Bob Elix is a retired Australian rules football official and former longtime member of the Darwin City Council.
Career
According to the Port Adelaide Football Club website, Elix played on the half-back flank for Port Adelaide when they won the 1965 SANFL Grand Final against Sturt Football Club.
His career as a SANFL player ended when he broke his leg during the Anzac Day match. In June 1969 he moved to Darwin, where he became actively associated with the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) as captain/coach of the Darwin Football Club "Buffaloes" for the 1970/71 season. A knee injury put "paid" to his playing career, so he switched to coaching the Waratah Football Club, taking them to premiers 1976/77, Queen Elizabeth II being a spectator at the grand final. He coached the Nightcliff "Tigers" Football Club from 1977 to 1981, also serving as president of the club in 1978/79. He was an umpire in the 1979/80 and 1980/81 seasons.
In 1979 he coached the Northern Territory representative side, which competed in Division Two of the National Football Championship Carnival. He returned to coach the Tigers in 1980/81 and during this time also served as President of the Club.
From 1990 to 1994 or 1996 he coached the Darwin University "Rats" Football Club (in the Northern Territory Football Association — NTFA), after which he was elected president of the club.
Elix was elected to the NTFL Board in 1998 and became chairman of the NT branch of the Australian Football League (AFLNT) 2000–2013. He was chairman and was involved in the formation of the Northern Territory Football Club (NTFC), nicknamed Territory Thunder, in 2008, which competed in the Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL).
During this time the league grew in influence and financial position, to where it was able to employ 34 full-time employees based in Darwin, Alice Springs, Wadeye, Groote Eylandt, Gove, Katherine, Elcho Island, Tiwi Islands and Tennant Creek. Much of this turnaround can be attributed to enlisting the aid of AFL CEO Wayne Jackson, largely credited to Elix.
Recognition
Elix received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000. He was awarded the 2009 Jack Titus Service Award, recognising his four decades of contribution to Australian rules football in the Northern Territory. He was granted AFLNT Life Membership in 2010, and was a 2014 inductee to the AFL Hall of Fame. He was made an AM in the 2014 Queens Birthday Honours.
Other interests
He served the Darwin City Council (DCC) as councillor for 31 years, a record term, retiring in December 2015. He was deputy mayor in 2016.
He was a contributor to Gods of Thunder, a history of the AFL in the Territory, by Jessica Webster, a former NT News journalist.
References
Australian rules footballers from the Northern Territory
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people) Australian rules biography stubs