Simon Beasley

Personal information
Birth	26 July 1956 (1956-07-26) (age 53)
Recruited from	Swan Districts
Height and weight	195cm / 102kg
Playing career¹
Debut	Round 1, 1982, Footscray vs. Essendon, at Windy Hill
Team(s)	Footscray (1982-89) 154 Games, 575 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 1989 season
Career highlights
Coleman Medallist 1985 Footscray leading goalkicker 1982-1988 Footscray Team of the Century

Simon Beasley (born 26 July 1956) is a controversial bookmaker and former Australian rules footballer.

Recruited from Swan Districts in the WAFL, Beasley moved to Melbourne in 1982 to pursue his career as a stockbroker, and signed with Footscray in the VFL. He made his debut in the Round 1 of the 1982 VFL season against a rampant Essendon side at Windy Hill, the Bulldogs losing heavily by 109 points. However, Beasley did not take long to establish himself as a prominent full-forward, kicking 12 goals against Geelong in Round 16 and ending his debut season with a very respectable 82 goals in an under-performing side.

In 1985, the Bulldogs rose up the ladder, finishing in third place at the end of the home-and-away season before losing to Hawthorn in the Preliminary Final. Beasley played a key role, taking out the Coleman Medal with 93 goals during the home-and-away season, his personal best. He reached the century mark with a seven-goal performance in the First Semi-final against North Melbourne and ended the season with 105 goals, becoming only the second Bulldog after Kelvin Templeton to kick 100 goals in a season. In 1988, Beasley kicked 82 goals to overtake Templeton as the Bulldogs' leading goalkicker, and retired from football in 1989 due to knee and back injuries.

In 2006 Beasley was appointed to host the Western Region Football League's official show on Channel 31, renamed The Simon Beasley Show.

Beasley obtained his bookmaker license in 2002. In 2009, he was charged with breaching betting regulations between April 2006 and October 2008. Specifically, he had taken 1,598 bets totalling $3.8 million in turnover without lodging them with racing authorities. Beasely was fined A$20,000 and disqualified from bookmaking for five years.^[1]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Cash Drain Still Stings for Racing, yourguide.com.au, accessed 30 April 2009