Sergio Silvagni

Silvagni died on 15 July 2021 in Melbourne at the age of 83 after multiple health issues, including a broken leg. He was survived by his wife Rita and four children.

In 1989, Silvagni was inducted into the Carlton Hall of Fame, and his membership was elevated to Legend status in 2016. Both he and son Stephen were named in Carlton's Team of the Century as well as the Italian Team of the Century in 2007.

After retiring from playing in the field, Silvagni held various positions at Carlton, serving as a committeeman before becoming Carlton's reserves coach, and served as the club's caretaker senior coach for a few weeks in 1978 between the departure of Ian Stewart as coach and the appointment of Alex Jesaulenko as captain-coach.

In his career, Silvagni played mainly as a ruck-rover, forming one of the game's most celebrated on-ball divisions with ruckman John Nicholls and rover Adrian Gallagher. He was a member of the 1968 and 1970 premiership teams, and was listed among the best players afield. He also played in the runner-up teams for the 1962 and 1969 premierships. After coming out of retirement in 1970 at the behest of Barassi, Silvagni retired permanently at the end of 1971.

Silvagni married his wife Rita in 1963. Their marriage produced four children—son Stephen, and daughters Lisa, Danielle and Michelle.

Silvagni made his senior VFL debut for Carlton on 24 May 1958 in the Round 7 match against South Melbourne) at the Lake Oval. Although Carlton lost by 22 points, Silvagni, along with his cousin John Benetti, was one of the best Carlton players on the ground.

Silvagni was educated at St Thomas' Christian Brothers College in Clifton Hill and later at Parade College, and was an outstanding schoolboy athlete. In 1948, competing for St Thomas', he won the Under-11 75-yard sprint at the Victorian Christian Brothers' Combined Athletic Meeting. In 1949, he was the Under-12 handball champion of C.B.C. Clifton Hill. In 1953, running on a rain soaked track, he broke the 440 yard record by half second, clocking 54.4 seconds; he also won the shot put at the combined Christian Brothers Secondary School sports at North Melbourne.

Sergio Valentino Silvagni (28 June 1938 – 15 July 2021) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), mostly as a ruck-rover. He was the first of three generations to represent Carlton at VFL/AFL level, followed by his son Stephen and grandson Jack.

The son of Italian immigrants Giacomo Silvagni and his wife Antonia, Sergio lived with his parents and sister Milena in a single fronted dwelling in Canning Street, Carlton, very close to the famous Lygon Street precinct, the epicenter of Melbourne’s Italian community. Giacomo (also known as "Jack") emigrated to Australia in 1924 from the town of Asiago in the northern Italian province of Vicenza. He was also a first cousin of fellow Carlton footballer John Benetti.