Nicholas Sautner (born 19 June 1977) is an
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, best known for his
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) football career with the
Sandringham Zebras. He also played for
Frankston in 2001 and 2002 and the
Northern Bullants
The Northern Bullants are a semi-professional Australian rules football club that currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The club, which is based in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, plays its home games at Preston City Ov ...
in 2003.
He won the
Jim 'Frosty' Miller Medal
The Jim 'Frosty' Miller Medal is awarded to the Victorian Football League player who kicks the most goals in home-and-away matches in that year. The is named in honour of Jim 'Frosty' Miller, who was the leading goalkicker of the Victorian Footbal ...
for leading goalkicker in the VFL a record nine times, breaking the record held by the eponymous
Jim 'Frosty' Miller
Jim or JIM may refer to:
Names
* Jim (given name), a given name
* Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James
* Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy
People and horses
* Jim, the nickname of Yelkanum Seclamatan (died April 1911), Nat ...
of six. He was league leading goalkicker a record six consecutive seasons (1999 to 2004), breaking the record of four consecutive seasons held by George Taylor (1920–1923) and Miller (1968–1971), and won the award nine times in 11 consecutive seasons (1999 to 2009).
Career overview
Sautner began his VFL career in 1996 with the
Springvale Football Club
The Casey Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, Victoria, Cranbourne East.
The club, which was previously known as the Springvale Football Club (1903–2005) ...
, playing as a defender, but he never managed a senior game for Springvale. He moved to Sandringham in 1997, where he played in a premiership side in 1997. Two years later, Sautner kicked 89 goals and won the inaugural Jim "Frosty" Miller Medal as the competition's leading goalkicker.
The 2000 season saw the VFL become affiliated with the professional
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 ...
and Sandringham affiliated with the
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...
. Sautner kicked 70 goals and won the Frosty Miller Medal again as part of the Zebras' premiership team.
Sautner switched teams in 2001 when he moved to bayside rival Frankston and again in 2003 when he was lured to the Northern Bullants. He played a total of 58 games with those clubs, and he was the league's leading goalkicker again in all three seasons, including his career-best 93 goals in the 2002 season with Frankston.
He returned to Sandringham in 2004 and won the Frosty Miller medal for the sixth consecutive time, a VFL record, as well as winning a third premiership with the Zebras. In the following two seasons, Sautner won two more premierships, bringing his total to five (a Sandringham record), but his streak of Frosty Miller medals was broken by
James Podsiadly
James Podsiadly (born 10 September 1981) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the Geelong Football Club and the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by as a mature-a ...
in 2005.
Between 2007 and 2009, Sautner won another three Frosty Miller Medals, bringing his total to nine, a VFA/VFL record as of 2022.
Sautner announced his retirement from VFL football in January 2011. Sautner played with
Collegians
Collegians are an Australian rugby league football team based in Wollongong, New South Wales, Wollongong. The club are a part of Country Rugby League and compete in the Illawarra Rugby League premiership.
Originally known as CBC Old Boys, the c ...
in the
Victorian Amateur Football Association
The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded in 1892, it consists of six senior divisions, ranging from Premier to Division 3 i ...
in 2011 and 2012, winning premierships in both seasons.
Post-football career
After retiring from football, Sautner has held numerous sports administration positions. In June 2016, Sautner was announced as the General Manager Commercial at
Eden Park
Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
.
Sautner Returns to Sport with Role at Eden Park, NZ
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Nick Sautner was appointed CEO of Eden Park Stadium 1st November 2017.
References
External links
Sautner announces VFL Retirement
Personal Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sautner, Nick
1977 births
Sandringham Football Club players
Frankston Football Club players
Northern Bullants players
Collegians Football Club players
Living people
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)