as he was out of action for eight weeks due to an appendix operation. His final season, in 1965, was interrupted by a four-week suspension for striking Geelong's Ian Scott, but they were the only games he missed that year. After leaving Footscray he captain-coached Deniliquin Football Club to the 1966

Murray Football League The Murray Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league affiliated with the Victorian Country Football League. The league covers a large area of northern Victoria and southern New South Wales from Shepparton in ...

premiership and won the 1967

O’Dwyer Medal. Ion coached

South West Football League (New South Wales) The South West District Football League was a major Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 until 1981 in the Riverina region of New South Wales. History The first recorded Australian Rules Football match in the Riverina area wa ...

club, Turvey Park Football Club from 1969 to 1972. Turvey Park were runners up in the 1970 grand final. Ion then coached Mangoplah Cookardinia FC from 1973 to 1975. Mangoplah were runners up in 1974 in the Farrer Football League.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ion, Graham 1940 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Western Bulldogs players Deniliquin Football Club players Living people 20th-century Australian sportsmen