Ben Nelson

Personal information
Birth	23 January 1977
Recruited from	Sturt
Height and weight	184 cm / 92 kg
Playing career¹
Debut	Round 3, 1997, Carlton vs. Adelaide, at Princes Park
Team(s)	Carlton (1997–2001) 40 games, 6 goals Adelaide (2002) 12 games, 1 goal Total - 52 Games, 7 Goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2002 season
Career highlights
* Sturt captain: 2004-pres Sturt club champion: 2003

Ben Nelson (born 23 January 1977) is an Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton and Adelaide in the AFL.

Nelson is the son of famous Sturt player Philip 'Sandy' Nelson, and accordingly played his first senior football with the Sturt Football Club in 1994. He was to join the inaugural Port Adelaide Power team in 1997 as it was admitted to the Australian Football League; however, Port Adelaide traded him and Andrew Balkwill to the Carlton Football Club for Brent Heaver in the 1996/97 offseason.

Nelson, strangely enough, made his debut for Carlton in Sturt colours — the game when Carlton famously wore pale blue guernseys instead of their traditional navy blue, due to a promotional deal with M&Ms. He was strongly built and played mostly as a tagger and at half back. Injuries interrupted his early career but he became a regular in the side in 1999 and played in their losing Grand Final that year against the Kangaroos.

After 40 games for Carlton, Nelson was traded to Adelaide for David Gallagher at the conclusion of the 2001 season. Nelson managed 12 games for Adelaide in 2002 and has since returned to the SANFL to play with Sturt. He was a member of Sturt's 2002 premiership team, was Club Champion in 2003, and at the age of 30 was equal second in the 2007 Magarey Medal. Nelson was the sole captain of the Double Blues from 2004 until 2006, and has been joint captain with Jade Sheedy from 2007.

[edit] References

• Ben Nelson (footballer)'s statistics from AFL Tables
• Blueseum profile