Cricket icon Ian Redpath’s amateur footy permit restored by the VAFA after 60-year exile

Ian Redpath played 66 Tests for Australia, yet one small detail of an Ashes tour cost him six decades in the amateur football wilderness. That’s finally been set right at age 83, reports PAUL AMY.

Ian Redpath with former VAFA president George Voyage and the framed certificate for his service to the association - plus the reinstatement of his playing permit. Picture: Paul Amy

Redpath, it’s good to see ya back.

Not to cricket, but to amateur football.

Sixty years after he lost his permit to play in the Victorian Amateur Football Association, former Test cricketer Ian Redpath has regained it at the age of 83.

The amateurs revoked Redpath’s permit after he accepted a tour allowance during the Australian cricket team’s visit to England in 1964. In the past few years, VAFA identity and immediate past president George Voyage has been keen to restore it.

He did so last week, presenting Redpath with a framed certificate for his service to the association and for the reinstatement of his playing permit.

He was taken aback.

“It was a lovely surprise, to be quite honest,’’ Redpath, speaking from his Geelong home, said last night. “I was very touched.’’

He quipped that he was a “late developer … I’m looking forward to getting a kick … I’ll be back in training immediately’’.

Ian Redpath's certificate from the VAFA.

Redpath was a fine player for Geelong amateurs – with some modesty he acknowledged that he represented the VAFA and won four best and fairests for his club. He was also an All-Australian player.

“I loved the old amateur footy, I loved it,’’ Redpath said.

“It was on a par with cricket, really. I did try to play in ’64 or ’65, but I was deemed a professional because I’d taken my tour allowance in England. From memory, the rules at that time varied from state to state but they were very strict on it in Victoria.

“I could play in other leagues but not in the amateur comp. I didn’t do that. I basically got into cricket a bit more then, which on reflection was a good move.

“In those days, we all played cricket in summer and footy or baseball in winter. All my teammates from that era did that. It kept you fit.’’

Ian Redpath (3R) ahead of a VAFA rep match at the MCG.

The definition of an amateur footballer at the time was “one who has never competed for a prize money, staked bet or declared wager, or who has not knowingly or without protest competed with or against a professional for a prize of any description or for public exhibition, or who has never taught, pursued or assisted in the practice of any athletic exercise as a means of livelihood or pecuniary gain’’.

Test captain Lindsay Hassett also lost his permit. The rules were changed in 1974 to accommodate athletes who had been paid in other sports.

Redpath attended Geelong College, where he excelled in athletics, cricket, tennis and football. The college recognised his outstanding all-round ability by awarding him its prestigious WH Hill Memorial Prize in 1958.

Ian Redpath hits a six during his illustrious cricket career.

A patient opener, Redpath played 66 Test matches between 1962 and 1976, scoring 4737 runs at 43.45, with eight centuries and 31 half-centuries.

Voyage called Redpath an “iconic figure in Australian sport’’.

“The way he lived his life and the way he played sport, he’s someone we should all admire,’’ he said.

He said Redpath’s reinstatement should have occurred many years ago and he was pleased it had finally been done.

Ian Redpath at the official opening of the Geelong Cricket Club international practice wicket facility, facing the first ball on the pitch.

Voyage said it was “absolutely remarkable’’ that he lost his amateur football permit because he was playing cricket for his country. He said he had been told that Geelong great Bob Davis once offered Redpath a place in the Cats’ league team but he chose to instead line up with Geelong amateurs.

Redpath confirmed the approach from Davis in 1962. He said he had a knee injury at the time and didn’t take it up.

Having lived all his life in Geelong, where for many years he operated an antiques shop, Redpath supports “the mighty Cats’’ in the AFL.

Asked about his health, he replied: “I’m upright – and I’m very grateful for it’’.

Originally published as Cricket icon Ian Redpath’s amateur footy permit restored by the VAFA after 60-year exile