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Neil A Button

Murray Bridge Rowing Club (SA)

Malcolm Ashwood wrote the following profile on Neil Button for The Footy Almanac website in 2020: https://www.footyalmanac.com.au/neil-the-bear-button-champion-footballer-quality-human-being/ and it is republished with the permission of the author and publisher. The article on Neil is included in Malcolm's book - The Definitive Rulebook with 40 similar articles on other sports folk on not only there sporting career but life in general.

Whilst having a football focus, Malcolm Ashwood, also mentions his rowing coaching. The article was located by fellow rowing historian Phil Mangelsdorf who has added a couple of other insights at the foot of this profile.

It also demonstrates the era when elite sportsmen and women participated successfully in both summer and winter sports.

Neil Alexander Button

Born:  28th July 1952

League Career:  1971 to 1985

Norwood games: 283 (163 goals)Reserves games: 11 (6 goals)Under 19 games:  19 (8 goals) – 1970State games:  9 (5 goals) – 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1979

Debut: v Central District (Elizabeth) – 29th May 1971Finale: v West Adelaide (Football Park) – 21st September 1985

League Premierships: 1975, 1978, 1982 Ardath Cup: 1977 Advertiser Team of the Year: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981 State Carnival Representative:  1972, 1979 Norwood vice-captain: 1978, 1979 Norwood Life Member: 1981 Norwood Hall of Fame Norwood Team of the Century

1971 – Flehr Trophy – runner-up best 1st year player 1972 – Second Fairest & Most Brilliant Player, runner-up to Robert Oatey1973 – Meritorious Service Award 1974 – Fourth Fairest & Most Brilliant 1975 – Premiership, 5 Year Certificate1976 – Outstanding Services Rendered 1977 – Third Fairest & Most Brilliant, Ardath Cup 1978 – Premiership, Second Fairest & Most Brilliant – runner-up to Michael Taylor 1979 – Second Fairest & Most Brilliant – runner-up to Michael Taylor 1981 – Meritorious Service Award 1982 – Premiership1985 – EA Johnson Service Award

When great ruckmen of the SANFL from the 70s and 80s are brought up, the names Rick Davies and Peter Carey are genuinely the first two mentioned for mine. It is a travesty of justice that Neil Button is not immediately included (also Mick Redden IMO).

‘The Bear’ was the consummate big occasion player. If there was a Jack Oatey Medal back then, Neil would have been a soda in the Legs’ magnificent drought- breaking ’75 flag win over the Bays. Neil won the BOG award in the Ardath Cup night series Grand Final when Norwood defeated East Perth in a cliff-hanger (winning $50k – huge money back then).

In Norwood’s thrilling one point centenary flag win over Sturt in ’78, no small part was due to Neil getting on top of Rick Davies in the second half – Norwood coming from 29 points down at three-quarter time. Of course, Sturt supporters appreciate Phil Gallagher’s brilliant mark and ice cold veins to kick the goal. In reality, 14.26 isn’t great kicking for goal.

Neil was moved to centre half-forward in ’82. He felt he never really got the full hang of how to play the position. I reckon Bear’s modesty shines through – let’s remember the selectors of Norwood’s Team of the Century picked Neil at CHF so that speaks volumes.

Football career

Neil joined Norwood in 1970 as an under-age player. He debuted in the league team in 1971. He played 283 games for Norwood, nine State games and made the All Stars team in 1972. He played predominately as a ruckman but, later in his career, at centre half-forward. He was part of three Premierships: 1975, 1978 and 1982. He loved his days at Norwood and considered the Club as ‘his other family’.

Neil was disappointed at times with some players’ attitude to State football. It seemed like some were more auditioning for a spot on a VFL list instead of doing their utmost for the famous red SA jumper.

While Neil was employed as a professional footballer by Norwood, he invested in himself and went to university full-time to become a teacher. His major areas were mathematics and physical education. This ensured he was able to support his growing family after his playing days finished. He began teaching at Wirreanda High School whilst still playing for Norwood.

As you can tell, the Bear isn’t big on talking about his football career.

Life’s other adventures

For Neil, life after football became rich and diverse, if not unpredictable. Following his SANFL retirement, in 1986 Neil was asked to audition for a spot as a grinder in the South Australian syndicate having a crack at defending the Americas Cup. A grinder is a crew member on a yacht whose duties include operating manual winches (called ‘grinders’) that raise and trim the sails. It is a physically demanding role with a significant impact on a racing yacht’s overall performance.

Neil’s kayaking and swimming fitness enabled him to pass the test with flying colours, but he felt the syndicate could have been more professionally run so decided to relinquish the opportunity put to him. It would also have had a significant impact on his family who were well established in Adelaide at the time. By the time Neil left Adelaide, he and Gillian had four children.

Neil’s teaching career included stints at Sale Technical College, Gippsland Grammar School, Wodonga High School, St Paul’s College (Walla Walla), James Fallon High School (Albury) and finally at Moss Vale High School until he retired in 2013. Neil has always been grateful for his life at Norwood, because it afforded him the opportunity to re-educate himself as a teacher. It was the mathematics that enabled him to move schools easily around Australia and to live the life he has enjoyed since.

Neil continued to swim and compete with AUSSI (Australian Union of Senior Swimmers Inc.) in open water races from 1,200 metres up to six kilometres. He also took up wave ski competitions and flat water kayak racing. Neil competed in sprint racing as well as marathon racing, including the Murray River 200km and 2 Red Cross Murray Marathons.

While working at Gippsland Grammar School, Neil was the teacher in-charge of the Rowing Program, coached the school’s AFL team, and managed the Alpine Ski Race team. He was also heavily involved with the Duke of Edinburgh Program. Neil did most of his rowing coaching in his K1 kayak leaving the power boats to other coaches. The fitness level gained from following crews in the kayak allowed Neil to complete the Red Cross Murray Marathon for the second time (404 kilometre paddle from Yarrawonga to Swan Hill over five days).

Football coaching

Gippsland Grammar School had not won a senior game of football at interschool level before Neil took over coaching the team. He added the senior basketball team to the football team to create a team that won each of its inter-school matches and won the Sun Herald Cup in Melbourne.

In 1993 Neil was appointed assistant coach to the newly formed VSFL Under-18 competition from which prospective talent would be drafted into the AFL. When Neil was appointed, he was asked what his goal would be in terms of the number of players he would see drafted at the end of the year. Neil said he expected to have three players drafted and was told it would not happen. But three players from East Gippsland were, in fact, drafted (Mark Stephens, Ben Robbins and Craig Biddiscombe)! He took a week away from coaching to take his Alpine Race Team to Mt Buller in August of that year. This probably explains why he did not continue as an assistant coach the next year.

Riding bikes and moving on

Neil also has participated in the Great Victoria Bike Ride – taking students from Gippsland Grammar for a nine day riding and camping event each December. Most people have on their bucket list to drive the Great Ocean Road but Neil has had the opportunity to ride it on a push bike! He also rode from Bairnsdale in East Gippsland to Melbourne via the coast, again with students. A group of four Gippsland Grammar students said they wanted to do the Round the Bay in a Day cycling event (210kms). Neil and the four students trained doing approximately 80km a day in preparation and the ride took 10.5 hours to complete on mountain bikes.

When the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Alaska in 1989, Esso Australia (the major employer for Gippsland) decided to consolidate its operations, relocating to Melbourne. This had significant ramifications with not only jobs lost for Esso employees but also with less income being spent in the district. This caused other businesses to shut down with 263 families forced to leave the area, including 93 students leaving the school where Neil was working. There needed to be teacher reductions for the school to remain viable.

Neil took a redundancy package and moved with Gillian (who he’d married in 1972) to Albury, where he immediately gained further employment as a maths teacher. You can’t always predict what happens in your life or and what’s going to change in it. The important thing is how to use it positively to move forward in your lives.

Albury was a great place to live and work, especially if you were into outdoor life. Neil added competitive golf to his range of activities and continued with his snow skiing. Winter consisted of golf on Saturdays and skiing on Sundays. His golf handicap stabilised at 7-8 for the next 20 years.

After Albury, Neil and Gillian moved to Bowral. They both took up teaching positions at Moss Vale High School. Neil did another nine day bike ride around the Margaret River region of Western Australia at this time where he contracted Ross River Virus at a little place called Nannup. That rotten little free-loader stayed with him for the next twelve months. Despite retiring, he is still heavily involved with students in the Duke of Edinburgh Program at Moss Vale High School.

This sums up how Neil has always led a very active life since leaving football. Neil was willing to have a go at anything, influencing others whenever possible, in particular the adolescents he met through teaching. He may not be as nimble as he once was (was The Bear ever considered nimble?), but he has always found ways to compensate to continue to remain active and to mentor and support the adolescents in his life. He believes that he has gained so much more from them than they ever would from him!

Summing up, Neil was a revered figure at the Parade – loved by supporters, massively respected by his teammates and opponents alike, and admired by SANFL followers in general. Neil Button, champion footballer, quality human being. Thanks Bear!

http://www.redlegsmuseum.com.au/ON_FIELD/PLAYERS/BUTTON__Neil.aspx

 

As foreshadowed at the top of this profile, Phil Mangelsdorf has added the following insights.

The Button family members were prominent and successful rowers at the Murray Bridge Rowing Club.  

Neil "Tangles" Button, as he was known in rowing:

Neil in the five seat of the 1972 SA King's Cup crew

Extracted by Andrew Guerin
October 2025

Sources

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