Vale Neville Sillitoe OAM

Athletics Australia mourns the passing of its Life Member and esteemed coach Neville Sillitoe who died aged 96 on 20 June.

Neville was undoubtedly best known and recognised for his feats as one of Australia’s great athletics coaches – principally but not exclusively in sprint events – but he did have a career of his own in the sport.

That began with Coburg AAC in the early 1940s when there was not much athletics due to World War II. He did nonetheless place second in the 1943 Victorian under 18 440 yards title and was third in the 100 yards. He competed until early 1952 and was twice a finalist in the Victorian 440 yards championships with a fifth placing in 1952 being his best result.

Neville’s visits to Tasmania delivered greater glory – firstly with victory in his by then East Melbourne club colours in that State’s 440yards championship in 1949 with a time of 51.0 seconds at Launceston’s York Park – the same venue now known as UTAS Stadium at which AFL games are currently played.

He returned the following year, competing for NSW club St George, and there was a silver medal over the same distance. Nev was back in his East Melbourne kit in 1952 and picked up another 440 yards silver as well as a bronze in the 440yards hurdles.

It was an opportunity Neville had clearly relished and remembered - as in more recent years he provided the same chance to many young athletes in his charge who attended Tasmanian championships with success.

After hanging up his own spikes with personal bests of 10.1 (100yds), 22.7 (220yds) and 50.5 (440yds) Neville then turned to coaching sprinters which he did almost to the end of his life. It became that life’s work and passion - guiding some of the best sprinters in Australia. 

Perhaps Neville’s most noted success was with Peter Norman and in particular Peter’s silver medal at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Neville understood, better than most, all of the significance of that run – which extended well beyond Peter’s time of 20.06 which remains the Australian national record in 2021.

Neville was relentless in pursuing a broader public understanding and recognition of that moment, particularly after Peter’s passing in 2006. Neville was not the kind who sought to be in the public eye but when the opportunity arose he did not shy away from seizing the moment to raise an issue important to him and his sport.

That there now stands a statue of Peter Norman in the environs of Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium is testament to Neville’s drive and persistence – qualities that he showed throughout his 96-plus years.

There were many other Olympians, Australian representatives and national champions in his squad including Denise Boyd, Maxine Corcoran, Laurie D’Arcy, Bruce Frayne, Gary Holdsworth, Richard James, Greg Lewis, Tamsyn Lewis, Colin McQueen, Marian O’Shaughnessy and Aaron Rouge-Serret. Almost all were sprinters but Neville also coached Commonwealth 880 yards gold medallist, Noel Clough.

Between 1961 and 1983, five Sillitoe athletes - Holdsworth, Norman, Greg Lewis, McQueen and Frayne won 16 of the 23 national 200 metres titles contested. Of the seven his athletes did not win, they were second in four whilst Frayne won two under his South Australian mentor Scotchy Gordon. In the seventh, Neville perhaps amazingly did not have an athlete competing. 
 
Holdsworth, Lewis, D'Arcy and James won nine of the national 100 metres crowns during the same era - which also saw Neville serve as a team coach for the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.     
 
Denise Boyd has a thousand recollections of Neville and his contribution to athletics.

“He was very clever in bringing his athletes up to compete when it counted.    You did not question him much because you knew he was right. I can remember whenever I did question him, which wasn't often, his comment was always – ‘Robbo I can only advise’.     

“Of course I went and did exactly as he had asked me to do!”     

Another of his high-achieving athletes, Gary Holdsworth says that Neville was not only his coach but his mentor and friend,

“My connection to Neville goes back to my junior days when he identified my potential at school sports and nurtured my talent over the following years to State and Australian titles, national records, Commonwealth and Olympic Gams participation.  

“I was a staff member at Maribyrnong High School where Neville taught physical education during the 60s and early 70s. He approached his time there with the same zeal and success with their athletics teams as he later did as head coach at Caulfield Grammar from 1983 to 2014.  

“Under his guidance Maribyrnong was seen as the school to beat at the All Schools Athletic Sports. He encouraged and developed student participation and a spot in his relay teams were highly sought after positions.”

A highlight of Neville’s time at Maribyrnong was his discovery of Richard James – later to become a professor at Melbourne University.  Neville coached him from humble beginnings to becoming the Australian 100 metres champion.

Neville also endeavoured to encourage young athletes living in country areas - convincing them to develop their athletic skills through visits to them and their families accompanied by his champion athletes of the day.  

This was a long term commitment and it extended to creating opportunities over more than 25 years through annual overseas six week tours to compete in England and particularly in Scotland, where Nev was revered for this particular commitment.  Students experienced not only competition appropriate to their current levels of achievement but travel, being part of a team and the responsibilities of independence.

Neville left no stone unturned in giving personal support, sometimes financial, to many young athletes. Neville not only coached top athletes but also state level athletes, club athletes and school children. He also did much to keep his beloved East Melbourne Harriers AC alive.

Athletics was not the only area in which Neville played a meaningful role. He founded the Paramount Junior AFL club in the Coburg area - primarily to give young boys an organised activity on a Saturday and Sunday. 

Paramount became one of the most successful clubs in junior football in metropolitan Melbourne. Nev was both administrator and coach and decades later those who were part of his many Paramount teams speak of him in legendary terms.  He played a significant part in so many of those teenage years. Arnold Briedis (North Melbourne) and Phillip Pinnell (Carlton) are just two who went on to play AFL at the highest level.

Everyone in Neville’s circle were involved. Many an athlete’s winter training was to run the boundary for Paramount.

And apparently Nev’s production skills in the performing arts were also legendary - his amateur reviews were a must-see.

Neville remained until his passing a constant in the lives of so many of the athletes he coached and influenced throughout his long and distinguished career – embodying the special bond that draws coach and athlete together.  

Neville gave so much of himself and his time to influence so many young people to be fit and healthy, to do and be their personal best, to have fun and live their dreams.

Accordingly Neville was rightly recognised with life membership of Athletics Victoria in 2001 and Athletics Australia in 2007 and with the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2018.

Neville Sillitoe’s life will be celebrated at Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne at 12 noon on Wednesday 30 June following a short graveside funeral at 10.00am on the Chapel Lawn at Fawkner Cemetery.

Prepared by Brian Roe, with many thoughts from Denise Boyd, Gary Holdsworth and Paul Jenes
Posted:  29/6/2021