Ian "Collo" Collins AM (born 24 October 1942) is a former Australian rules footballer and is now a high-profile businessman.

Playing career

Carlton Football Club

Collins played for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...

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 ...

between 1961 and 1971. He was part of the 1968 premiership side. but he missed the entire 1970 premiership winning season due to an

achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pele ...

injury. He returned in 1971. Collins played as a tough

back-pocket In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...

player in the back line and was recruited from Sale.

Coaching career

Port Melbourne Football Club (VFA)

Collins had a coaching stint as captain and senior coach of

Port Melbourne Football Club The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne. The club was founded in 1874 and has been competing in the Victorian Football Association/Leag ...

in the VFA from 1972 until the end of the 1973 season. where one of his players was his former senior coach at Carlton Ron Barassi, then Collins hung up his boots for good as senior coach of Port Melbourne to prepare for bigger things and to move on with other endeavours.

Administration career

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Carlton Football Club

Collins became the

's chief executive officer (CEO) from 1981 until 1993, during his tenure as CEO of Carlton, Collins oversaw Carlton's three premiership victories in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, 1982 and

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

Australian Football League's Director of Football Operations

In 1993, Collins became the Australian Football League's Director of Football Operations, a position he held until 1999.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Docklands Stadium

In 1999, Collins became the CEO of

Docklands Stadium Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

, a position he held until 2 October 2012.

Carlton Football Club President

Collins became the President of the Carlton Football Club, following John Elliott's departure on 13 November 2002. Collins in his tenure as President of Carlton, oversaw himself to work hard with the board of the club to limit the damage to Carlton's profile, prestige and financial position during a rough time for the club, due to the effects and penalties of the club's salary cap breaches and the poor on-field results for the club that followed on. Collins thereby served an unstable tenure as President of the club, because Carlton still struggled to maintain off-field stability with the club still remaining in seven million dollar club debt. On 13 April 2006, Collins announced he would step down as president of the Carlton Football Club due to ill health and by the pressures of juggling two demanding jobs between his time as Carlton Football Club President and his time as CEO of Docklands Stadium. He was replaced by Graham Smorgon.

References

External links

* Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club Premiership players Port Melbourne Football Club coaches Sale Football Club players Carlton Football Club administrators Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Businesspeople from Melbourne 1942 births Living people Members of the Order of Australia One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players {{AFL-bio-1940s-stub