Allan Jeans

Allan Jeans
Personal information
Full name	Allan Jeans
Date of birth	21 September 1933
Place of birth	Finley, New South Wales
Date of death
Place of death	Lynbrook, Victoria
Original team(s)	Tocumwal / Finley
Height/Weight	180 cm / 83 kg
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1955–1959	St Kilda	77 (26)
Coaching career3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1961–1976 1981–1987; 1989–1990 1992 Total	St Kilda Hawthorn Richmond Representative Victoria	332 (193–138–1) 221 (159–61–1) 22 (5–17–0) 575 (357–216–2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1959 season. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1992.
Career highlights
Coaching 4x VFL Premiership: 1966, 1983, 1986, 1989 Australian Football Hall of Fame (inaugural Inducted) St Kilda Team of the Century (Coach)

Allan Jeans (21 September 1933 – 13 July 2011) was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame at its inception in 1996. Jeans was known for his oral motivation skills as a coach and led St Kilda and Hawthorn to a total of four premierships.

Football

After a modest 77-game playing career with the St Kilda Football Club (1955–1959), Jeans, known as "Yabby", took the reins of the Saints in 1961 for a remarkable 16-year career as senior coach. He coached St Kilda to successive grand finals, in 1965 and 1966, including the Saints' first (and only) VFL premiership in 1966. He took the Saints to another grand final appearance in 1971. Claiming "burn-out" he retired from coaching the team at the end of 1976.

In 1981 Jeans revived his coaching career when he was appointed coach for the Hawthorn Football Club. He coached them until 1990 (excepting a year off in 1988 due to brain injury) establishing them as the dominant VFL team of the 1980s with premierships in 1983, 1986, 1988 and 1989 from seven consecutive grand finals.

Finally, he had a short-lived one-year stint at Richmond in 1992, winning only five out of 22 games.

Later life

Jeans, following his retirement from his job as a Senior Sergeant with Victoria Police, became an avid social lawn bowls player at Cheltenham Lawn Bowls Club. His most recent public appearance was during the post-match presentations at the 2006 AFL Grand Final. He died following years of ill-health on 12 July 2011.

External links

• St Kilda Saints profile of Allan Jeans
• Allan Jeans's statistics from AFL Tables

Sporting positions
Preceded by Jim Francis	St Kilda Football Club coach 1961–1976	Succeeded by Ross Smith
Preceded by David Parkin	Hawthorn Football Club coach 1981–1987	Succeeded by Alan Joyce
Preceded by Alan Joyce	Hawthorn Football Club coach 1989–1990	Succeeded by Alan Joyce