Geoff Whitton (born 1 February 1942) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

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).

Early career

Whitton played his early football at Tasmanian club Sandy Bay and he won a

William Leitch Medal The William Leitch Medal, named after the highly regarded former Australian rules player and Tasmanian Football Administrator William Douglas Leitch (1863-1943), was an annual award which was presented to the best and fairest player in the TANFL/ ...

while playing for them in 1963. He was then a member of Sandy Bay's 1964 premiership team and represented Tasmania at the

1966 Hobart Carnival The 1966 Hobart Carnival was the 16th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It was the final time that Tasmania hosted a carnival. It was competed by two Victorian sides, one ...

. He also polled well in the club Best and Fairest award, winning in 1963 and 1964, and finishing third in 1966.''The Mercury'', 3 September 1966

Melbourne

A ruckman, he spent two seasons at Melbourne but struggled to break into the seniors and could only manage eight appearances.

Return to Sandy Bay

Later on, Whitton turned to coaching and came out of the wilderness to spend a brief but successful stint in 1990 at Sandy Bay in the TFL Statewide League. He took over a struggling Seagull outfit after the mid-season sacking of

Shane Williams Shane Mark Williams, (born 26 February 1977) is a Welsh rugby union player most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He also played scrum-half on occasion. Williams is the record tr ...

, taking them to the finals and eventually bowing out to eventual premier Hobart in the First Semi Final after looking particularly dangerous until then. Whitton stood down as coach immediately following that loss and has had no involvement in football since.

References

* *Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitton, Geoff 1942 births Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Melbourne Football Club players Sandy Bay Football Club players Sandy Bay Football Club coaches William Leitch Medal winners Living people