Now living in London, and having been based in Europe for the past 23 years, Rice is an apology for Saturday week’s function at Crown Palladium, and will be represented by his son Richard - who as a seven year-old Carlton supporter was part of the Princes Park post-match pitch invasion for the mandatory kick of the footy.
But Rice recently agreed to reflect on his four years at the helm at Carlton, and respond to a series of questions for carltonfc.com.au.
In the following Q and A, Rice talks candidly of;
• initially refusing an offer from club powerbroker Wes Lofts to assume the Carlton Presidency;
• secret meetings with Ron Barassi, at which he offered Barassi first dibs at a return to the club as Senior Coach, replacing Peter Jones; and
• persuading the late Perc Bentley to crucially redirect his vote from Jones to David Parkin as Senior Coach on the day his (Rice’s) own casting vote secured Parkin’s place in history as Jones’ successor.
Carlton's No.1 ticket holder, Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Fraser and Carlton President Ian Rice hoist
the cup aloft, 1982
The Rice interview is as follows;
Q: Thirty years on, what are your overriding memories of the 1981 and 82 years?
A: A mixture of pride that I was privileged to play a part in some of the most successful years in Carlton’s proud 147 year history.
Q: How did you come to be Carlton President and what do you believe was your greatest legacy?
A: I had been a club Patron and as a Melbourne City Council chairman I was able to assist Carlton in its ground development and the arrangements for Hawthorn to share Princes Park.
On Monday December 3rd, 1979 the Club President, George Harris dramatically resigned at the Annual Meeting. The Premiership club was in turmoil. The Captain-Coach, Alex Jesaulenko wrote to the Club that he would not continue in any capacity unless Harris was returned as President. Amongst the Harris/Jesaulenko comeback terms was ‘Jezza’s’ appointment as Chairman of the Match Committee, Captain and Coach . Subsequently at a meeting of players Jezza was advised this was not acceptable as Mike Fitzpatrick was appointed Captain , Mark Maclure vice captain and ‘Percy’ Jones Coach.
On Tuesday 4th December the Chairman of the Match Committee, Wes Lofts bumped into me at Sydney Airport and asked if I would take on the Presidency. I said I was not interested. The club`s finances were in a mess, the Committee and Club were split over the Harris/Jesaulenko proposals and the chaos was front and back page every day.
The Committee, split down the middle, was due to meet on Thursday 6th December to address the Harris/Jesaulenko proposals - without a President and with feelings running very high amongst the membership . Under these incredible circumstances, I was approached again hours before the crucial meeting and accepted the position with a lot of misgivings.
The chaos surrounding Carlton dominated the national media for the summer.
Harris and Jesaulenko called for an Extraordinary General Meeting of members to be held at Festival Hall on 7.30 pm Tuesday, 19th February. The Supreme Court ruled on which members were entitled to vote. There were eleven motions, the first of which was to remove me as a Director. Each side had four speakers to the motion. I received 72 per cent of the vote and Harris and Jezza left the club. It was such a tragic ending for one of Carlton’s all time greats.
My greatest legacy was to bring order out of chaos which enabled the focus and attention to be placed on the people that most count - the team.
Q: Did you expect the spectacular successes to happen so quickly after the internal divisions?
A: I knew we had a great team, as I had consulted some of our former champions, but my major concern was how to unlock that ability. The squad of 30 was a well-bonded unit, with a strong club spirit , but we had an untried, inexperienced coach in Percy Jones.
Q: Obviously the appointment of David Parkin was crucial to the club’s turnaround after the disappointment of season 1980. Do you recall how Parkin’s name first appeared on the radar as a prospective Carlton coach and do you remember the chain of events leading to his appointment?
A: After our crushing loss to Richmond by seven goals in the Qualifying Final and the even greater disaster against Collingwood in the First Semi I knew that to win the Premiership we had to have a very successful, experienced coach who could bring out the world class ability that we squandered in 1980.
The Committee wanted to give Perc another chance as one of the club’s most favoured sons. I was the only person opposed to his re-appointment. It was obvious that we needed Barassi or Parkin, both Premiership coaches. I first went after Barassi and had secret meetings in my Collins Street office which was embarrassingly discovered by Channel 10. Barassi decided to return to Melbourne so I turned to Parkin. He was interested. On the morning of the decisive committee vote I knew the count was 7 for Perc and 5 for Parkin. I met Perc at lunch to tell him it was my opinion that to maximise the team’s talent we needed a Premiership coach and tonight I wanted Parkin selected. Perc was not happy.
On the way to Princes Park for the fateful committee meeting I saw Percy Bentley, a former champion player, premiership coach and committee member. We talked and I convinced him to change his vote to Parkin. The vote was 6-6 and I used my casting vote to select Parkin as the 1981 coach.
The rest, as they say, is history. There is no doubt that the 1981 and 1982 teams rank in the pantheon of the greatest League teams.
Q: What message would you like to convey to the players who represented Carlton in those famous back-to-back years? What was it about the Carlton of this period that made it such a success story?
A: It was an honour to be their President. We had such fun together - the team, committee, backroom staff (who were all honorary then) and the members - they loved their club and showed it . Those four years were some of the happiest, most eventful of my life.
Q: For the record, where are you now living and what are you doing professionally? Do you still keep abreast of Carlton’s performances and how often to you get back to take in a game?
A: I live in London, have been living in Europe for 23 years and am very active in the investment business. I read The Age daily online, so am reasonably up to date on activities. I also see some games on TV here and occasionally I come back for a Grand Final. I have mates who ran other clubs - Craig Kimberley at South Melbourne, Wayne Reid at Melbourne, Bob Ansett and Albert Mantello at North Melbourne and Lindsay Fox at St. Kilda, and they also keep me up to date.
I came home for the 1981 and ’82, 25th Anniversary celebrations, and when ‘Fitzy’ (Mike Fitzpatrick), (David) Parkin and I spoke to the boys it was just like it was yesterday. They haven’t changed. I am so proud of them.
