Syd Jackson (born 1 July 1944) is a former

Australian rules 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 ...

footballer who played with the

Carlton Blues 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 Mel ...

during the 1970s. He usually played in the centre or half forward flank. An

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

, Jackson was a

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...

child and was adopted by

Ern Manea Ernest Cosmo Manea (23 December 1926 – 16 October 2013) was a prominent figure in the city of Bunbury, Western Australia. He was the mayor of Bunbury from 1966 to 1972 and again from 1988 to 1997, making him the city's longest-serving mayor ...

. He started his professional footballing career at

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from ...

in 1963. He was equal first in that year's

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and be ...

count although he was ineligible due to suspension and in 1966 he was named East Perth's best and fairest. Jackson made his debut with Carlton in 1969 after being recruited by

Ron Barassi Ronald Dale Barassi Jr. (born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into ...

. He won premierships in the Blues in 1970 and 1972. His jumper number was 5. He was exonerated by the tribunal after striking

Lee Adamson Lee Adamson (born 27 June 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer who played 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 ...

, with the tribunal accepting that he was racially provoked. At the Tribunal hearing Jackson had allowed Carlton's advocate to imply provocation to explain a fight with Adamson. Twenty-two years later he explained that there had been no provocation; Carlton president George Harris had devised the defence to ensure that the talented Jackson was available to play in the grand final. Adamson is quoted as saying he blamed Harris who 'set it up and I have despised him ever since for what he did', but Jackson must share the blame for the vilification of Adamson.

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* 1944 births Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club premiership players East Perth Football Club players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Living people Sportspeople from Bunbury, Western Australia South Bunbury Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players {{AFL-bio-1940s-stub