Garry J. "Flea" Wilson is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er in the Victorian Football League.

Background

Wilson, during his playing days, was described by The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers as having "limitless courage" as a wispy rover, with a playing weight of only 64 kg. He played wearing a headguard after several cases of concussion. Many considered him one of the most technically gifted players ever to play the game, and he was renowned for his hard training ethic.

Debuting in 1971 with the Fitzroy Football Club

Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

, Wilson came from Preston

Preston, Victoria

Preston is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin. At the 2006 Census, Preston had a population of 27,892.-Settlement:...

 Swimmers and forged a successful career, winning best and fairest

Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...

 awards with the Lions in 1972, 1976, 1978, 1979 and 1980. He finished third in the Brownlow Medal

Brownlow Medal

The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...

 count of 1978. Always amongst the Brownlow votes, his best season was 1979, when he finished just one vote behind the eventual winner, when all the Melbourmne newspapers had him far out in front of their own polls. Wilson became captain in 1982. He finished with 268 games to his name after retiring in 1984.

Some of Garry Wilson's finest performances came in the interstate arena. He represented either the VFL or Victoria 12 times, being awarded consecutive All Australian blazers in 1979 and 1980.

Wilson was named as the Vice Captain in Fitzroy's Team of the Century, on the half-forward line.

In 1999 Wilson was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame

Australian Football Hall of Fame

The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coaches and administrators. It was initially established...

.

Career highlights

Playing career:

• Fitzroy 1971–1984 (Games 268; Goals 452; Brownlow votes 161)

Player honors:

• 2nd Brownlow Medal 1979, 3rd Brownlow Medal 1978.
• Fitzroy Best & Fairest 1972, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980.
• Fitzroy leading goalkicker 1972, 1973.
• Fitzroy captain 1981 to 1984.
• All-Australian Team
  All-Australian Team
  The All-Australian Team is an all star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including interchange players and a coach, of the best performed during the season....
  
  1979, 1980
• Fitzroy Team of the Century.
• Victorian representative (12 games, 22 goals)
• Awarded 50 pride points