Geoff Christian

Geoff Christian (died November 1998) was a leading Australian rules football writer and radio broadcaster covering the Australian Football League and West Australian Football League.

Geoff Christian began his career as a junior football writer by writing for "The West Australian" newspaper as a teenager in 1954. In 1961 he became Chief Football writer for the paper; a position he held for more than a quarter of a century. In the late eighties, he retired and concentrated on radio work.

He died in 1998 following a long illness.

Christian Medal

Christian was a member of ABC Radio’s "Saturday Sportstalk" program for a period of 14 years prior to his death in November 1998. [ [http://www.accesstvwa.com/programming/program_sales_moreinfo/wafllegends06_summaries.pdf Access TV WA] ]

To honor Christian’s contribution to ABC Sport, management struck a medal in his honor. Each year, the Christian Medal is awarded to the leading AFL player from either the West Coast Eagles or the Fremantle Dockers. The votes are cast on a 3-2-1 basis by ABC Radio expert commentators at the conclusion of each game in which the teams compete throughout the home and away season.

;Previous winners:
*1999 Adrian Fletcher (Fremantle)
*2000 Paul Hasleby (Fremantle), Troy Cook (Fremantle)
*2001 Ben Cousins (WCE)
*2002 Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle)
*2003 Peter Bell (Fremantle)
*2004 Paul Hasleby (Fremantle)
*2005 Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle)
*2006 Chris Judd (WCE)

Geoff Christian Media Award

The Geoff Christian Media Award (previously known as the "WA Football Commission Media Award") is given to a person who has performed at a consistently high standard throughout the year in either print, television, radio or photography. [ [http://news.ninemsn.com.au/general.aspx?id=63178 Dennis Cometti ] ]

;Previous winners:
*2002 Dennis Cometti
*2007 Kim Hagdorn

Other

Geoff Christian, who served as the chief football writer for The West Australian from 1961 to 1988, was posthumously inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2000.

References