Alan Wickes

Alan Wickes (born 27 July 1939) is a former Australian rules football player and administrator, who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL),[1] and later served as president of the Victorian Football Association.

Alan Wickes
Personal information
Full name Alan Wickes
Date of birth (1939-07-27) 27 July 1939
Original team(s) Frankston
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 84 kg (185 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1959–1961 Collingwood 14 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1961.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Following his brief VFL career with Collingwood, Wickes returned the Frankston Football Club, which was playing in the Mornington Peninsula Football League. He served as coach from 1962 until 1965, and later as president of the club following its admission to the Victorian Football Association[2] in two stints between 1971–1975 and 1977–1979.[3] He served on the VFA board of management through the 1970s. While at Frankston, Wickes was instrumental in the establishment of the Frankston District Junior Football League.[4]

In 1981, Wickes challenged and defeated 27-year incumbent Alex Gillon for the presidency of the VFA.[5][6] Wickes served as president for a difficult four season tenure, at a time when the popularity and profitability of the Association was declining rapidly, in part due to the loss of television coverage and the expansion of the VFL into the Sunday football market. He oversaw restructure of the second division in 1982, the expansion of the Association into the outer suburbs (incorporating clubs including Springvale, Kilsyth and Berwick), and made an unsuccessful attempt to expand the VFA to thirty teams.[7] Wickes stood down as president after the 1984 season, expressing frustration at poor quality of club-level administration in the VFA at the time.[8]

Wickes has remained active in sports administration and community events in Frankston, and has served as president of the Frankston and District Junior Football League in the late 2000s.

Notes
  1. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. p. 949. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.
  2. Mark Dunsford. "Frankston Peninsula Heat" (PDF). Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  3. Fiddian, Marc (2004); The VFA; A History of the Victorian Football Association 1877-1995; p. 185
  4. Simon McEvoy (25 March 2014). "Frankston and District Junior Football League growth shows power of sporting spirit". Frankston Standard Leader. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  5. Marc Fiddian (7 March 1981). "Wickes new VFA chief". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 40.
  6. Marc Fiddian (28 March 1981). "VFA firm on Sunday stand". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 36.
  7. Marc Fiddian (5 August 1983). "Lions still clear of fourth place". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p. 24.
  8. Darren Joyce (8 December 1985). "VFA names new chief". The Sun News-Pictorial. Melbourne, VIC. p. 55.
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