Outspoken, equally loathed and loved, the late John Elliott was an Australian businessman and Carlton Football Club's longest-serving president. (Photo, circa mid-80s.)
'Aside from his damaged business reputation, Elliott was best known for his 20-year presidency of the Carlton Football Club', reports Obituaries Australia:
His love for the Navy Blues was never in doubt and during his reign at Carlton it lifted two AFL premierships.
But the club, which had become accustomed to its winning ways in the 1970s and 80s, “won” the wooden spoon for the first time in 2002, Elliott’s last year as president. It has picked up four more since in an unusual period of failure many at Carlton still blame on Elliott, who presided over a player salary-rorts affair that was punished by the AFL when it stripped the club of draft selections.
What would 'Big Jack' have said about the AFL's latest lever-pull, the wildcard finals? It might depend on whether his beloved Blues won or lost on the day...
**This photograph is part of an IA series that looks at Australia through the lens of award-winning photojournalist Bill McAuley.**
Bill McAuley's 40-plus-year news career began in 1969 as a cadet photographer at 'The Age' in Melbourne.
He has several published collections, including 'Portraits of the Soul: A lifetime of images with Bill McAuley' and 'Last light on Victoria Dock, 1999'. To see more from Bill, click here.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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