Alister Ford is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Footscray

Western Bulldogs

The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...

 and St Kilda in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL).

Ford, a Bairnsdale recruit, was a ruckman

Ruckman (Australian rules football position)

In Australian rules football, a ruckman is typically a tall and athletic player who contests at centre bounces and stoppages . The ruckman is one of the most important players on the field...

 and key position forward. He kicked three goals on his league debut, against Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

 at Victoria Park

Victoria Park, Melbourne

Victoria Park is a sports venue in Abbotsford a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Built for the purpose of both Australian rules football and cricket, the stadium is oval shaped....

, aged just 17.

He was never able to establish a place in the senior team, with his most productive year coming in 1983 when he made nine appearances, most in the second half of the season.

Ford joined St Kilda in 1986 and came into the side in the second round of the season, to replace full-forward

Full-forward

Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals.Leading full-forwards of the Australian Football League are usually among those awarded with the Coleman Medal for the most goals in an AFL season....

 Tony Lockett

Tony Lockett

Anthony Howard "Tony" Lockett is a former Australian rules football player. Lockett is the highest goal scorer in the history of the VFL/AFL with 1,360 goals in a career of 281 games, that commenced in 1983 with the St Kilda Football Club, and finished in 2002 with the Sydney Swans...

, who was serving a suspension. He played his best football mid-season, with a career high 21 disposals against Geelong

Geelong Football Club

The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...

 and received the only Brownlow

Brownlow Medal

The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...

 vote of his career for his efforts in a win over Melbourne

Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....

.

When he time at St Kilda came to an end he made his way to East Ballarat

East Ballarat Football Club

The East Ballarat Football Club were an Australian rules football club which competed in the Ballarat Football League.They merged with Golden Point in 2001 to form the East Point Football Club.-Notable players:*Graham Donaldson*Danny Frawley*Sean Simpson...

, with whom he would play over 100 games. He won the Henderson Medal in 1998. Ford also spent some time at St Albans in the Geelong Football League

Geelong Football League

The Geelong Football League is an Australian rules football league in Victoria, Australia. It is the highest quality league in the Geelong area, with numerous former AFL players playing for various clubs.-History:...

 and was joint winner of the competition's Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...

award in 1995.