Colin Edward 'Col' Austen (2 December 1920 – 3 October 1995) was 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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the Hawthorn Football Club and

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

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). It ...

(VFL). Austen made his senior VFL debut for Hawthorn in

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

and played until

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

and from 1946 to 1949. He then played for Richmond from 1950 to 1952. He served as a

signalman A signalman is a person who historically made signals using flags and light. In modern times, the role of signalmen has evolved and now usually uses electronic communication equipment. Signalmen usually work in rail transport networks, armed for ...

in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Austen tied with South Melbourne's

Ron Clegg Ron "Smokey" Clegg (17 November 192723 August 1990) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then) Victorian Football League. Clegg was recruited from the South Melbourne Under 19's after winning the 1944 Melbourne Boys Football League's be ...

for the 1949

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

but was not awarded it based on the 'countback' system in place at that time. The

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

later changed the system for tied results and, in 1989, he was awarded the medal retrospectively. Hawthorn Football Club started 1950 in turmoil, Col Austen had sided with outgoing captain-coach

Alec Albiston Alec Marsh Albiston (16 November 1917 – 13 April 1998) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and with North Melbourne for his final season. A goalkicking rover, he was captain and c ...

who was angry as he was told by a member of the board that he remain as captain. The club had appointed

Bob McCaskill Robert 'Bob' James McCaskill (27 September 1895 – 23 June 1952) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1920s and coached both North Melbourne and Hawthorn. Early life Bo ...

as coach and he wanted

Kevin Curran Kevin Curran may refer to: * Kevin Curran (cricketer) (1959–2012), Zimbabwean cricketer * Kevin Curran (cricketer, born 1928) (1928–2017), Zimbabwean cricketer * Kevin Curran (footballer, born 1919) (1919–1986), Australian rules footballer ...

to be captain. A huge internal split occurred, the board sided with the new coach and gave Albiston and Austen open clearances.Blair, p. 179. Austen was cleared to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and played 51 games from 1950 to

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. He was Captain/Coach of the

Seconds side from 1953 to 1955, winning the competition's best and fairest, the Gardiner Medal, in 1953. He led the Tigers' seconds to the 1954 and 1955 Seconds premierships. Finally he went to Box Hill in the VFA as Captain/Coach in 1956 and non-playing coach from 1957 to 1959. He coached Box Hill to its first two Finals appearances in the VFA, 3rd place in 1956 and 4th place in 1958. He also coached the VFA's representative side in 1958. Austen was made a Life Member of the

shortly before his death in 1995. The 'Col Austen Memorial Trophy' is awarded each year to the winning team in the first

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

match of the regular AFL season. Since 2001 the Box Hill Football Club, now a member of the Victorian Football League and aligned to AFL Club Hawthorn, has annual presented the 'Col Austen Trophy' to its best and fairest player.

Honours and achievements

Playing honours

Richmond * 2× VFL seconds premiership player: 1954, 1955 Individual *

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

* Hawthorn best and fairest: 1949 * 2× VFL seconds premiership captain: 1954, 1955 * Gardiner Medal: 1953 *

Team of the Century

Coaching honours

Richmond * 2× VFL seconds premiership coach: 1954, 1955

Hall of Fame/Life memberships

life member *

life member

Footnotes

References

* Blair, L. (2005) ''The Immortals'', John Wiley & Sons: Brisbane. . * * Hogan P: ''The Tigers Of Old'', Richmond FC, (Melbourne), 1996.

External links

World War Two Service Record: Signalman Colin Edward Austen (VX138844).

World War Two Nominal Roll Record: Signalman Colin Edward Austen (VX138844).

''Boyles Football Photos'': Col Austen.
1920 births 1995 deaths Military personnel from Melbourne Hawthorn Football Club players Richmond Football Club players Brownlow Medal winners Peter Crimmins Medal winners Box Hill Football Club players Box Hill Football Club coaches Kew Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers People from Kew, Victoria {{AFL-bio-1920s-stub