Ron Evans - Football Administrator

Football Administrator

He served on the committee of the Essendon Football Club from 1978 to 1987, having lost the 1981 election for President by a single vote to his former team-mate Greg Sewell.

In 1988 he stood for President once again; and, despite Sewell being a hot favourite for the position, Evans unexpectedly won the election. He served as President of the Essendon Football Club from 1988 to 1992.

To the surprise of everyone, Evans announced his retirement as president of the Essendon F.C. at the end of 1992. As President he had been responsible for many significant events and many important changes over his tenure, including engineering the 1992 move of Essendon's home matches to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the 1991 retention of coach Kevin Sheedy when it seemed inevitable that Sheedy would move to New South Wales, and coach the Sydney Swans.

Soon after his shock resignation it was revealed that he had been appointed to one of the new positions of AFL commissioner whose task it was to guide, influence, and direct the future of the AFL competition. He served as an AFL Commissioner from 1993 to 1997, and from 1998 to 2007 he was the Chairman of the AFL (i.e., the governing body of the elite Australian rules football competition).