Colin Watson (footballer)


Colin Campbell Watson was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.
Watson played with St Kilda in various positions, predominantly on the half back line or across the centre. Spotted as a schoolboy by Roy Cazaly and was brought to Melbourne in 1919 where he played some games with VFA side Port Melbourne. He played three games for St Kilda in 1920 before returning home to the country, and then returning to St Kilda mid-1922 where his career finally took off.
He was outstanding in the 1924 interstate carnival, won the Brownlow medal in 1925 and was regarded as the best footballer in the land. In 1926, he accepted the position of captain-coach of Stawell, but St Kilda, perhaps not surprisingly, refused to clear him. After standing out of football for a year, Watson crossed to a different country club, Maryborough, without a clearance, and the Ballarat Football League was disqualified by the VFL as a consequence. Watson stayed in the country, initially with Maryborough, and later with his original club, South Warrnambool, for seven years.
He returned to St Kilda in 1933 and was captain-coach of the side in 1934. In 1935 he left the side after the first game of the season and returned to the country.
Watson was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and into the Saints inaugural Hall of Fame in 2003.