Des English

Des English (born 22 January 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1980s. A tireless and absolutely reliable team player and defender, English played in the Carlton premiership sides of 1981 and 1982. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 1986 and never played again although he eventually recovered.

Carlton's emphatic return win against Hawthorn in the 1987 Grand Final, played out in record breaking September heat was largely attributed inspirationally and motivationally by the Carlton players to the real-life battles of teammates English, after his cancer diagnosis and Peter Motley, after a career-ending car accident. 1987 will always be recalled as a rallying point at which the team spirit was again reconfirmed and equally fondly remembered by all the Carlton faithful for Peter Dean's exhausted yet triumphant, passionate, and defiant raw words spoken on the dais at the games end....

'Motts..... Dessie...... your f--king bloody beautiful!!

History, personal circumstance, great team motivation, devotion and of most account the score shows that this flag was extra special for the Blues. In all truth though, Des English in fighting his own far greater fight provided the motivation that turned Carlton into an inexorable force through his example to an entire team and its fans of true personal and individual courage and also in this example gave great happiness to a generation of Carlton fans who already knew of and felt indebted to him for his resilience, reliability and toughness.

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References

External links

• Des English's statistics from AFL Tables
• Fullpointsfooty profile