Scott West (born 14 November 1974) 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 the in 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 ...

(AFL). Having won a club-record seven Charlie Sutton Medals, West is recognised as one of the Bulldogs' greatest-ever players. A tough "in-and-under" midfielder who was hard at the ball, especially around the stoppages, West was regularly among the league's most prolific ballwinners during his playing career.

Early career

One of three brothers, West grew up in the northwestern Melbourne suburb of

Keilor Keilor is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Brimbank and Hume local government areas. Keilor recorded a population of 5,906 at the 2021 census. ...

a keen supporter. Ironically, his childhood neighbour and future Essendon footballer

Rick Olarenshaw Rick Olarenshaw (born 1 February 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He was formerly a boundary rider for Network Seven until being replaced by Matthew Richardson. Playing career Essendon Olarens ...

was a Footscray supporter. His older brother

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

initially trained at Essendon until told the West family residence actually belonged to Footscray's recruiting zone. Troy would go on to have a fine career with

Williamstown Football Club The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne. The club currently competes in the men's and women's Victorian Football League and VFLW competitions. History The Williamstown Fo ...

. The third brother, Brent, is Scott's twin. West was educated at

Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School Penleigh: la, Ad Altiora , motto_translation = Essendon: Strength through knowledge;Penleigh: To higher things , location = Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Keilor Park & Keilor East, Victoria , country = Austral ...

(PEGS), whom he represented in football with the

Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria The Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV) is a sporting association of nine independent schools in Victoria, Australia, formed in 1920. The AGSV provides interschool sporting competitions between the nine member schools in a range of spo ...

(AGSV) First XVIII in 1991 and 1992 along with

Shane Crawford Shane Barry Crawford (born 9 September 1974) is a former Australian rules football player, television media personality and author. He played 305 senior games for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and won the ...

and future teammate

Paul Dimattina Paul Dimattina (born 22 November 1974) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented in the Australian Football League (AFL). Dimattina is of Italian descent and the son of former fruiterer Frank Dimattina. Dimattina played for Ric ...

. He also played for Strathmore and was subsequently recruited by (now Western Bulldogs), making his senior debut in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. He won an

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...

nomination that season. In 1993 and 1994 he wore the number 14 guernsey, before changing to his famous number 7 in the wake of

Doug Hawkins Douglas James Hawkins (born 5 May 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented and in the Australian Football League (AFL). He also enjoyed a brief career in media and ran for the Senate, as a member of Palmer United Party, in ...

' departure to Fitzroy in 1995.

AFL career

After Footscray rebranded itself the Western Bulldogs during the tumultuous 1996 season, the Bulldogs rebounded dramatically in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, falling agonizingly short of their first Grand Final appearance since 1961 when the eventual premiers came from behind to win the Preliminary Final by two points. West's contribution in the club's amazing turnaround was recognized when he won the second of what would be seven Charlie Sutton Medals. He made

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, 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-perf ...

selection on five occasions – in 1998, 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2006. West's best and fairest victory in 2005 saw him overtake Gary Dempsey's previous record of six. Late in 2006 West had been described as being in the best form of his career despite him being 32 years of age and completing his 300th game. This run of form included an incredible career best 45 disposals in one match against the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

. In the 2006 season, West became the first player on record (recorded since 1987) to amass more than 400 handpasses in a season, finishing with 423. West finished runner-up in 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 ...

count twice: in 2000 and in 2006. He also finished third in the 1999 count, making him one of the best footballers never to have won the AFL's most prestigious individual honour. In 2000 he was particularly unlucky: going into the final round, he was level with

Shane Woewodin Shane Woewodin (born 12 July 1976) is a retired Australian rules football player who played 200 games with the Melbourne and Collingwood Football Clubs. He was the recipient of the Brownlow Medal in 2000. He formerly served as the Offensive ...

from Melbourne on 22 votes. Having had only 17 disposals and being interchanged for majority of the final quarter, Woewodin wasn't considered a chance to poll against West Coast, however Woewodin polled 2 votes and consequently Won the medal on 24 votes. Wests amazing brownlow record consists of third in 1999, second (by two votes) in 2000 and (by two votes) in 2006 and fourth in 2004 and 2005. In 2006 he won the Sunday Footy Show's Lou Richards award for best player as voted by Channel 9's football commentators. He was the crowd favourite to win the

in 2006, due to his string of close misses and secondly, because he was one of the few Victoria-based players with a high chance of winning the award, during a period when non-Victorian teams were dominating the league. West ended up finishing second in 2006 behind

Adam Goodes Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, d ...

. On 23 September 2008, his career came to an end after the Bulldogs said he was no longer required at the club.

Post-playing career

West is a qualified landscape gardener and has run a landscaping business since 1997. From 2009 to 2011, West served as a midfield coach at , earning praise for his teaching ability. In 2012 he became the coach of the

Werribee Football Club The Werribee Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club, based in Werribee. The club was formed in 1964 and currently plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It is the western-most Melbourne-based VFL club as ...

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). His stint was short but reasonably successful, leading Werribee to consecutive Preliminary Finals before quitting after the 2013 season in the hope of landing a coaching role in the AFL. In October 2014, West was among the candidates considered to replace

Brendan McCartney Brendan McCartney (born 23 October 1960) is the former senior coach of the Western Bulldogs football club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He coached 66 games in 3 seasons before he resigned from the job. He has served as the development ...

as senior coach of the Bulldogs, but the position eventually was given to

Luke Beveridge Luke Beveridge (born 23 August 1970) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who played for Melbourne, Footscray and St Kilda in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s. He is head coach of the Western Bulldogs.< ...

. West has also been working as a football commentator on radio for the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

(ABC).

Honours

In early 2002, West was named in the Western Bulldogs Team of the Century. The Scott West Award, awarded to the Western Bulldogs' most courageous player during a season, was named in his honour. In 2013 West was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

. In March 2017, West was chosen as one of the club icons to unfurl the Bulldogs' premiership flag.

Career Statistics

, - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 17 , , 21 , , 15 , , 170 , , 119 , , 289 , , 36 , , 35 , , 1.2 , , 0.9 , , 10.0 , , 7.0 , , 17.0 , , 2.1 , , 2.1 , , 8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 14 , , 23 , , 9 , , 11 , , 338 , , 155 , , 493 , , 51 , , 38 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 14.7 , , 6.7 , , 21.4 , , 2.2 , , 1.7 , , 2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 23, , 6 , , 13 , , 365 , , 182 , , 547 , , 46 , , 45 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 15.9 , , 7.9 , , 23.8 , , 2.0 , , 2.0 , , 9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 15 , , 0 , , 4 , , 137 , , 128 , , 265 , , 21 , , 23 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 9.1 , , 8.5 , , 17.7 , , 1.4 , , 1.5 , , 1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 24 , , 5 , , 3 , , 367 , , 240 , , 607 , , 58 , , 57 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 15.3 , , 10.0 , , 25.3 , , 2.4 , , 2.4 , , 5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 24 , , 5 , , 3 , , 309 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 301^† , , 610 , , 40 , , 67 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 12.9 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 12.5^† , , 25.4 , , 1.7 , , 2.8 , , 23 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 21 , , 11 , , 5 , , 244 , , 268 , , 512 , , 47 , , 40 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 11.6 , , 12.8 , , 24.4 , , 2.2 , , 1.9 , , 14 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 23 , , 7 , , 5 , , 331 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 326^† , , 657 , , 80 , , 51 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 14.4 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 14.2^† , , 28.6 , , 3.5 , , 2.2 , , 22 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 11 , , 4 , , 283 , , 298 , , 581 , , 72 , , 59 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 12.9 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 13.5^† , , 26.4 , , 3.3 , , 2.7 , , 8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 18 , , 8 , , 8 , , 222 , , 249 , , 471 , , 61 , , 57 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 12.3 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 13.8^† , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 26.2^† , , 3.4 , , 3.2 , , 8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 3 , , 6 , , 277 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 343^† , , 620 , , 107 , , 67 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 12.6 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 15.6^† , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 28.2^† , , 4.9 , , 3.0 , , 4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 7 , , 10 , , 278 , , 314 , , 592 , , 104 , , 80 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 12.6 , , 14.3 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 26.9^† , , 4.7 , , 3.6 , , 20 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 4 , , 7 , , 267 , , 370 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 637^† , , 91 , , 61 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 12.1 , , 16.8 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 29.0^† , , 4.1 , , 2.8 , , 17 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 24 , , 6 , , 5 , , 285 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 423^† , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 708^† , , 119 , , 77 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 11.9 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 17.6^§ , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 29.5^† , , 5.0 , , 3.2 , , 23 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 20 , , 1 , , 6 , , 211 , , 329 , , 540 , , 110 , , 82 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 10.6 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 16.5^† , , 27.0 , , 5.5 , , 4.1 , , 8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 4 , , 0 , , 0 , , 45 , , 48 , , 93 , , 14 , , 14 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 11.3 , , 12.0 , , 23.3 , , 3.5 , , 3.5 , , 3 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 324 ! 104 ! 105 ! 4129 ! 4093 ! 8222 ! 1057 ! 853 ! 0.3 ! 0.3 ! 12.7 ! 12.6 ! 25.4 ! 3.3 ! 2.6 ! 175

Other

West has made several appearances on the

AFL Footy Show ''The Footy Show'' was an Australian sports and variety entertainment television program which aired on the Nine Network. The show was dedicated to the Australian Football League (AFL) and Australian rules football. The show featured a pane ...

and appeared on a

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

ad with

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 ...

David Neitz David Neitz (born 22 January 1975), is a retired Australian rules footballer. The strongly built centre half back who became a full forward was the longest-serving captain in the history of the Melbourne Football Club and the first Melbourne ...

. West was married to Leshelle and has four sons: Rhylee (born 2000), Kobi, Cooper and Levi (born 2008).West married Linda on 23/11/19. Rhylee was drafted by the Western Bulldogs in 2018 as a father-son selection.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:West, Scott 1974 births Western Bulldogs players All-Australians (AFL) Charles Sutton Medal winners Living people Australian rules footballers from South Australia Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Victorian State of Origin players Strathmore Football Club players Werribee Football Club coaches Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australia international rules football team players People educated at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School People from Keilor, Victoria Twin sportspeople Australian twins