- Ross Oakley
Ross Oakley (born 30 September 1942) is an
Australia n businessman and formerAustralian rules football er with St Kilda in the VFL.Playing career
Oakley attended
Wesley College, Melbourne and began his senior VFL footballing career with theSt Kilda Football Club in 1962. He went on to score 38 goals in 62 games. [ [http://stats.afl.com.au/public/statistics/personlist/o/person_r_o.shtml AFL Statistics ] ] His career was marred by unfortunate knee injuries; the first came in 1965 in St Kilda's semi-final victory, which meant Oakley missed the Grand Final. He suffereddéjà vu in 1966, missing not only the Grand Final, but St Kilda's first VFL premiership. Following a further injury before the start of the 1967 season, Oakley retired at the age of only 24.Executive roles
Oakley is most noted for his stint as the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Football League, presiding over its transformation into the
Australian Football League .He held the position, taking over from the position of Jack Hamilton in 1986. He was deeply involved in
merger s, such as the proposed 1989 Fitzroy - Footscray merger (which would have happened if it wasn't for the Footscray supporters saving raising enough money to keep Footscray alive) and was a key figure in the infamous 1996 Fitzroy-Brisbane Bears merger, the last year he was in charge of the AFL.He oversaw the league at a time of significant expansion, with new licences awarded to the
West Coast Eagles andBrisbane Bears and later theAdelaide Football Club andFremantle Football Club s.He holds a
Master of Business Administration (MBA) from theMelbourne Business School .Board positions
Between 1997-2001, Oakley was a director of
Harris Scarfe Holdings Limited .References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
