Barry Vincent Ion (born 9 October 1941) is a former Australian rules footballer and radio personality. He played with Footscray in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). I ...

(VFL),

Yarraville Yarraville is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Yarraville recorded a population of 15,636 at the . Yarravi ...

in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). I ...

(VFA), and Woodville 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 governing body for the sport. Originally formed as th ...

(SANFL). He became a well known radio personality in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

and Sydney. Ion started in radio early, commentating football matches for Melbourne radio in 1960, while also playing with the Carlton Rovers. He joined his elder brother, Graham Ion, at Footscray in 1961 and played with him in the

1961 VFL Grand Final The 1961 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Footscray Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 23 September 1961. It was the 64th annual Grand Final ...

, as a half back flanker. The grand final was just his sixth league game, having played just four home and away matches before the finals series.AFL Tables: Barry Ion
/ref> He made 29 appearances over the next two seasons, but then struggled with injuries, playing just five more games. In 1966 he joined

in the

; he wasn't able to play Saturday games as he was calling football for radio station

3KZ Gold 104.3 (call sign: 3KKZ) is a radio station broadcasting in Melbourne, Australia. Gold 104.3 is part of the Pure Gold Network (which itself is a part of the Australian Radio Network) and broadcasts on the 104.3 MHz frequency. History 3KZ ...

, but he still polled sufficient votes to finish third in the

J. J. Liston Trophy The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded annually to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football Association). It is named after J.J. Liston, a businessman, civic leader and sports administrato ...

for the year. He moved to Adelaide in 1967 and spent two seasons playing for Woodville. While in Adelaide, Ion began working for 5AD and formed a radio breakfast duo with Tony Pilkington called "Bazz and Pilko". They were the highest-rated radio show in Australia during the 1970s and early 1980s, commanding nearly 40% of the radio market in Adelaide. Ion voiced a character called "Peter Plus". He joined 5KA in 1983, where he continued to work with Pilkington. In 1985 the duo brought their breakfast show to Sydney station

2UW KIIS 1065 (call sign: 2WFM) is a commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on ARN's KIIS Network. The station's headline show is ''The Kyle and Jackie O Show''. ...

where they remained until late 1991.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ion, Barry 1941 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Western Bulldogs players Yarraville Football Club players Woodville Football Club players Australian radio personalities Living people