Ron Barassi

Ron Barassi Jr.
Barassi in 1953 for Melbourne
Personal information
Full name	Ronald Dale Barassi Jr.
Date of birth	(1936-02-27) 27 February 1936 (age 81)
Place of birth	Castlemaine, Victoria
Original team(s)	Preston Scouts
Height / weight	179 cm / 87 kg
Position(s)	Midfielder
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1953–1964	Melbourne	204 (295)
1965–1969	Carlton	050 0(35)
Total		254 (330)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
	Victoria	? (?)
Coaching career
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1965–1971	Carlton	147 00(99–47–1)
1973–80	North Melbourne	198 0(129–66–3)
1964, 1981–85	Melbourne	111 00(34–77–0)
1993–95	Sydney	059 00(13–46–0)
Total		515 (275–236–4)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1995.
Career highlights
Club 6× VFL Premiership: 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964 2× Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medallist: 1961, 1964 2× Melbourne leading goalkicker: 1958-1959 Melbourne captain: 1960–1964 Melbourne Hall of Fame–Legend status Representative 2× National Football Carnival Championship: 1956, 1958 3× All-Australian team: 1956, 1958, 1961 Victoria captain Overall Sport Australia Hall of Fame AFL Team of the Century–Rover Australian Football Hall of Fame–Legend status Coaching 4× VFL Premiership: 1968, 1970, 1975, 1977 VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Club

Representative

Overall

Coaching

Ronald Dale "Ron" Barassi Jr AM (born 27 February 1936) is a retired Australian rules football player and coach. During a long and decorated career, Barassi has been one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football. His father Ron Barassi Sr., also a prominent Australian rules footballer, was killed at Tobruk during World War II. The young Barassi spent his latter teenage years living with Norm Smith, coach of the Melbourne Football Club and a former teammate of his father.

Barassi's name is synonymous with Australian football. He is held by many as the game's greatest identity and was the first player to be inaugurated into the Australian Football Hall of Fame as a "Legend".

Barassi's coaching career was both successful and regarded by many as revolutionary. His clean record and passion for the game has earned him a place as celebrity and popular culture figure in Australia. He was named Victorian of the Year in 2009.

The only child of Ron Barassi, Sr., Barassi was born in the central Victorian town of Castlemaine in 1936. The following year, his father moved to Melbourne to play VFL football with the Melbourne Football Club. A pugnacious rover, Barassi's father was a reserve in the Demons' 1940 premiership team before leaving to serve with the army in North Africa. The young Barrasi spent his early years in Guildford, Victoria.

Barassi is a third generation Italian Australian. He is a descendent of one of the Swiss Italians of Australia who migrated to Australia in the 1850s and 1860s to areas such as Guildford, between Castlemaine and Daylesford.