Ross Oakley

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Ross Oakley (born 30 September 1942) is an Australian businessman and former Australian rules footballer with St Kilda in the VFL.

1 Playing career
2 Executive roles
3 Board positions
4 References

[edit] Playing career

Oakley attended Wesley College, Melbourne and began his senior VFL footballing career with the St Kilda Football Club in 1962. He went on to score 38 goals in 62 games. ^[1] His career was marred by unfortunate knee injuries; the first came in 1965 in St Kilda's semi-final victory, which meant Oakley missed the Grand Final. He suffered déjà vu in 1966, missing not only the Grand Final, but St Kilda's first VFL premiership. Following a further injury before the start of the 1967 season, Oakley retired at the age of only 24.

[edit] Executive roles

Oakley is most noted for his stint as the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Football League, presiding over its transformation into the Australian Football League.

He held the position, taking over from the position of Jack Hamilton in 1986. He was deeply involved in mergers, such as the proposed 1989 Fitzroy - Footscray merger (which would have happened if it wasnt for the Footscray supporters saving raising enough money to keep Footscray alive) and was a key figure in the infamous 1996 Fitzroy-Brisbane Bears merger, the last year he was in charge of the AFL.

He oversaw the league at a time of significant expansion, with new licences awarded to the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears and later the Adelaide Football Club and Fremantle Football Clubs.

He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Melbourne Business School.