Sergio Silvagni

Sergio "Serge" Silvagni (born 28 June 1938) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Recognizable on the field with his bandy legs, stocky build and playing in a long-sleeved jersey with socks down, Silvagni played most of his career as a ruck-rover, forming one of the game's most celebrated on-ball divisions with ruckman John Nicholls and rover Adrian Gallagher.

Silvagni's father Giacomo emigrated to Australia in 1924 from Asiago, in the northern Italian province of Veneto. He was an outstanding schoolboy athlete. In 1948, competing for C.B.C. Clifton Hill, he won the Under-11 &5-yard sprint at the Victorian Christian Brothers' Combined Athletic Meeting. In 1949, he was the Under-12 handball champion of C.B.C. Clifton Hill. In 1953 running on a rain soaked he broke the 440 yard record by half second clocking 54.4 seconds and also winning the shot put at the combined Christian Brothers Secondary School sports at North Melbourne.

Silvagni, the cousin of John Benetti, made his debut for the Carlton Football Club on 24 May 1958 (Round 7) — although Carlton were defeated (10.19 (79) to 7.15 (57)) by South Melbourne, Silvagni, along with his cousin (Benetti), was one of the best Carlton players on the ground. He retired at the end of the 1971 season after a stunning career.

After retiring, Silvagni held various positions at the Carlton, serving as a committeeman before becoming Carlton's reserves coach, and served as the club's caretaker senior coach for a few weeks in 1978 between the departure of Ian Stewart as coach and the appointment of Alex Jesaulenko as captain-coach.

Silvagni married his wife Rita in 1963. He is the first of three generations to play football for Carlton: His son Stephen (born in 1967) played 312 games for Carlton from 1985 to 2001, and his grandson Jack made his debut in 2016.