Greg "Diesel" Williams (born September 30, 1963) was a former champion Australian rules footballer with the Sydney Swans, Geelong Football Club and the Carlton Football Club. September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... The Big Men Fly - high marking is a key skill and spectator attribute of Aussie Rules Precise field and goal kicking using the oval shaped ball is the most important skill in Aussie Rules Footy Australian rules football, also known as Australian football, Aussie rules, or simply football or footy... The Sydney Swans is an Australian Football League (AFL) club based in Sydney, New South Wales. ... The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is an Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League with a rich history. ... The Carlton Football Club is one of the oldest and most successful Australian rules football clubs. ...

Nicknamed "Diesel", he was one of the finest midfielders the game has ever seen. Williams is a dual Brownlow Medal winner (with the Sydney Swans in 1986 with 17 votes, a record low for the winner, and with Carlton in 1994 with 30 votes, close to the highest ever), a dual VFL/AFL Players Association MVP (with Carlton in 1994), and a Norm Smith Medal winner with Carlton in 1995. Often controversial, but always brilliant, Williams mastered the skill of the handball and turned it into a lethal attacking weapon, and his football brain was as good as anyone's in the history of the game. Williams holds the record for disposals in an AFL match with 51 (23 kicks and 28 handballs). In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team are assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. ... The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal, is an annual medal awarded to the fairest and best player in the Australian Football League during the regular season (ie. ... The Leigh Matthews Trophy is an annual award given by the AFL Players Association to the Most Valuable Player in the Australian Football League. ... The Norm Smith Medal is the award given in AFL grand final to the player adjudged by an independent panel of experts to have been the best player in the match. ... A handball is a method of disposal in the sport of Australian rules football. ...

The most controversial moment of his career came in his final season. In Round 1 after the Carlton vs Essendon game, following a scuffle with longtime rival player Sean Denham, Williams was confronted by the umpire while being taunted by Denham. When the umpire went to step in, from the side, and out of Williams' view, he pushed the umpire in the chest/shoulder area to get the intruder out of his line of sight, unaware that it was an umpire. The push was not very forceful, the umpire merely needing a backward step to steady himself. The umpire did not see the incident as sufficient for a report. The AFL match reviewers saw it differently, and forced Williams to front the tribunal. The tribunal then proceeded to suspend Williams for nine games - bearing in mind that Phil Carmen was suspended for sixteen matches for headbutting an umpire. Carlton appealed the verdict, and it was overturned, allowing Williams to continue playing through the season. Sean Denham (born April 29, 1969) is a former Australian Rules footballer. ...

For whatever reason, the AFL decided to pursue Williams' case further through the Australian Legal System to try to get Williams' nine week suspension reinstated. Such a move had rarely, if ever, been made before in the VFL/AFL (outside of charges which were punishable under assault laws.) The matter continued long through the season, until the AFL had taken the matter before the High Court of Australia, the highest legal authority in Australia. The AFL eventually won the case after Round 16, four months after the incident had occurred, putting a sour end to Williams' 250-game career. High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ...

Whilst being one of the more decorated footballers, Williams also has the unenviable honour of being one of the most hated footballers of the modern era.

Footnote: Since that incident, the rules on umpire contact have been extensively changed, so that even rough contact with umpires is now seen as grounds for little more than a fine, in the tribunal's eyes.

External links

• Greg Williams Profile in Blueseum

Greg Williams is also a student studying International Business and Management at Aston University as of 2006.