Greg Stafford (footballer)

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**Greg Stafford**
Personal information

Birth	August 27, 1974 (1974-08-27) (age 33),
Recruited from	Western Suburbs Magpies AFC (Sydney AFL)
Height and weight	203cm / 105kg
Playing career¹
Debut	Round 4, April 18, 1993, Sydney Swans vs. Essendon, at SCG
Team(s)	Sydney Swans (1993-2001) 130 Games, 58 Goals Richmond (2002-2006) 74 Games, 83 Goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2006 season
Career highlights

Gregory "Greg" Stafford (born August 27, 1974) is a retired Australian professional Australian rules football player who played for the Sydney Swans and the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League.

1 Sydney career
2 Move to Richmond
3 Stalking incident
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Sydney career

Having grown up in Ashbury, New South Wales, Stafford was not familiar with Australian rules football when he first began playing, he was introduced to the game when he saw it being played in a local field near his home. After a few seasons in his local competition, talent scouts realised the potential of the big ruckman who could also kick goals. He was first recruited by the Sydney Swans from the local Sydney Football League as a rookie outside of the draft. Stafford created much publicity at the time as one of the first Sydneysiders to reach AFL level when he made his first senior appearance with the Swans.

[edit] Move to Richmond

Inconsistency and injury eventually saw him traded to the Richmond Football Club, who were looking to strengthen their ruck division.

In a career without too many accolades, Stafford has been consistent, tough and hard-working in the ruck for both the Tigers and the Swans.

He announced his retirement effective at the end of the 2006 season, before the Round 22 match against West Coast. [1] Stafford booted 3 goals in his farewell game, having played 204 AFL matches.

Greg is now the ruck coach at the Essendon Football Club

Greg played in the 2007 Asian Australian Football Championships for the China Reds.

[edit] Stalking incident

In 2002, one of the more bizzare moments in AFL history, a crazed fan ran onto the field during a game and attempted to touch Stafford. It was later revealed that the woman had been stalking him for five years and was quoted as saying "I am not guilty of stalking Greg ... I am guilty of loving Greg."^[1]