Cornelius Michael "Con" Hickey was an Australian rules football player and administrator for the Fitzroy Football Club, and administrator for the Victorian Football League and the Australian National Football Council.
14 Facts About Con Hickey
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Con Hickey was a life member of both the VFL and the ANFC.
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Con Hickey played football as a half-back for the Fitzroy Football Club from 1887 until 1894, earning sufficient acclaim to gain selection for Victoria in intercolonial football in his final playing season, 1893.
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Con Hickey began his administrative career as secretary of the Fitzroy Football Club in 1893, serving as club delegate to the Victorian Football Association board of management.
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Con Hickey was secretary until 1910, and was a key part of the club's on- and off-field success during that time.
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In 1897, when Fitzroy and seven other clubs seceded from the VFA to form the Victorian Football League, Hickey served as the inaugural treasurer of the new body, and later as chairman of the permit and umpire committee and vice-president, and was a VFL administrator continuously until 1933.
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Con Hickey was a key figure in the formation and early administration of football's national administrative body, the Australasian Football Council.
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Con Hickey was the council's inaugural president from 1906 until 1909, and in 1910 he was elected secretary of the council, a position he held for the next 27 years until his death in 1937.
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Con Hickey had an insular approach to administration of the game in Australia and was critical of it expanding overseas.
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Con Hickey was involved in the VFL board discussions as to whether growing the game outside of Australia was in the interests of maintaining the VFL's premier status among the professional sports leagues.
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Con Hickey saw football as a business venture, he was critical of international tours, and would not fund overseas travel unless it was highly profitable, as a result the AFC never allocated funds for it during his tenure.
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Con Hickey worked in the public service from 1884 until 1931.
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Con Hickey died after an illness lasting several months in Clifton Hill, Victoria in late 1937.
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Con Hickey's nephew Reg Con Hickey is a Hall of Fame player and coach who won a total of four premierships with the Geelong Football Club.