Paul Weston (footballer)

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Paul Weston
Personal information
Full name	Paul L. Weston
Date of birth	(1957-04-09) 9 April 1957
Place of birth	Adelaide, South Australia
Original team	Glengowrie High School
Height/Weight	188 cm / 85 kg
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1973–1982 1983–1985 1986–1988 1989 Total	Glenelg Essendon West Torrens Norwood	196 (176) 60 (12) 49 (21) 23 (8) 328 (217)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
	South Australia	13
Coaching career
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1986–1988	West Torrens
¹ Playing statistics correct to end of 1989 season.
Career highlights
Essendon premiership player 1984, 1985 Glenelg captain 1979–1982 Glenelg best and fairest 1976, 1980 South Australia captain 1981, 1982 Fos Williams Medal 1982 West Torrens captain-coach 1986–1988 West Torrens best and fairest 1987 South Australian Football Hall of Fame 2002

Paul L. Weston (born 9 April 1957) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) as well as Glenelg, West Torrens and Norwood in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) during the 1970s and 1980s.

Early career

Weston started his career at Glenelg whilst still studying at Glengowrie High School, and quickly established himself as a key player, winning the club best and fairest in 1976 and taking the captaincy in 1979 at only 21 years of age. However, premiership success was elusive; during his time with the Tigers, Weston was a member of five losing Grand Finals - in 1974, 1975, 1977, 1981 and 1982. Frustrated by the lack of premiership success in his home state, Weston decided to try his luck in Victoria. Essendon won the race to recruit Weston, and so he relocated to Melbourne in January 1983 and began training with the club.^[1] However, there was a disagreement with the transfer fee; Glenelg had asked for AUD 175,000, but Essendon's offer was only around AUD 90,000.^[1] The case was taken to the National Football League Appeals Board, who in March 1983 set an undisclosed compromise fee that both Essendon and Glenelg were expected to agree on. Weston said afterward: "I am very relieved and happy ... I can now get on with the business of playing football instead of worrying about court cases."^[1]

Success at last!

Weston had played mostly as a centreman at Glenelg, but became a key defender while at Essendon. Weston made an immediate impression at his new club, winning the Most Consistent Player Award in his first season. But it seemed the curse of losing Grand Finals had followed him; Essendon were thrashed by Hawthorn in the 1983 VFL Grand Final. Weston, and Essendon, would have their revenge when they won back-to-back premierships against Hawthorn in 1984 and 1985. He was a South Australian State of Origin representative and won a Fos Williams Medal in 1982 for his performance against Western Australia at Football Park. Weston returned to South Australia in 1986 to take up a captain-coach role at West Torrens for three seasons, one of the last of his kind. He finished his football career with Norwood.

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Carman, Gerry (25 March 1983). "Weston in clear for Essendon". The Age.

External links

Paul Weston's statistics from AFL Tables
Essendon Football Club Profile
Profile at Australian Football

v t e Essendon Football Club 1984/1985 VFL Premiers

Captain: 5. Daniher 4. Baker 8. Clarke 10. Foulds 13. Williams 15. Ezard 18. Vander Haar 22. Duckworth 25. Merrett 26. Thompson 27. Madden 28. Weston 30. Walsh 32. Watson 33. Hawker 38. Harvey

Coach: Sheedy

Persondata
Name	Weston, Paul
Alternative names
Short description	Australian rules footballer and coach
Date of birth	9 April 1957
Place of birth	Adelaide, South Australia
Date of death
Place of death

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