Phil Carman

Club

Representative

Phil Carman (born 4 September 1950 in Edenhope, Victoria) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Norwood in the SANFL and Collingwood, Melbourne, Essendon and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1970s and 1980s.

A flamboyant player who wore white boots and fronted the Tribunal on numerous occasions due to disciplinary issues, Carman was nicknamed "Fabulous Phil" by those who saw him play.

At the age of 16, Carman left his hometown in western Victoria to play for Norwood in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He played with Norwood from 1970 until 1974, spending two years out of the game because of a contract wrangle between Norwood and Collingwood and Collingwood’s refusal to allow him to play for Norwood. In total, he played just 58 games for Norwood and several for the South Australian State side. One of his most colourful moments for Norwood was when he rubbed future Adelaide coach Graham Cornes’ face in the mud in front of the Norwood members stand after Cornes had elbowed him (the footage is also famous for Cornes flipping the bird at the Norwood members). By 1974, Collingwood, who had shown plenty of interest in him, finally persuaded him to return to Victoria, even though he did not like the football lifestyle in Melbourne.

Carman made an immediate impression. In his debut VFL season in 1975 he won the Collingwood’s Best and Fairest award, the Copeland Trophy and was Collingwood’s leading goalkicker with 41 goals. He was also selected to play for Victoria, and played in the Championship winning team of the Australian National Football Carnival. Carman did, however, break a bone in his foot during the season, keeping him outs of side for eight weeks, but he still only finished three votes away from winning the VFL’s Best and Fairest, the Brownlow Medal, in his debut year.