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Geof Motley OAM (born 3 January 1935) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach who played for South Australian National Football League (SANFL) side Port Adelaide. Motley was born near Alberton Oval, the home ground of the Port Adelaide Football Club, and grew up supporting Port Adelaide. [1]

Geof Motley
Personal information
Date of birth	(1935-01-03) 3 January 1935 (age 87)
Place of birth	South Australia
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1953–1966	Port Adelaide	258 (156)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1954–1965	South Australia	28
Coaching career
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1959–1961	Port Adelaide	62 (48–14–0) 77.4%
1967–1969	North Adelaide	64 (44–20–0) 68.8%
Total		126 (92–34–0) 73.0%
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1966.
Career highlights
Club Magarey Medal (1964) 9x Port Adelaide premiership player (1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965) 4x Port Adelaide best and fairest (1958, 1959, 1963, 1965) Port Adelaide captain (1959-1966) Representative 28 matches for South Australia Coaching Port Adelaide premiership coach (1959) Honours Port Adelaide's greatest team (right half-back) Australian Football Hall of Fame (2002) South Australian Football Hall of Fame (2008) Life Member - Port Adelaide Football Club Life Member - SANFL
Source: AustralianFootball.com

Port Adelaide (1954-1966)

For eight seasons (1959–1966) Motley captained the then dominating team of the League, including a stint as captain-coach from 1959 to 1961. He was the only man to appear in all nine of the Magpies premiership teams between 1954 and 1965. Motley played a total of 258 games for Port between 1953 and 1966 and also represented South Australia on 28 occasions. [2]

During his career, Motley was never dropped from the league team and was never reported. During his time in league football, not being reported for foul play was a rare thing for a player as at the time having a certain amount of mongrel or thuggery was seen a common thing.[1]

Motley was named Port Adelaide's best and fairest player in 1958, 1959, 1963, and 1965; and won the Magarey Medal in 1964. [3]

Motley was captain-coach of the Magpies 1959 premiership winning side.

North Adelaide coach (1967-1969)

Geof Motley went on to coach North Adelaide in 1967-1969, taking the club to 3rd, 3rd, and 5th. They won the minor premiership in 1967 but were unable to compete successfully against Sturt and Port Adelaide in the major round. Under Motley's tutelage, Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend Barrie Robran debuted and won his first Magarey Medal.

After football

Since retiring, Motley has been bestowed with several honours including life membership of Port Adelaide and the SANFL, and membership of the South Australian Football Hall of Fame and the Australian Football Hall of Fame. In 2001 Motley was named on a half-back flank in Port Adelaide's 'Greatest Team of All Time'.[1]

Personal life

Geof was married to Gaynor who played for Australia in basketball (competing in the first world championships in Rio de Janeiro) and netball, and represented South Australia in softball[4] until her death on 21 February 1999.[5]

Their son, Peter Motley played for rival SANFL club Sturt and Victorian Football League (VFL) club Carlton, while Motley's second cousin is former Port Adelaide captain Warren Tredrea.

Note: "Geof" is the correct spelling of his name.[2]

References

External links

• Geof Motley at Port Adelaide Football Club
• Geof Motley at SANFL Hall of Fame
• North Adelaide Football Club
• Geof Motley at AustralianFootball.com

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