Matthew Connell (born 3 August 1972) 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 in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

for the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

and

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

. Educated at Newman College, he has now returned there as a teacher. Drafted by West Coast from Western Australian Football League (WAFL) club Subiaco with pick 29 of the 1991 AFL Draft, Connell played three games for West Coast in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

without making an impact. Transferring to Adelaide in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, Connell had a brilliant season, winning the Crows

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 ...

and a position in the Western Australian State of Origin side. In

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Connell suffered a thigh injury early in the season and when he returned he could not recapture his 1995 form. Connell played in Adelaide's

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Premierships before retiring at the end of the

2000 AFL season The 2000 AFL season was the 104th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 16 clubs and ran from 8 March until 2 September, comprising a 22- ...

. He coached the Great Britain Bulldogs Australian rules football team in the 2005 International Cup, held in Melbourne, guiding the team to a 6th place finish.

Playing statistics

:Matthew Connell's player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 42 , , 3 , , 0 , , 1 , , 17 , , 1 , , 18 , , 5 , , 0 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 5.7 , , 0.3 , , 6.0 , , 1.7 , , 0.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 42 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 21 , , 6 , , 9 , , 329 , , 152 , , 481 , , 109 , , 18 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 15.7 , , 7.2 , , 22.9 , , 5.2 , , 0.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 14 , , 4 , , 3 , , 171 , , 99 , , 270 , , 46 , , 14 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 12.2 , , 7.1 , , 19.3 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 17 , , 6 , , 0 , , 215 , , 62 , , 277 , , 71 , , 25 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 12.6 , , 3.6 , , 16.3 , , 4.2 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 21 , , 7 , , 3 , , 232 , , 87 , , 319 , , 77 , , 27 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 11.0 , , 4.1 , , 15.2 , , 3.7 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 10 , , 2 , , 3 , , 141 , , 38 , , 179 , , 39 , , 9 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 14.1 , , 3.8 , , 17.9 , , 3.9 , , 0.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 13 , , 3 , , 2 , , 196 , , 60 , , 256 , , 84 , , 11 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 15.1 , , 4.6 , , 19.7 , , 6.5 , , 0.8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 99 ! 28 ! 21 ! 1301 ! 499 ! 1800 ! 431 ! 104 ! 0.3 ! 0.2 ! 13.1 ! 5.0 ! 18.2 ! 4.4 ! 1.1

Honors

* 1995 Adelaide best and fairest * 1997 premiership player * 1998 premiership player

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Connell, Matthew West Coast Eagles players Adelaide Football Club players Adelaide Football Club premiership players Subiaco Football Club players Malcolm Blight Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Western Australia 1972 births People educated at Newman College, Perth Living people Western Australian State of Origin players VFL/AFL premiership players