John Westacott

Australian rules footballer John Westacott represented Footscray (now the Western Bulldogs) of the Victorian Football League in 34 matches between 1955 and 1959. During that time, he was also selected to represent the combined Victorian Football League/Victorian Football Association squad in the Australian Rules Football demonstration event at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. There, they lost the match 81-55 to the Victorian Amateur Football Association team.

Westacott earned a Diploma of Business Management from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and established a furniture business, Danish Deluxe, with the help of partners from Denmark. His business was successful, but he chose to have a second career as a judge’s associate after four decades working with furniture. He also remained active in the world of sport in several high-level administrative and referee roles in Australian golf. For these services, he was given a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2014 and enshrined in the Victorian Golf Industry Hall of Fame in 2018.