Ronald Clive Hovey (25 August 1932 – 6 January 2015) 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 with

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

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).

Career

Hovey played in the 1947 Shepparton Boys Football Club's

Central Goulburn Valley Football League The Central Goulburn Valley Football League (CGVFL) was established on Monday, 11 March 1946 at the Annual General Meeting of the Goulburn Valley Football Association, when a name change of this Australian rules football competition took place. Hi ...

premiership team as a 15-year-old before moving to Geelong to play in the Geelong Under-19's side in 1948. Hovey was a regular in the Geelong backline during the 1950s and would sometimes push into the midfield. He was a member of Geelong's

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and

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 ...

premiership teams. Hovey, who finished equal seventh in the 1959 Brownlow Medal, was captain of Geelong in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, his final season. Hovey was forced to retire six games into the 1960 VFL season due to an ongoing knee injury. Two of his brothers, Ced and

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

, also played league football for Geelong.

Later years

Following his retirement from his playing career, Hovey continued with Geelong in a number of administrative roles, serving as club President of Geelong Football Club from 1988 until 1998. He was awarded life membership of the club, social club, past players association, the 'Pivots' coterie group, and the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

. Hovey was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) in the

1997 Australia Day Honours The 1997 Australia Day Honours are appointments Australian honours system, to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 1997 by the Governor General of Australia, Will ...

and the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

in 2001. He died on 6 January 2015, aged 82.

References

External links

* 1932 births 2015 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club Premiership players Geelong Football Club captains Geelong Football Club administrators Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players {{AFL-bio-1930s-stub