The club icon passed just hours after Carlton appointed Michael Voss as their new coach<\/a> and just two days before the Melbourne Demons take on the Western Bulldogs in the AFL grand final<\/a>.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Messi about to be dethroned as highest-paid footballer<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Cricket announces gender-neutral laws overhaul<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n He was one of many successful businesspeople in the 1980s to steer their business acumen into sport, transforming Carlton into a juggernaut on and off the field. While his tenure wasn't always smooth, he was seen as one of the prominent advocates to expand the VFL into a national competition. Yet his role in delivering two premierships to Carlton will always stay with the players and fans.<\/p>\n Carlton legend Stephen Kernahan paid tribute to a "great Carlton man" in Elliott, revealing the first time he met the man who was known for his win at all costs attitude in signing footballers to the club.<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/SENBreakfast\/status\/1441159324949114883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/patrickdurkin\/status\/1441178346449109000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n "I was 15, or so, and kept getting summoned to the Elders boardroom in Adelaide when they used to fly over," Kernahan told Radio 3AW.<\/p>\n "It scared the s— out of me a few times when those guys came over \u2013 I had to take Mum and Dad with me all the time."<\/p>\n Kernahan went on to develop a great relationship with Elliott, who Elliott once described as his favourite ever player.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Craig Overton booed after attempted Mankad in England<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n "Whilst he upset a few, had cigarettes where he shouldn't have, he always remained true to what he was. He was a great man to all of us," Kernahan told SEN.<\/p>\n "He was charming, a very smart man, obviously a great businessman in his day.<\/p>\n "We'll miss what John was in those days and we all think very fondly of him today, let me tell you.<\/p>\n "He was a really powerful man. He did polarise a few along the way and I don't think that worried him one little bit.<\/p>\n "He was Carlton through and through until the end."<\/p>\n AFL legend David Parkin, who coached Carlton while Elliott was president, described him as a "unique person".<\/p>\n "John probably publicly was seen as an autocrat but I had the privilege of working with him president to coach at Carlton for quite a period of time," he said.<\/p>\n "I'd have to say that [he was] one of the more intelligent people I've met in my lifetime.<\/p>\n "Not easy to work with unless you could provide the argument on a sound basis, not so much to beat his argument, but to match the things he was saying."<\/p>\n He said during his time at the Carlton Football Club, Mr Elliott was "the best lieutenant anyone could ever have".<\/p>\n "It is a sad day, we hate losing leaders and John was an unbelievable influence on Australian society, whether it's political, business or football through the Carlton Football Club," he said.<\/p>\n "He was a unique and very special person."<\/p>\n Ian Collins was Elliott's long-serving chief executive who was tasked with turning his audacious ideas into reality. Collins, who was chief executive\/general manager from 1981 until late 1993 before going on to become the AFL's head of football. He said Elliott built the club into one of the biggest players in Australian sport.<\/p>\n "John was the crystal ball ideas man, he was fantastic for the club,\u2033\u2063 Collins told The Age, adding that it was only towards the end of Elliott's reign, when the club wasn't travelling so well, that "his influence wasn't so great.<\/p>\n "That's why I challenged him (for the presidency).<\/p>\n "In my time at the club, he was terrific.\u2033\u2063<\/p>\n New Carlton president Luke Sayers said Elliott's passion for the club was never questioned.<\/p>\n "Despite the challenges faced by the club throughout some of those tough years, John's passion and love for his club never wavered," Sayers said.<\/p>\n "We must remember the many achievements during his time at the club – the return of (Robert) Walls and Parkin, and the premierships they subsequently won; the recruitment of Kernahan, (Craig) Bradley and (Greg) Williams; the pride in the jumper and the love of Prince Park.<\/p>\n "John remained a passionate Carlton man, right throughout his life. He never stopped wanting to see the Old Dark Navy Blues succeed."<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Carlton greats have paid tribute to club icon and former president John Elliott following the former Liberal powerbroker's death. Elliott died aged 79 at Epworth […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133508"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133508"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133510,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133508\/revisions\/133510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n