Michael C. Aish (born 21 February 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the

Norwood Football Club Norwood Football Club, nicknamed the Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club competing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in the state of South Australia. Its home ground is Coopers Stadium (Norwood Oval), which i ...

in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as t ...

(SANFL).

Career

Aish and long time Norwood teammate

Garry McIntosh Garry McIntosh (born 16 March 1964) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Norwood Football Club in the South Australian Football League (SANFL). A dual Magarey Medallist, McIntosh is considered one of the greatest footba ...

continually resisted many big-money offers to move to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to play 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) and remained loyal to Norwood and South Australian football. This was helped also by the SANFL's controversial player retention scheme where the league paid to keep as many South Australian players in the local league as possible rather than see them cross the border to play for VFL clubs. Aish was the second son of former Norwood captain and coach Peter Aish. He had two siblings; his older brother

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

also played league football for Norwood, and his younger sister Susan represented South Australia in both

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

and

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

. He won the SANFL's highest individual honor, the

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Will ...

in 1981 at the age of just 20 and was a premiership player with Norwood in 1982 when they defeated Glenelg in the Grand Final and again in 1984 when the Redlegs defeated Port Adelaide to become the first team in SANFL history to win the premiership after finishing the minor round in 5th place. His son Jesse has also played senior football for Norwood. From 1987 to 1989, he was club captain and won Norwood's best and fairest in 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1992, emulating his father Peter who won the club's best and fairest award in 1960. Aish represented South Australia 15 times at interstate football, captaining the side in 1986 and 1989 as well as earning

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of 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-performed players during the season, led b ...

selection in 1983 and 1986.

Awards and achievements

Michael Aish retired after Norwood's Grand Final loss to Woodville-West Torrens in 1993. When the Norwood 'Team of the Century' was chosen, Aish was named as ruck-rover. Aish was one of 113 inaugural inductees into the

South Australian Football Hall of Fame The South Australian Football Hall of Fame enshrines those who have made a most significant contribution to the game of Australian Football. The Hall of Fame was established in 2002 when 114 outstanding individuals became inaugural inductees. S ...

in 2002. On 24 October 2000, Aish was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for being a "recipient of the highest individual honour in South Australian Football". On 27 June 2023, Aish was inducted in to the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aish, Michael Living people Magarey Medal winners Norwood Football Club players South Australian State of Origin players All-Australians (1953–1988) Australian rules footballers from South Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees 1961 births Australia international rules football team players