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Ken Arthurson
Ken Arthurson
Personal information
Full name	Kenneth Richard Arthurson
Nickname	Arko
Born	1 October 1929 (age 80)
	Glebe, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Position	Halfback
Club
Coaching information
Club
	Source: Yesterday's Hero

Kenneth Richard "Arko" Arthurson AM (born 1 October 1929 in Glebe, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer, coach and administrator.

Arthurson played, coached and was later an administrator at the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club. He played at halfback in the club's first Grand Final appearance in the 1951 season and later coached them to the 1957 Grand Final as a 27-year-old and followed this by leading the club into another Grand Final appearance in 1959. Unfortunately for Arthurson and Manly, both Grand Finals were played against a St George side in the middle of their record run of 11 straight premierships.

Following his coaching stint at Manly, Arthurson became the club's secretary taking over from Jack Munro after Munro's passing in 1963. Arthurson held this post for 20 years, during which time he helped build the Sea Eagles into one of the most successful clubs in the league by use of his negotiating skills and the club's finances, something which made Manly the team others loved to hate. During his time as club secretary, Arko signed players who went on to become legends not only at Manly but also in rugby league. His list of players includes Graham Eadie, Bob Fulton, Ken Irvine, Terry Randall, Mal Reilly, John O'Neill, Phil Lowe, Paul Vautin, Les Boyd and Kerry Boustead.

In 1984 he became the Chairman of the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and later the Australian Rugby League (ARL). He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1988 "in recognition of (his) service to Rugby League football".

In the mid-1990s Arthurson led the ARL's fight against Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd in the Super League war^[1]. On 28 February 1997, in order to improve the chances of a peace deal with Super League being reached, Arthurson resigned as ARL chairman. Also in 1997, Arthurson released his book, Arko, My Game.

In 2000 Arthurson was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his fourteen years presiding over the NSWRL and ARL.

The Ken Arthurson Stand at Brookvale Oval is named after him and was officially opened on Sunday 14 June 1995.

During his time as head of the ARL, Arthurson also served as President of the Manly Leagues Club until retiring in October 2004. He then retired with his wife to the Gold Coast where he continues to support the Sea Eagles to this day.

In November 2009, he was awarded the 'Spirit of Rugby League Award' by the Rugby League International Federation, in their inaugural awards presentation.

Arthurson is affectionately known as "The Godfather of Manly".

[edit] References

^ Westfield, Mark (2000). The gatekeepers: the global media battle to control Australia's pay TV. Australia: Pluto Press. pp. xv. ISBN 1871204194, 9781871204193. http://books.google.com/books?id=nuAKFQ5BV84C&printsec=frontcover.

[edit] Further reading

Arthurson, Ken; Ian Heads (1997). Arko: my game. Ironbark. ISBN 0330360337, 9780330360333. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=J4KzAAAACAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s.

[edit] External links

Ken Arthurson at Unofficial Manly Club Website

[0] Westfield, Mark (2000). The gatekeepers: the global media battle to control Australia's pay TV. Australia: Pluto Press. pp. xv. ISBN 1871204194, 9781871204193. http://books.google.com/books?id=nuAKFQ5BV84C&printsec=frontcover.

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