Ted Whitten
Encyclopedia
Edward James "EJ" Whitten (27 July 1933 – 17 August 1995) was an Australian rules football
player and media personality. He played a then-record 321 Victorian Football League
(VFL) games for the Footscray Football Club between 1951
and 1970
. Whitten is a Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, and became known as "Mr Football".
and Footscray
in Melbourne. As a youth he played for Braybrook on Saturdays and Collingwood Amateurs on Sundays; he was urged by the Collingwood Amateurs coach, Charlie Utting
(a former Collingwood
VFL star) to try out for the Collingwood team but was told later to come back in a few years after building up body strength. Within 12 months he was playing for Footscray
, the team he had always supported.
at the Punt Road Oval
and joined a special group of players by kicking a goal with his first kick. This incurred the "wrath" of Richmond's notoriously volatile defender "Mopsy" Fraser
, who knocked Whitten out late in the third quarter. Whitten later said that Fraser did him a favour that day, hardening his attitude and making him realise that League football was a no-nonsense game that only the toughest could succeed at. He was a key member of Footscray's 1954 VFL Premiership victory, the club's only premiership to date.
Played his very best football as a key position player, either at Centre Half Forward
or Centre Half Back
. Australian football writers Russell Holmesby and Jim Main described Whitten as a "prodigious kick, a flawless mark" and as having unequalled "ground and hand skills".
With superb all-round skills, the extraordinary talent of being able to kick equally well with his right and left foot,
One of the best exponents of the "flick" pass, which was eventually banned, Whitten was one of few football players to have the ability to play any position on the field. He was regarded by his contemporaries in the 1950s and 1960s as the greatest naturally talented player of his era;
With the demands of coaching and playing beginning to take a toll on his aging body, Whitten finally made the decision to retire as a player in 1970 after breaking Dick Reynolds
' longstanding VFL record of 320 games. His 321st and final game was against Hawthorn
at the Western Oval
, a game which Footscray won by three points.
, often featured promoting the Victorian team with his saying "Stick it up 'em". He also once famously said: Years ago you had to crawl over cut glass to get one (i.e. a state guernsey), in an era when there was an ever diminishing esteem in representing one's state, a situation that continues to the present day. He worked as a football commentator on television throughout the 1970s and as a radio commentator in the latter part of his life.
Mike Brady
wrote a song about him him called, "It all sounds like football to me". Ted Whitten is heard answering questions humorously on the song.
In 1995, Whitten went public with the announcement that he was suffering from prostate cancer
. During a State of Origin
game only weeks before his death, Whitten, suffering from blindness due to the cancer, was driven around a lap of the MCG
, with his son Ted jr. by his side and Mariah Carey
's "Hero" playing on the sound system. He received a standing ovation from the crowd, most of whom were too young to have ever seen him play in person, but for those who had had the privilege to see him play, it was a very emotional moment. The date of the game was Saturday 17 June 1995. This event was polled as the most memorable football event by the Melbourne newspaper The Age
, and the moment is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport.
, and was one of the twelve players immediately elevated to Legend status. He was selected as Captain of the AFL Team of the Century. In 2009 The Australian
nominated Whitten as one of the 25 greatest footballers never to win a Brownlow medal
.
Whitten is one of only three Australian rules footballers recognised as a Legend of Australian Sport in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, alongside Ron Barassi
and Leigh Matthews
.
His passing was broken live on an episode of The Footy Show
. Whitten's death, while imminent, came as a shock to the football community. Hosts and panelists of The Footy Show
, upon breaking the news, were too emotionally distressed to continue and ended the episode prematurely.
After his death, Whitten's son, Ted Whitten jnr
instituted the EJ Whitten Legends Game in the memory of his father. The game is a charity match to raise money for prostate cancer
research.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
player and media personality. He played a then-record 321 Victorian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
(VFL) games for the Footscray Football Club between 1951
1951 VFL season
Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1951.-Premiership season:In 1951, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man...
and 1970
1970 VFL season
-Premiership season:In 1970, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man...
. Whitten is a Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, and became known as "Mr Football".
Early days
Whitten grew up in the western suburbs of BraybrookBraybrook, Victoria
Braybrook is a suburb 9 km west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Maribyrnong. At the 2006 Census, Braybrook had a population of 6940....
and Footscray
Footscray, Victoria
Footscray is a suburb 5 km west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Maribyrnong. At the 2006 Census, Footscray had a population of 11,401....
in Melbourne. As a youth he played for Braybrook on Saturdays and Collingwood Amateurs on Sundays; he was urged by the Collingwood Amateurs coach, Charlie Utting
Charlie Utting
Charles Utting was an Australian rules footballer who debuted for Collingwood at the age of 20 in 1943. His career goal total was 17 from 125 games over 8 seasons...
(a former Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
VFL star) to try out for the Collingwood team but was told later to come back in a few years after building up body strength. Within 12 months he was playing for Footscray
Western Bulldogs
The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...
, the team he had always supported.
Footscray
Whitten made his VFL debut in round 1, 1951, against RichmondRichmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
at the Punt Road Oval
Punt Road Oval
Punt Road Oval is a sporting ground located in Yarra Park, East Melbourne, Victoria situated only a few hundred metres to the east of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground....
and joined a special group of players by kicking a goal with his first kick. This incurred the "wrath" of Richmond's notoriously volatile defender "Mopsy" Fraser
Don Fraser, Jr.
Don Fraser Junior was an Australian rules footballer who played in the VFL between 1945 and 1952 for the Richmond Football Club.Known as "Mopsy", he is still regarded as one of the most rugged players ever to play in the VFL, serving a total 16 weeks in suspensions whilst at the Tigers...
, who knocked Whitten out late in the third quarter. Whitten later said that Fraser did him a favour that day, hardening his attitude and making him realise that League football was a no-nonsense game that only the toughest could succeed at. He was a key member of Footscray's 1954 VFL Premiership victory, the club's only premiership to date.
Played his very best football as a key position player, either at Centre Half Forward
Football (Australian rules) positions
In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team are assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the ground. As the game has evolved, tactics and team...
or Centre Half Back
Football (Australian rules) positions
In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team are assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the ground. As the game has evolved, tactics and team...
. Australian football writers Russell Holmesby and Jim Main described Whitten as a "prodigious kick, a flawless mark" and as having unequalled "ground and hand skills".
With superb all-round skills, the extraordinary talent of being able to kick equally well with his right and left foot,
One of the best exponents of the "flick" pass, which was eventually banned, Whitten was one of few football players to have the ability to play any position on the field. He was regarded by his contemporaries in the 1950s and 1960s as the greatest naturally talented player of his era;
With the demands of coaching and playing beginning to take a toll on his aging body, Whitten finally made the decision to retire as a player in 1970 after breaking Dick Reynolds
Dick Reynolds
Richard Sylvannus 'Dick' Reynolds was an Australian rules footballer and coach who represented Essendon and Victoria with great distinction....
' longstanding VFL record of 320 games. His 321st and final game was against Hawthorn
Hawthorn Football Club
The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...
at the Western Oval
Whitten Oval
Whitten Oval is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located at 417 Barkly Street, West Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquarters of the Western Bulldogs Football Club, which competes in the Australian Football League.Formerly known as the...
, a game which Footscray won by three points.
Off the field
As well as being a star player (he appeared for Victoria on 29 occasions), Whitten was a passionate promoter of the game – in particular the State of Origin competition, representing and captaining "The Big V" on many occasions. He was also chairman of selectors for the state team after retiring from playing football. He was a key promotional tool for the series, with its biggest rivalry between Victoria and South AustraliaSouth Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, often featured promoting the Victorian team with his saying "Stick it up 'em". He also once famously said: Years ago you had to crawl over cut glass to get one (i.e. a state guernsey), in an era when there was an ever diminishing esteem in representing one's state, a situation that continues to the present day. He worked as a football commentator on television throughout the 1970s and as a radio commentator in the latter part of his life.
Mike Brady
Mike Brady (musician)
Mike Brady is an Australian musician most commonly associated with the Australian rules football anthems "Up There Cazaly", referring to 1920s and 30s St Kilda player Roy Cazaly and "One Day in September". "Up There Cazaly" topped the Australian singles charts in September 1979 and briefly held...
wrote a song about him him called, "It all sounds like football to me". Ted Whitten is heard answering questions humorously on the song.
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
. During a State of Origin
Interstate matches in Australian rules football
Australian rules football matches between teams representing Australian colonies/states and territories have been held since 1879. For most of the 20th century, the absence of a national club competition and international matches meant that football games between state representative teams were...
game only weeks before his death, Whitten, suffering from blindness due to the cancer, was driven around a lap of the MCG
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
, with his son Ted jr. by his side and Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
's "Hero" playing on the sound system. He received a standing ovation from the crowd, most of whom were too young to have ever seen him play in person, but for those who had had the privilege to see him play, it was a very emotional moment. The date of the game was Saturday 17 June 1995. This event was polled as the most memorable football event by the Melbourne newspaper The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
, and the moment is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport.
Post-career honours
In 1996, Whitten was among the first batch of inductees to the Australian Football Hall of FameAustralian 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, coaches and administrators. It was initially established...
, and was one of the twelve players immediately elevated to Legend status. He was selected as Captain of the AFL Team of the Century. In 2009 The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
nominated Whitten as one of the 25 greatest footballers never to win a Brownlow medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
.
Whitten is one of only three Australian rules footballers recognised as a Legend of Australian Sport in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, alongside Ron Barassi
Ron Barassi
Ronald Dale Barassi, Jr AM is a former Australian rules football player and coach. During a long and decorated career, Barassi has been one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football. His father, Ron Barassi, Sr., was the first Australian footballer killed at Tobruk during...
and Leigh Matthews
Leigh Matthews
Leigh Raymond "Lethal Leigh" Matthews AM is a former player and coach of Australian rules football. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League from 1969 to 1985, coached Collingwood from 1986–1995, and coached the Brisbane Lions from 1999 to 2008...
.
Death
Whitten died from cancer in August 1995. Such was his popularity he was given a nationally televised state funeral, had a bridge named for him (EJ Whitten Bridge on the Western Ring Road) and a statue erected at the Bulldogs former home ground, Whitten (Western) Oval in West Footscray, which was also renamed in his honour.His passing was broken live on an episode of The Footy Show
The AFL Footy Show
The Footy Show is a Logie Award winning Australian sports television program, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates.This show, which is dedicated to the AFL and Australian rules football, made its debut on 24 March 1994 at the same time as the other version which relates to the NRL and rugby...
. Whitten's death, while imminent, came as a shock to the football community. Hosts and panelists of The Footy Show
The AFL Footy Show
The Footy Show is a Logie Award winning Australian sports television program, shown on the Nine Network and its affiliates.This show, which is dedicated to the AFL and Australian rules football, made its debut on 24 March 1994 at the same time as the other version which relates to the NRL and rugby...
, upon breaking the news, were too emotionally distressed to continue and ended the episode prematurely.
After his death, Whitten's son, Ted Whitten jnr
Ted Whitten jnr
Edward James "Ted" Whitten Junior is a former Australian rules footballer in the VFL.As the son of Hall of Fame VFL legend Ted Whitten Sr., Whitten was in the media spotlight from a very young age and was expected to achieve big things and follow in the footsteps of his father...
instituted the EJ Whitten Legends Game in the memory of his father. The game is a charity match to raise money for prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
research.
Achievements
- Played 321 games, Footscray, 1951–1970 (A record that was surpassed by Doug HawkinsDoug HawkinsDoug Hawkins is a former Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL who made a name for himself in the media in his post-football career.-Early career:...
some 24 years later and which was eventually surpassed by Chris GrantChris GrantChristopher Lee "Chris" Grant is a former Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League, and a legend of the Western Bulldogs Football Club...
in 2006 and also by Brad JohnsonBrad Johnson (Australian rules footballer)Brad Johnson is a former Australian rules footballer who was the captain of Australian Football League team Western Bulldogs...
in 2009) - Career Goals: 360
- Premiership: 1954
- Captain-coach of runners-up: 1961
- Captain 14 years: 1957–1970
- Coach 13 years: 1957–1966, 1969–1971
- Club championCharles Sutton MedalThe Charles Sutton Medal is awarded to the player adjudged Best and Fairest for the Western Bulldogs. Scott West holds the record at the club, winning seven medals, followed by Gary Dempsey, with six...
5 times: 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961 - Club Leading Goal kicker 4 times: 1961, 1962, 1964(tied), 1968
- Victorian representative player: 29 times
- Tied with Allen AylettAllen AylettDr. Allen Aylett is a former Australian rules football player and administrator. He was the chairman/president of the North Melbourne Football Club during the 1970s and then again from 2001–2005...
for the 1958 Tassie MedalTassie MedalThe Tassie Medal was awarded to the outstanding player at each Australian rules football Interstate Carnival or Australian interstate championship series held between 1937 and 1988 with the exception of the 1975 knock-out series.... - Captain-Coach, Club champion, Club Leading Goalkicker: 1961
Year-by-year statistics
| Year | Team | No. | Games | Goals | Votes Brownlow Medal The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 3 | 15 | 22 | 0 | |
| 1952 | 3 | 14 | 19 | 6 | |
| 1953 | 3 | 17 | 1 | 3 | |
| 1954 | 3 | 20 | 1 | 9 | |
| 1955 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 9 | |
| 1956 | 3 | 18 | 16 | 9 | |
| 1957 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 12 | |
| 1958 | 3 | 17 | 24 | 14 | |
| 1959 | 3 | 16 | 18 | 14 | |
| 1960 | 3 | 16 | 24 | 3 | |
| 1961 | 3 | 20 | 42 | 12 | |
| 1962 | 3 | 16 | 38 | 2 | |
| 1963 | 3 | 18 | 15 | 2 | |
| 1964 | 3 | 15 | 24 | 8 | |
| 1965 | 3 | 15 | 22 | 1 | |
| 1966 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 2 | |
| 1967 | 3 | 17 | 19 | 3 | |
| 1968 | 3 | 20 | 36 | 3 | |
| 1969 | 3 | 18 | 13 | 0 | |
| 1970 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| Totals | 321 | 360 | 112 | ||