Geelong mourns the loss of Terry Callan

Geelong is remembering a highly skilled player from the 1960s who then became a key off field contributor after his death earlier this week.

Terry Callan with his son Tim.

Former Geelong defender Terry Callan is being remembered as highly skilled player after his death earlier this week.

The 86-year-old has been described as a “skilful back pocket with attacking flair” in a tribute posted by the Cats in a sign he would have thrived in the modern game.

Callan, who came through the ranks of Geelong Amateurs and Old Xaverians, joined the Cats for the 1960 season where he played seven games.

He became a senior regular in 1961, playing 17 games and also being selected to represent Victoria.

Unfortunately he missed out on the 1963 VFL premiership after undergoing knee surgery after playing in the first 17 games of the season.

Callan returned in 1964 and played three more VFL games before taking on prominent off-field roles with the Cats.

He was part of the general committee from 1973 to 1979, served as a selector between 1974 and 1977. He was also the club’s vice-president in 1979.

During 1963, Callan was part of what became known as the Miracle Match against Fitzroy in Round 10 when the Lions, who hadn’t won in 34 games, stunned the powerful Cats side, which featured 14 players who later played in the grand final.

In a 2020 interview with this masthead, he recalled the occasion.

“The ground was one big mud heap and it stunk,” he recalled.

“There were pools of water lying in the hollows of the mud and they had green slime on top of them.

“We had to tiptoe around them as we ran out before the game and I thought ‘what the heck are we doing playing footy here’.”

A week later, the VFL declared Round 11 a washout due to heavy rainfall in Melbourne with games postponed.

In the same period, Geelong recorded about a third of the rainfall as the Victorian capital.

Despite the better conditions, the Cats didn’t host Collingwood as scheduled until a week later.

“Up in Melbourne they thought Kardinia Park was under water but it was just the usual heavy winter track. I reckon we could have played that day,” Callan said.

“The weather turned out all right, too, with patches of sunshine so a few of us went and played golf.”

The Callan family connection with the Cats grew in 2002 when Terry’s son, Tim, was drafted by Geelong with the 36th pick in the national draft.

Tim would play 15 games for the Cats before leaving at the end of 2006. He played in the 2007 VFL premiership before earning an AFL lifeline with the Western Bulldogs.

Originally published as Geelong mourns the loss of Terry Callan