Triple Brownlow Medal winner Ian Stewart is on a relentless pursuit to reclaim his missing “Charlies”
Triple Brownlow medal winner Ian Stewart has opened up on how his prized possessions ended up for sale in England after originally loaning them to a clothing story. See what he said.
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Triple Brownlow Medal winner Ian Stewart was shocked his three “Charlies” ended up in a house on the east coast of England and were now up for sale after lending them to a men’s clothing shop for a free shirt and discounted suits.
Just like his unwavering courage on the football field for St Kilda and Richmond, Stewart, 81, says he is the rightful owner of the three Brownlows.
In a rare public appearance, he told a packed MyState Bank Arena at the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame at the weekend he was determined to get them back.
“When I get them back I am going to hand them over to the Tasmania Devils so then we will know where they are,” Stewart said.
A Legend in the AFL Hall of Fame along with fellow-Tasmanians Peter Hudson, Royce Hart and Darrel Baldock, Stewart won back-to-back Brownlow Medals at St Kilda in 1965 and 1966, and a third when he switched to Tigerland in 1971.
A phonecall from an auction house out of the blue took Stewart by surprise.
“This is a true story – I used to loan them [Brownlow Medals] to shop keepers who wanted to put them in their windows,” Stewart said.
“One in particular was in Elsternwick in Melbourne, a menswear shop where I used to get some men’s clothes and I didn’t always pay at the top rate when the Brownlow was in the window.
“They happened to be in the window for 20 years.
“When I won the last one he wanted two there, so I gave him another one and got a free shirt.
“This was all 40 years ago and I haven’t seen the Brownlows for 40 years.
“I’d forgotten about them _ I knew that I didn’t have them, but what are you going to do with them anyhow.
“I got a call from an auctioneer only three weeks ago and he said I just thought I’d let you know we are going to sell your Brownlows.
“He said you don’t own them.
“I said I beg your pardon.
“He said I have a client who has got them and he says that he bought a house in England and he bought the house with the contents, and in the contents were all three of your Brownlow Medals.
“I said you can’t sell them, they are mine.
“He didn’t agree with that.
“So this particular guy that I have never met ended up with three Brownlows on the east coast of England in a house he bought with the contents _ including three Brownlows, not one, but three of them.
“I was a bit lazy in not going back to these people [shop owners] after 40 years.
“They had passed away, I’d nearly passed away, but in time we are going to get them back.
“They are mine, I never sold them, I never gave them away, I just loaned them.”
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