The AFL and North Melbourne have paid tribute to Australian Football Hall of Fame member Allen Aylett, who has died aged 88.
Allen Aylett : Death | Wife | Who is | Dentist | Family
Allen James Aylett OBE (24 April 1934 – 16 September 2022) was an Australian rules football player and administrator.
| Aylett | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Allen James Aylett | ||
| Date of birth | 24 April 1934 | ||
| Date of death | 16 September 2022 (aged 88) | ||
| Original team(s) | University High | ||
| Height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Weight | 80 kg (176 lb) | ||
He was the chairman/president of the North Melbourne Football Club from 1971 to 1976, and then again from 2001 to 2005.
In between, he had been the chairman of the then Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1977 to 1984.
It was as an Australian rules football rover that Aylett first made his mark. He played 220 games and kicked 311 goals in a career spanning 1952–1964.
Allen Aylett Death
The AFL world is mourning the death of North Melbourne legend and long-time football administrator Dr Allen Aylett, who passed away aged 88 on Friday morning.
Aylett played 220 games for the Kangaroos from 1952-1964 and won three-straight best and fairests from 1958 to 1960, two All-Australians and captained the club for four seasons.
He’s perhaps best known for his role as a pioneering administrator for both the Kangaroos and the VFL.
Aylett led the Roos to their first premiership as president from 1975 during a golden era for the club where he helped land Ron Barassi.
Aylett was then the chairman of the VFL from 1977-1984 and made an inaugural member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame as well as being named in the North Melbourne Team of the Century and Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
Wife
Allen Aylett is married to Marji Aylett.
Marji Aylett has not mentioned anything about her personal life to the public.
We wish to send our condolences however to the family of the deceased Australian Rules Football icon.
Who is Allen Aylett
Aylett is best known for his career as an administrator in the 1970s and 1980s.
He was elected to the position of North Melbourne Football Club president in 1971, and his innovative off-field leadership in securing sponsorship and running corporate entertainment – including the rise of the North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast as one of the Grand Final’s most prominent events – followed by his aggressive recruitment of star players, particularly through the use of the short-lived “ten year rule” in 1973, turned North Melbourne from perennial also-rans to a professionally run powerhouse of the 1970s, and the club contested five consecutive Grand Finals between 1974 and 1978, winning two.
In 1977, Aylett was elected president of the VFL. He continued his aggressive efforts to push the game’s administration towards professional and business-driven success.
His actions in setting up the VFL’s Night Series in 1977, as a direct rival to the NFL’s Night Series, delivered both sponsorship opportunities and laid the platform for the VFL to supersede the NFL for control of football in Australia.
Under his guidance, the league expanded into the Sydney market, making preparations for an expansion team before South Melbourne opted to relocate there; Aylett subsequently sat on the Swans’ board of directors.
Additionally, during his tenure, the VFL began to establish regular Sunday matches in Victoria; and he fought the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Victorian Government to move the Grand Final to VFL Park, ultimately failing to make the move, but securing a better financial deal for the VFL and better ticket access for VFL members.
Dentist
Academically, he also excelled and found time during his pursuits of playing elite sport to become a dentist, a profession he still works in for three days a week at country town Euroa on the outskirts of Melbourne.
As VFL president, he oversaw the league’s first step to becoming a truly national competition with the relocation of the financially stricken South Melbourne to the harbour city as the Sydney Swans in 1982.
He had bitter fights with then Victorian premier John Cain over the future expansion of the league-owned Waverley Park and the threats it presented to the MCC and the MCG.
It was perhaps as president of North Melbourne that he engineered one of the most significant chapters in the club and football’s history, when the Kangaroos swooped on the controversial 10-year rule — the modern game’s equivalent to free agency — which lead them to their historic first premiership in 1975 under the legendary Ron Barassi.
Concerned about restraint of trade threats, the VFL approved a scheme at the end of the 1972 season where any player with 10 years service with one club could transfer to another club of his choice.
The Roos pounced on three current or former captains — Essendon’s Barry Davis, South Melbourne’s John Rantall (both 29 years-old) and Geelong’s 31 year-old champion goal kicker Doug Wade. They missed St Kilda’s Carl Ditterich, who went to Melbourne.
Family
Allen has not mentioned anything concerning who his kids are or the number of children he fathered.
Also Information regarding his parents has been kept discrete.