Stephen Silvagni (born 31 May 1967) 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 for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

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 ...

(AFL). Coming second in three generations of Silvagnis to represent the Blues, he is regarded as one of the greatest ever full-backs to play the game and was named as full-back in the

AFL Team of the Century 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 is an inductee in the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

. Prior to 1985 he captained the undefeated Marcellin College 1st XVIII that won both the 1984 Associated Grammar Schools premiership, and the coveted Herald Shield Cup then played under lights at

Waverley Park Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) is an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. The first venue to be designed and built specifically for Australian Rules football, for most of its history, its pu ...

. He is widely known by his nickname, "SOS" (pronounced "Soss"), standing for "Son of Serge", referring to his father, Sergio Silvagni, another great Carlton player. After retiring from playing, Silvagni has worked as an

assistant coach An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ul ...

and list manager at several AFL clubs. He is the former list manager of Carlton Football Club. On January 27, 2023, St Kilda Football Club confirmed the appointment of Stephen Silvagni as their new list manager.

Playing career

Carlton

Silvagni was drafted to Carlton under the

father–son rule The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule ...

, being the son of former Carlton Blues champion Sergio Silvagni and it was scarcely a surprise when he followed in his father's footsteps and made his Carlton debut, aged 17, in 1985. He is widely known by his nickname, "SOS" (pronounced "Soss"), standing for "Son of Serge", Silvagni was a highly energetic, resourceful footballer who was regarded as one of the finest full backs. He could also do a job in the forward lines, however, and some of his most memorable displays came after he was thrown into attack in an effort to bolster the team's performance. Silvagni's defensive skills were renowned and earned him the status as a true clubman at Carlton. In 1996's AFL Team of the Century, Silvagni had the honour of being named at full-back. He retained the title as the best full-back for four years in succession, although he was also known for his marking and goalkicking ability when playing at the opposite end of the ground in the full-forward position at times, even kicking a bag of 10 goals in Round 16, 1993 against the Fitzroy Lions. Possibly his finest game was in the

1995 AFL Grand Final The 1995 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Geelong Football Club and Carlton Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 30 September 1995. It was the 99th annual grand final of ...

where he kept

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

legend Gary Ablett goalless for the entire game. In addition to Silvagni's blanketing tactics, he was also a renowned high-flyer, taking out the Mark of the Year in 1988. However, when one such mark led to an ankle injury, the high-flying aspect of his game largely disappeared. Silvagni retired from his playing career at the end of the 2001 season, after he announced that he was taking specialist advice to call it a day after 16 seasons. A year after his retirement at the end of the 2001 season he announced that he would make a comeback to assist Carlton, following their penalties for

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

infringements. He however changed his mind soon after and was not a listed player for the 2003 season. Silvagni also played as goalkeeper for the Australian International Rules team on several occasions, and won the inaugural Jim Stynes Medal in 1998. Silvagni was a five time

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

, being selected in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999. Silvagni played for

from 1985 until 2001 for a total of 312 games and kicked a total of 202 goals. Silvangi was also a member of Carlton's 1987 and 1995 premiership sides

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Silvagni worked as an

at four AFL clubs between 2002 and 2010: Collingwood,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

and St Kilda.

Sports Administration career

Greater Western Sydney

In 2011, Silvagni took on the role of list manager with the fledgling

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS or Giants) are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney Olympic Park which repres ...

.Greater Western Sydney's list manager Stephen Silvagni ready for national draft
/ref>

Carlton

He returned to Carlton as list manager in 2014. He was notably active in recruiting former GWS players to Carlton, with nine former GWS players shifting to Carlton in Silvagni's first three recruiting years. Stephen departed the Carlton Football Club, when he left his role as list manager on 4 December 2019, following the

2019 AFL season The 2019 AFL season was the 123rd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season feature ...

. On 21 October 2020, nearly a year after Silvagni's departure from the Carlton Football Club in his role as list manager, Silvagni gave an interview on SEN radio station and he was critical of the club's administrators of Carlton Football Club President Mark LoGiudice and Carlton Football Club CEO Cain Liddle during his time at the club in his tenure as the list manager. Silvagni then described his tenure at the club as a "messy" situation because of the falling out with the club's management.

St Kilda

On 27 January 2023, Silvagni was appointed to the role of list manager at

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

Statistics

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1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 17 , , 1 , , 0 , , 133 , , 61 , , 194 , , 61 , , , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 7.8 , , 3.6 , , 11.4 , , 3.6 , , , , 4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 13 , , 9 , , 8 , , 87 , , 42 , , 129 , , 45 , , , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 6.7 , , 3.2 , , 9.9 , , 3.5 , , , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

† , style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 15 , , 24 , , 9 , , 99 , , 54 , , 153 , , 50 , , 21 , , 1.6 , , 0.6 , , 6.6 , , 3.6 , , 10.2 , , 3.3 , , 1.4 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 24 , , 12 , , 12 , , 187 , , 99 , , 286 , , 74 , , 31 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 7.8 , , 4.1 , , 11.9 , , 3.1 , , 1.3 , , 9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 6 , , 8 , , 8 , , 50 , , 18 , , 68 , , 24 , , 10 , , 1.3 , , 1.3 , , 8.3 , , 3.0 , , 11.3 , , 4.0 , , 1.7 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 22 , , 5 , , 7 , , 206 , , 142 , , 348 , , 109 , , 51 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 9.4 , , 6.5 , , 15.8 , , 5.0 , , 2.3 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 9 , , 3 , , 4 , , 92 , , 68 , , 160 , , 48 , , 18 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 10.2 , , 7.6 , , 17.8 , , 5.3 , , 2.0 , , 6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 12 , , 28 , , 12 , , 70 , , 34 , , 104 , , 43 , , 11 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , 5.8 , , 2.8 , , 8.7 , , 3.6 , , 0.9 , , 5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 22 , , 20 , , 14 , , 185 , , 118 , , 303 , , 91 , , 32 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 8.4 , , 5.4 , , 13.8 , , 4.1 , , 1.5 , , 6 , - ! 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;", , 1 , , 24 , , 4 , , 3 , , 170 , , 133 , , 303 , , 76 , , 40 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 7.1 , , 5.5 , , 12.6 , , 3.2 , , 1.7 , , 6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",

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 ...

† , style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 24 , , 7 , , 8 , , 213 , , 91 , , 304 , , 82 , , 29 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 8.9 , , 3.8 , , 12.7 , , 3.4 , , 1.2 , , 1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 24 , , 6 , , 4 , , 173 , , 92 , , 265 , , 75 , , 44 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 7.2 , , 3.8 , , 11.0 , , 3.1 , , 1.8 , , 5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 18 , , 25 , , 13 , , 156 , , 66 , , 222 , , 76 , , 20 , , 1.4 , , 0.7 , , 8.7 , , 3.7 , , 12.3 , , 4.2 , , 1.1 , , 5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 18 , , 15 , , 14 , , 166 , , 59 , , 225 , , 61 , , 34 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 9.2 , , 3.3 , , 12.5 , , 3.4 , , 1.9 , , 2 , - 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;", , 1 , , 24 , , 15 , , 20 , , 216 , , 117 , , 333 , , 108 , , 25 , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 9.0 , , 4.9 , , 13.9 , , 4.5 , , 1.0 , , 2 , - ! 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;", , 1 , , 20 , , 5 , , 1 , , 177 , , 105 , , 282 , , 89 , , 33 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 8.9 , , 5.3 , , 14.1 , , 4.5 , , 1.7 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 1 , , 20 , , 15 , , 13 , , 172 , , 107 , , 279 , , 111 , , 26 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 8.6 , , 5.4 , , 14.0 , , 5.6 , , 1.3 , , 2 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 312 ! 202 ! 150 ! 2552 ! 1406 ! 3958 ! 1223 ! 425 ! 0.6 ! 0.5 ! 8.2 ! 4.5 ! 12.7 ! 3.9 ! 1.5 ! 69

Personal life

Stephen Silvagni married television celebrity Jo Bailey in 1996, and they have three sons. Their eldest son Jack was drafted by the Carlton Football Club in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. He played his first match in round 15, 2016 against Collingwood. Their second son, Ben, was also drafted by the Carlton Football Club in the 2018 AFL draft but was subsequently delisted after the 2020 season without having played a game. Since retiring from playing football he has worked in the media as a guest football commentator. Former

key defender Alex Silvagni is Stephen's second cousin. (Alex's father Eric and Stephen's father Sergio are first cousins.)

References

External links

* *
Stephen Silvagni Profile in Blueseum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silvagni, Steve Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club premiership players Australian rules football commentators 1967 births Living people Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Victorian State of Origin players All-Australians (AFL) John Nicholls Medal winners Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Australia international rules football team players People educated at Marcellin College, Bulleen VFL/AFL premiership players

Playing career

Carlton

Coaching career

Sports Administration career

Greater Western Sydney

Carlton

St Kilda

Statistics

Personal life

See also

References

External links