Mal Brown

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Malcolm "Mal" Brown (born October 26, 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League and West Australian Football League.

He was a highly contraversial character not only for his many visits to the tribunal during his playing career but also for a number of incidents when coaching as well.

[edit] WAFL career

Brown played in the WAFL for East Perth, Claremont and South Fremantle. His honours as a player include the Sandover Medal in 1969 and best and fairests at East Perth (1969, 70, 72).

He was made captain/coach of East Perth in 1970 and in this capacity he led them to their 1972 premiership ending a bittersweet run for the club where they had played in and lost 7 grand finals since 1960.

At the celebrations after the game as captain he was invited to drinks with the club hierarchy. Upon requesting that the rest of the team be able to join them, and being denied, he hence dragged the team to the nearby Norwood Hotel for their own celebration and thus bringing down the wrath of club president F.D. Book.

The end of this season also saw him lead East Perth as they competed in the Australian Club Chamionships. He is remembered for his appearance against Carlton where he single-handedly took on the opposition punching out one player after another after taking a dislike to their treatment of some of his team mates.

He also went on to coach South Fremantle to a premiership in 1980.

[edit] VFL career

Brown mostly played his career in the WAFL with East Perth, but moved to play in the VFL with the Richmond Football Club for the 1974 season. This earned him recognition in Victoria, where he was considered a highly controversial character. ^[1] He played 14 games and booted 25 goals as a ruck-rover for the Tigers, but did not play in the 1974 Grand Final due to suspension.

Brown is the father of current Hawthorn player Campbell. He has also been a prominent figure in the media, both during his playing days and post-playing days (when he was a writer for Inside Football magazine). In 2004, Brown was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame.