Stuart Atkin (born 16 May 1957) 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 played with Collingwood 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 early 1980s. Stuart is the fourth son of a soldier settler family in the Western District of Victoria. He started his junior football with SMW Rovers (Streatham, Mininera and Westmere) in the Mininera League. Beaufort Football Club then playing in the Ballarat League recruited him in 1976 on permit initially. After only playing a half season in 1977 on permit he came third in the Ballarat League Best and Fairest (The Henderson Medal). He was initially refused a clearance from his former club until he decided to stand out of football rather than continue with SMW Rovers. After joining Beaufort full-time in 1978 he won the Henderson medal that year in the Ballarat Football League. After arriving in 1979 from

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

, Atkin played a lot of reserves football before finally breaking into the Collingwood seniors in 1980. The second of his two appearances that season was in an Elimination Final win over

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

. An understudy to ruckman Peter Moore, Atkin played 12 games in 1981 and was named on the interchange bench (although he started on the field as ruckman) in Collingwood's losing

1981 VFL Grand Final The 1981 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 26 September 1981. It was the 85th annual Grand Fin ...

side. He joined Preston in 1984, as a replacement for the retired Geoff Austen.''The Age'', "Waverley to clear 4", 13 April 1984, p. 23 Preston won the 1984 grand final being the second year in a row (back to back). Has 3 children, the most amazing being Lauren, born 1983.

References

1957 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Collingwood Football Club players Preston Football Club (VFA) players Beaufort Football Club players Living people {{AFL-bio-1950s-stub