Neil Stanley "Stan" Alves, OAM (born 22 May 1946) is a former Australian rules football player and coach.

Stan Alves
Personal information
Full name Neil Stanley Alves
Date of birth (1946-05-22) 22 May 1946 (age 78)
Original team(s) Edithvale-Aspendale
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 78 kg (172 lb)
Position(s) Wing
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1965–1976 Melbourne 226 (160)
1977–1979 North Melbourne 040 0(14)
Total 266 (174)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1968–1975 Victoria 4 (?)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1994–1998 St Kilda 110 (53–56–1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1979.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 1975.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1998.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Playing career

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Melbourne

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Alves played 226 games and kicked a total of 160 goals for the Melbourne Football Club from 1965 until 1976. captaining them from 1973–1976 and finishing runner-up for the Brownlow Medal in 1975.[1]

North Melbourne

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Alves joined North Melbourne in 1977. Legend has it that he chose to play for North Melbourne rather than Collingwood based on a coin toss.[2] It proved to be a wise decision as North Melbourne met Collingwood in the 1977 Grand Final and, after initially playing a 76-all draw, won the replay 151–124.[3]

Alves played 40 games for North Melbourne and kicked a total of 14 goals from 1977 until 1979 before retiring from his playing career.[4]

Coaching career

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St Kilda Football Club senior coach (1994-1998)

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Alves became senior coach of St Kilda in 1994, when he replaced Ken Sheldon. In the 1994 season, St Kilda under Alves finished 13th on the ladder out of 15 teams in a disappointing season. The following 1995 season, St Kilda once again under Alves had another disappointing season as they finished 14th out of 16 teams. St Kilda won the 1996 pre-season competition.[5] In the 1996 season, St Kilda under Alves had another disappointing season, after a promising pre-season competition to find itself finished 10th after round 22. St Kilda won just 10 games for the season.

Alves however went on to coach St Kilda in the 1997 season to finish as runners up and first grand final in 26 years in 1997, where St Kilda under Alves lost to Adelaide by thirty-one points in the 1997 AFL Grand Final.[6] This earned Alves the AFL Coach of the Year award. In the 1998 season, St Kilda under Alves had a great start winning 11 of its first 14 games, but unfortunately an end of season drop of form saw St Kilda drop down the ladder. St Kilda again qualified for the Finals Series finishing sixth. In the 1998 Finals Series, St Kilda were eliminated by Melbourne In the semi-final. At the end of the 1998 season, Alves was sacked as St Kilda Football Club senior coach.[7] Alves was then replaced by Tim Watson as St Kilda Football Club senior coach.

Awards

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On 24 October 2000, Alves was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australian football.[8] On 26 January 2008, Alves was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for "service to Australian Rules football as a player, coach and commentator, and to the community as a supporter of charitable organisations".[9]

Statistics

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Playing statistics

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[10]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1965 Melbourne 15 12 1 2 115 13 128 32 0.1 0.2 9.6 1.1 10.7 2.7
1966 Melbourne 15 18 2 12 254 44 298 63 0.1 0.7 14.1 2.4 16.6 3.5
1967 Melbourne 15 18 7 5 296 48 344 83 0.4 0.3 16.4 2.7 19.1 4.6
1968 Melbourne 15 18 20 17 278 70 348 74 1.1 0.9 15.4 3.9 19.3 4.1
1969 Melbourne 15 20 16 20 317 72 389 89 0.8 1.0 15.9 3.6 19.5 4.5
1970 Melbourne 15 20 3 16 318 84 402 98 0.2 0.8 15.9 4.2 20.1 4.9
1971 Melbourne 15 18 9 17 276 81 357 92 0.5 0.9 15.3 4.5 19.8 5.1
1972 Melbourne 15 21 22 14 373 62 435 136 1.0 0.7 17.8 3.0 20.7 6.5
1973 Melbourne 15 22 29 27 318 83 401 120 1.3 1.2 14.5 3.8 18.2 5.5
1974 Melbourne 15 21 11 24 343 114 457 123 0.5 1.1 16.3 5.4 21.8 5.9
1975 Melbourne 15 20 26 19 320 97 417 105 1.3 1.1 16.8 5.1 22.0 5.5
1976 Melbourne 15 18 14 19 225 120 345 73 0.8 1.1 12.5 6.7 19.2 4.1
1977 North Melbourne 2 16 3 11 223 81 304 84 0.2 0.7 13.9 5.1 19.0 5.3
1978 North Melbourne 2 6 2 3 74 22 96 27 0.3 0.5 12.3 3.7 16.0 4.5
1979 North Melbourne 2 18 9 14 210 84 294 66 0.5 0.8 11.7 4.7 16.3 3.7
Career 266 174 220 3940 1075 5015 1265 0.7 0.8 14.9 4.1 18.9 4.8

Coaching statistics

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[11]
Legend
 W  Wins  L  Losses  D  Draws  W%  Winning percentage  LP  Ladder position  LT  League teams
Season Team Games W L D W % LP LT
1994 St Kilda 22 7 14 1 34.1% 13 15
1995 St Kilda 22 8 14 0 36.4% 14 16
1996 St Kilda 22 10 12 0 45.5% 10 16
1997 St Kilda 25 17 8 0 68.0% 1 16
1998 St Kilda 24 13 11 0 54.2% 6 16
Career totals 115 55 59 1 48.3%

References

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  1. ^ "STAN ALVES". Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Sporting Life". The Age. 26 July 2002.
  3. ^ "STAN ALVES". Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  4. ^ "STAN ALVES". Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  5. ^ "AFL 1996 Ansett Cup Grand Final – St Kilda v Carlton – St Kilda holds up the trophy after winning the 1996 Ansett Cup". Slattery Media Group. 23 March 1996. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  6. ^ "Stan Alves reveals his biggest mistake in 1997 Grand Final". 30 June 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Strength through loyalty". 1 May 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Stan Alves". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  9. ^ "Neil Stanley Alves OAM". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  10. ^ Stan Alves' Player Profile at AFL Tables
  11. ^ Stan Alves' coaching profile at AFL Tables
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