Phillip Carman (born 4 September 1950 in
Edenhope, Victoria
Edenhope is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Wimmera Highway, 30 kilometres from the South Australian border, in the Shire of West Wimmera local government area. At the Edenhope had a population of 946.
The township of Eden ...
) 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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er who represented Norwood in the SANFL and , , and 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) during the 1970s and 1980s.
A flamboyant player who wore white boots and fronted the Tribunal on numerous occasions due to disciplinary issues, Carman was nicknamed "Fabulous Phil" by those who saw him play.
Playing career
At the age of 16, Carman left his hometown in western Victoria to play for 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 the ...
(SANFL). He played with Norwood from 1970 until 1974, spending two years out of the game because of a contract wrangle between Norwood and Collingwood and Collingwood's refusal to allow him to play for Norwood. In total, he played just 58 games for Norwood and several for the South Australian State side. One of his most colourful moments for Norwood was when he rubbed future Adelaide coach Graham Cornes’ face in the mud in front of the Norwood members stand after Cornes had elbowed him (the footage is also famous for Cornes flipping the bird at the Norwood members). By 1974, , who had shown plenty of interest in him, finally persuaded him to return to Victoria, even though he did not like the football lifestyle in
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 ...
.
Carman made an immediate impression. In his debut VFL season in
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
he won Collingwood's Best and Fairest award, the
Copeland Trophy
The E.W. Copeland Trophy is an Australian rules football award given by the Collingwood Football Club to the player adjudged best and fairest for Collingwood during the year.
The Copeland Shield, as it was formerly known, was donated by Ern Cope ...
, and was Collingwood's leading goalkicker with 41 goals. He was also selected to play for
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, and played in the Championship winning team of the
Australian National Football Carnival
Representative matches in Australian rules football are matches between representative teams played under the Australian rules, most notably of the colonies and later Australian states and territories that have been held since 1879. For most ...
. Carman did, however, break a bone in his foot during the season, keeping him out of Collingwood’s side for eight weeks. However, he still only finished three votes away from winning the VFL's Best and Fairest, the
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 ...
, in his debut year.
[
In the ]1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
Second Semi Final win, Carman was suspended for two matches after striking 's Michael Tuck
Michael Tuck (born 24 June 1953) is a seven-time premiership-winning player, Australian rules footballer with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) / Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL ...
. This caused him to miss the drawn Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
against and the subsequent replay. After the end of the 1978 VFL season
The 1978 VFL season was the 82nd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 1 April until 30 September, and comprised a 22 ...
, the 1978 season ended after the preliminary final, during which Carman was 'tagged' by Keith Greig
Keith Southby Greig (born 23 October 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Red-haired and pale-skinned, Greig was regarded as one of the most gr ...
. Greig did a wonderful job nullifying Carman, and eventually coach Tom Hafey moved Carman to centre half forward to albeit too late effect. The previous week (First Semi Final vs Carlton) Carman set the win up in the first two quarters with an electrifying display. He did incur the wrath of a number of Carlton strong arms, Messrs Buckley and Harms included. Later in the game Carman made an impact on the direction of Vin Cattogio's nose, before throwing the ball into the crowd after a great mark near the boundary. The loss against North Melbourne the following week saw the end of a number of genuine Collingwood champions.
Collingwood then swapped Carman for Ross Brewer
Ross Brewer (born 14 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne, Collingwood and Richmond in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He has a brother Ian who is seventeen years older and also played for Colli ...
of . He spent one year with the Demons, before moving once again, to , where played two seasons, but was given a 20-week suspension for head-butting boundary umpire Graham Carbery, and also striking St. Kilda's Garry Sidebottom. In his comeback match, he was reported again.[
Carman moved to North Melbourne in ]1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
for his final season as a player. He then retired from the VFL at the age of 32, and captain-coached the Eastlake Football Club
The Canberra Demons (formerly known as the Eastlake Football Club) is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the inner-south of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The senior team competed in the North East Austral ...
in the Australian Capital Territory Football League
AFL Canberra is the name of the local governing body for and premier competition of Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory (and the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales).
It acts as an umbrella to several competitions be ...
(ACTAFL), where he was again suspended for manhandling an umpire.
Coaching career
Carman then coached a number of regional clubs in Victoria, including Kangaroo Flat and played at full forward for Sandhurst in 1989, kicking 53 goals. Carman was appointed as captain-coach of Kennington
Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...
in late 1989, but the club folded prior to the 1990 Bendigo Football League
The Bendigo Football Netball League (previously known as the Sandhurst Football Association, Bendigo and District Football Association, Bendigo Football Association and Bendigo Football League) is an Australian rules football and netball compe ...
season.
Retired from playing, Carman then coached Sturt in the SANFL from 1995 to 2001. He was instrumental in Sturt's resurgence as a power in the SANFL after a run of wooden spoons from 1989 until his third year in charge. Sturt did not win a game in Carman's first year, but with excellent recruiting he built the team up to win the 1998 minor premiership, only to fail to Port Adelaide in the Grand Final.
In 2020, Carman was awarded Player / Coach Life Membership of the SANFL
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 the ...
.
References
External links
*
*
Phil Carman Interview
with Mike Sheahan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carman, Phil
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)
Copeland Trophy winners
Collingwood Football Club players
Essendon Football Club players
Melbourne Football Club players
North Melbourne Football Club players
Norwood Football Club players
Sturt Football Club coaches
Eastlake Football Club players
Kangaroo Flat Football Club players
Sandhurst Football Club players
1950 births
Living people