Malcolm Gregory "Mal" Brown (born 26 October 1946) 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 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 ...

and

West Australian National Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

. He is described as "one of the most colourful and controversial characters" of the game. He was a highly controversial character not only for his many visits to the tribunal during his playing career but also for a number of incidents when coaching as well.

Career

Brown played in the WAFL (West Australian Football League ) for

East Perth East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Town of Claremont, Perth * Claremont Airbase, an ...

and South Fremantle. His honours as a player include the

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant an ...

in 1969 and three

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

s at East Perth (1969, 70, 72). He was made captain/coach of East Perth in 1970 and in this capacity he led them to their 1972 premiership. At the celebrations after the game as captain he was invited to drinks with the club hierarchy. Upon requesting that the rest of the team be able to join them, and being denied, he hence took the team to the nearby Norwood Hotel for their own celebration, to the displeasure of the club president, F.D. Book. The end of this season also saw him lead East Perth as they competed in the

1972 Championship of Australia The 1972 Championship of Australia was the 16th edition of the Championship of Australia, an ANFC-organised national club Australian rules football tournament between the champion clubs from the VFL, the SANFL, the WANFL and the Tasmanian Sta ...

. In a match against Carlton he got into several fights taking a dislike to their treatment of some of his team mates. Brown moved to play in the VFL with the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

for the 1974 season. This earned him recognition in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, where he was considered a highly controversial character. He played 14 games and booted 25 goals as a ruck-rover for the Tigers, but did not play in the 1974 Grand Final due to suspension for throwing the ball at an umpire. He returned to Western Australia in 1975 and was appointed the player-coach for Claremont. He was banned from holding an official position with the club in 1976 after he sent a previously replaced player back out on the field, before

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

players were allowed, and he was replaced as coach by

Graham Moss Graham Frank Moss (born 14 May 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the Claremont Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). A L ...

in 1977. He moved to play and coach at South Fremantle, the club he supported as a child, and after retiring as a player during 1977, he coached South to a premiership in 1980.South Fremantle Football Club History
/ref> In 1985, after eight years in charge at South Fremantle, he moved to coach

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. He stayed there for 3 years before retiring to join the WAFL Commission. He returned to coach South Fremantle for one more year in 1992 before retiring from coaching for the last time. In 1994 he co-authored a book titled ''Mal Brown & Mongrels I've met!'' with Brian Hansen. He was a regular panelist on '' The Footy Show'' In 2004, Brown was inducted into the

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise significant contributors to Australian rules football in Western Australia. Candidates are players, coaches, umpires, administrators and media representatives. The induct ...

.Hall of Fame Inductees
/ref>

Personal life

Brown is the father of former Hawthorn and

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

player Campbell.

Notes

References

* Hogan P: ''The Tigers of Old'', Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996

External links

* * *
WAFL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Mal Living people 1946 births East Perth Football Club players Richmond Football Club players Claremont Football Club players South Fremantle Football Club players Sandover Medal winners All-Australians (1953–1988) East Perth Football Club coaches Claremont Football Club coaches South Fremantle Football Club coaches Perth Football Club coaches Australian rules footballers from Western Australia West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees People educated at Scotch College, Perth