| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | 21 January 1937 |
| Recruited from | Bayswater Junior Football Club |
| Height and weight | 191cm, 94kg |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Team(s) |
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| Coaching career¹ | |
| Team(s) | |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 1968 season | |
| Career highlights | |
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John Albert Watts (later known as John K. Watts, born 21 January 1937 in Perth, Western Australia) is a retired Australian rules football player and former radio broadcaster.[1]
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John Watts has three daughters and two sons: Joanna, Donna (deceased), Vanessa, Luke John and Jonathon (Jack) Watts.
He is married to Lorraine Watts and has two previous marriages.
He was educated at Maylands State School (along with other football legend Graham Farmer) and began work as an apprentice carpenter. He started playing football at a young age with Bayswater Junior Football Club and was picked to play for East Perth Football Club in 1954.
Watts played 166 games as East Perth's fullback from 1954-1962.
In 1963 Watts was selected to play for the VFL for Geelong Football Club along with lifelong friend Farmer. He played 52 Games for Geelong, the most memorable being Geelong's 1963 Premiership Team.
In 1966, Watts moved to Tasmania to Captain/Coach the Hobart Football Club. In his first year as Captain/Coach he led his team to a premiership. He retired from his professional football career in 1968.
He is the only Australian rules football player to have played in three premiership sides, for three different teams, in three different states.[2]
He is also one of the few to captain and coach a team at the same time as winning a premiership for a professional side.
Although a highly respected payer, he is possibly best remembered for his off-field antics, and could be described as the epitome of a "Club Man". He was always found at all the Club's social events entertaining everyone with his stand up routine or "belting" out a tune on the piano. Both these qualities would prove beneficial in his later career.
It was during these events that he wrote several Club Anthems. He wrote the East Perth, Swan Districts and Geelong Football Club theme songs.
In March 2008 he was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame.[3]
After leaving football, Watts went on to have a successful career in radio and television. Over 30 years he worked for various Perth television and radio stations and was a popular comedian and even wrote jokes for famous comedians such as Bob Hope. Watts hosted his own Football Panel Show on TVW 7.
In the mid-70's, John K Watts (as he was now known, the K standing for "Know All") teamed up with local Perth disc jockey, Barry Martin. Together they formed a unique partnership which took them all the way to being employed at one stage by the late Kerry Packer. It was during this period that they gained fame when they became the only radio breakfast program in Australia to hold more than 50% of the population in their ratings.
Although politically incorrect and often controversial for its time, Watts always maintained that it "was all in good fun". His jokes often pointed fun at other sporting codes, politicians, other footballers (see Mal Brown) and himself.
Watts later went on to own several of Perth's radio stations and hotels.[4] He became a very successful businessman in Western Australia. At one stage during this time, he came up with the idea of integrating a West Australian team into the then Victorian Football League. Watts got together several prominent businessmen including Lindsay Fox to put forward the idea. This idea formulated into what is now the West Coast Eagles.
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