Tom McNeil

Thomas McNeil (9 June 1929 – 24 March 2020 ) was an Australian rules footballer and politician. He played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1951 and 1952. Disappointed with his treatment during his playing career, McNeil was instrumental in the formation of a players union in 1955, the first attempt at a representative body for VFL players. From 1977 to 1989 he was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council.

Early life Born in Glasgow, Scotland on 9 June 1929, McNeil was evacuated with his sister to Australia in 1940, to escape the World War II conflict. Until their parents came over in 1947, they stayed with host families in Melbourne.

In round seven against Fitzroy, his fourth appearance for the year, he received an eye injury after being struck behind the play. His gash was stitched up by a doctor and he was sent to the Junction Oval cloakroom to recover from the anaesthetic. At the tribunal he received a two-week suspension for attempting to trip Brady, who was exonerated of his charge of having struck McNeil.

Players' union Later in 1954 he returned to Scotland and in an effort to improve his own coaching visited local soccer clubs to learn their coaching methods.

Through these relationships, McNeil was inspired to establish a union back in Australia for the VFL, which at the time had no representative body for players. He had been disappointed with his own treatment while at St Kilda and did not want others to experience what he had. Amongst his stated aims was that players were to be notified by the end of a season if they were going to be retained, as was the case in England. It was however a Hawthorn player, Pat Cash, that was most interested in McNeil's plans, as was Preston full-back Ted Henrys, a player from the Victorian Football Association (VFA), which he had also contacted. Cash was to become president, McNeil the secretary and Henrys treasurer. They planned to register the union with the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration.

The organisation's membership grew to 178 members through the season which accounted for approximately 20% of available players. The end came in December when the union was refused registration on technical grounds in a hearing at the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The union was disbanded the following year.

Politics In the 1960s, McNeil went to Western Australia to continue his coaching career and ended up remaining there. He remained in the Legislative Assembly until the end of his fourth term on 21 May 1989.