Wayne Anthony Blackwell (born 30 August 1960) 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 for Claremont in the

Western Australian National Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WANFL) and

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

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) from 1978 to 1990. Born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Wayne Blackwell played his early football in Western Australia and he was a centreman in Claremont's

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

premiership team. After 112 WANFL games, some as vice-captain, he crossed to Carlton where he was used mostly on the wing and was a member of the side which lost the

1986 VFL Grand Final The 1986 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and the Carlton Football Club. The game was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne on 27 September 1986. It was the ...

. Also in 1986 he finished third in the "Best and Fairest" for Carlton. He missed out on playing in their 1987 premiership team due to a knee injury, while a groin injury would force him to retire in 1990. At interstate level Blackwell was a regular for Western Australia throughout the 1980s and made a total of eight appearances. He is often remembered for a smother in his state's three point win over Victoria at Subiaco in 1986 when he prevented

Brian Royal Brian Royal (born 12 December 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club (Western Bulldogs) in the Australian Football League (AFL). In his first year for the Bulldogs, Royal won the Charles Sutto ...

from kicking the winning goal. His son

Luke Blackwell Luke Blackwell (born 9 November 1986 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian rules footballer. He formerly played for Carlton in the Australian Football League (AFL), and for Claremont in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) where he wa ...

arrived at Carlton under the father-son rule and made his debut in 2006.

Coaching career

After he retired as a player, Wayne Blackwell carved out a career as a coach.Wayne Blackwell
/ref> He began his coaching career as a playing coach in the Western District of Victoria, taking Portland to a premiership in his first year, and in 1993 coached QAFL team North Brisbane. Returning to his home state in 1995, Blackwell was signed for 1996 by struggling WAFL club

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

- in financial strife and facing potential merger with East Perth or relocation to the Gosnells region"Research Helps WAFL Plan for the Future" in ''The Game''; p. 11; from ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

''; 3 June 1996 - as a successor to former teammate

David Glascott David Glascott (born 27 April 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlto ...

. Blackwell took Perth to only its third finals appearance since its halcyon era ended in 1979 during 1997, but in 1998 the Demons fell back to their old ways with only four wins and Blackwell was told he was not wanted for the 1999 season. As of 2013, however, Blackwell remains the last coach to take Perth to a season with more wins than losses or to a finals appearance.

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 ...

saw Wayne Blackwell take the reins at East Fremantle for one season. Although Blackwell took the Sharks to a Grand Final, after the season he announced that business interests would prevent him coaching a senior WAFL team again. He has however served time in 2005 as an assistant coach at Swan Districts and is currently the colts coach for his old club Claremont.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwell, Wayne 1960 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Carlton Football Club players Claremont Football Club players Portland Football Club players East Fremantle Football Club coaches Perth Football Club coaches VFL/AFL players born in England People educated at Hale School Western Australian State of Origin players English emigrants to Australia