Noel Ascot Blackburn, the Carlton Football Club’s former Honorary Treasurer and Finance Committeeman through the mid-1970s and early 80s, died in Portland last Sunday at the age of 84.
Blackburn assumed duties as Treasurer from John Perriam (the former Carlton director who still serves the club’s finance department in a part-time capacity) in June 1974 during the reign of George Harris. He came in at a particularly trying time for the club’s administrators, given that the then secretary Bert Deacon – Carlton’s first Brownlow Medallist – had suddenly died whilst in office some five months previous.
Deacon was replaced by Allen Cowie (who himself died in office just two years later) and it was Cowie, according to Perriam, who encouraged Blackburn to join.
“Allen Cowie, Noel and myself all worked at International Harvester . . . that’s how we got to know eachother,” Perriam said.
“At International Harvester in those days there was an internal chief auditor who used to tour the states and Noel was junior auditor to the chief. He was a smart fellow and a good bloke.
“Noel never really followed the football until Allen first joined Carlton in the early 1960s. When Allen got involved Noel became interested and in the end he joined Carlton.”
Blackburn was a Carlton devotee who leant the club countless hours negotiating contracts with some of the club’s true greats of the game including Alex Jesaulenko no less.
At the other extreme, he manned ticketing booths at the club, selling finals admission passes to supporters who had faithfully queued at the ground for hours.
Notwithstanding the on-field achievements which punctuated his time in administration, Blackburn lent his energies as a director of the Carlton Football Club Social Club with the likes of Perc Bentley, Laurie Kerr and Ian Rice. He was also party to the planning for the construction of the old Hawthorn Stand (now the Richard Pratt Stand) at Visy Park.
He was also there when the club successfully negotiated an unprecedented naming rights sponsorship with the American-based AVCO Financial Services Ltd. for what was then the largest sum ever afforded a VFL club – $135,000 over three years.
Blackburn is survived by his wife Bonnie of 59 years, daughters Robyn, Debbie, Suzie and Karen and their partners, and seven grandchildren.
His funeral takes place this Saturday at Portland’s St Stephen’s Anglican Church, commencing at 11.00am, with a private cremation to follow.