Vale Ian Bluey Hampshire

[Axe Man]

Bulldogs mourn loss of Ian Hampshire

Former Geelong and Footscray ruckman Ian Hampshire, who went on to coach the Bulldogs, has passed away after battling illness.

Hampshire, a hugely popular figure at both clubs, played 224 games. In reaching 113 games with the Cats and 111 with the Bulldogs, Hampshire became the first player in league history to surpass 100 games with two clubs.

“Bluey was a much-loved player and past player of the club,” Geelong CEO Brian Cook said.

“He was an exceptional player and a lovely person. The affection felt by those that played with and against him is a mark of both Ian as a player and a person.”

There was major symmetry in Hampshire’s career. He made his debut in 1968 for Geelong against the Bulldogs, while his Footscray debut came against the Cats in 1976. Hampshire’s 150th league game was for the Dogs against the Cats and his one final for Footscray also came against Geelong.

Known to most as ‘Bluey’, Hampshire represented Victoria in 1981. He was runner up in Footscray’s Best and Fairest in 1980 and third in 1981. He also finished fourth in the Cats’ Best and Fairest in 1972.

Hampshire retired half way through the 1982 season and took up the role of Bulldogs senior coach until the end of the 1983 campaign.

“Ian made a big impact at the Bulldogs on and off the field, and is one of a small number to have had the opportunity of playing and coaching at the Club,” said Bulldogs’ CEO Ameet Bains.

“He was an influential and respected player and person, and clearly left a positive mark on both Geelong and the Western Bulldogs.”

Ian is survived by his wife Jan, his son James and grandson James Jr, and by his daughter Raelee, son-in-law Geoff and granddaughters Elitta and Jamima.

[bornadog]

Tributes flow for Ian Hampshire




Geelong and the Western Bulldogs have paid tribute to former ruckman Ian Hampshire who died aged 70 after a short battle with illness.

Hampshire was the first player to play 100 games with two clubs, playing 113 games with Geelong and 111 with Footscray.

He made his debut with the Cats in 1968 as a 20-year-old against Footscray but switched to Footscray in 1976 to play in the ruck alongside Gary Dempsey, coincidentally playing against Geelong in his first game with the Bulldogs.

He played in two finals but was part of the losing team on both occasions, with the Cats beating Footscray in the 1976 elimination final.

Known as ‘Bluey’ Hampshire, he represented Victoria in 1981 after being runner up in Footscray’s best and fairest in 1980 and finishing third in 1981. He also finished fourth in the Cats best and fairest in 1972.

He took over from Royce Hart as Bulldogs' coach in 1982 and stayed until the end of 1983 before Mick Malthouse took over as coach in 1984.

Cats' CEO Brian Cook said Hampshire was a much-loved former player.

"He was an exceptional player and a lovely person. The affection felt by those that played with and against him is a mark of both Ian as a player and a person," Cook said.

Western Bulldogs CEO Ameet Bains passed on his condolences to Hampshire's family.

"Ian made a big impact at the Bulldogs on and off the field, and is one of a small number to have had the opportunity of playing and coaching at the club," said Bains.

[KT31]

Vale Bluey.

He was sacked because Malthouse finally said 'yes' to us. It was only 3 weeks before the season started and the club came up with a BS excuse that we found out that he was acting as the ruck coach at Geelong while he was our senior coach but we had known that all along.

We had almost appointed Malthouse the season before but the supporters found out and were about to burn the Whitten stand down in protest so the club changed its mind and reappointed Bluey. Ledge is right the players just adored him.

I remember as a Pup members running a petition at the Western Oval to keep Bluey on as Coach.

[Twodogs]

Vale Bluey.


I remember as a Pup members running a petition at the Western Oval to keep Bluey on as Coach.

That may have been at the end of '82. They tried to replace him with Malthouse at the end of the season he replaced Royce Hart but Malthouse pulled out when he saw the supporters clearly favoured Hampshire but the club chipped away at Mick over the '83 season and he finally gave in just before the '84 season started and Bluey stood down.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

One of my earlies memories was watching hm getting chaired off as playing coach. Love the big hearted man RIP big fella

Thanks for the memories Bluey.

I've actually got a photo somewhere which i took of Bluey being chaired off as non-playing coach. Could well have been the match that twodogs mentioned earlier. Chaotic scenes. We probably won about half a dozen games in '83 but there was a really positive feeling after the gloom of previous seasons.

[Twodogs]

I reckon Bluey retired as a player after his first game as coach. And he had to play in that game be ause we were down on numbers. He pretty much sat on the bench as an interchange player for the whole game. It was when the interchange players spent most of the game on the bench.

[Remi Moses]

A true gentle giant , and a great servant as a player and coach .
Very unlucky to get the flick in 83 as he did a great job .
The club wanted Malthouse badly, and sadly Bluey was lost to us .
Remember the petition to keep him as coach at the end of 83

[Bulldog Revolution]

My first Bulldog book had Ian Bluey Hampshire as coach in it - I think the book was titled Carn the Scray and of course I still have it at home somewhere

[Twodogs]

My first Bulldog book had Ian Bluey Hampshire as coach in it - I think the book was titled Carn the Scray and of course I still have it at home somewhere

I remember that. I think it came out in 1983, the year the club turned around from the bad old days of the late '70s and early '80s and the year we celebrated our centenary, even though we'd been around in various forms since the early 1870s