Ricky Nixon

Football career

Recruited from Golden Square in the Bendigo Football League, Nixon played four games for the Carlton Football Club between 1983 and 1985, for one goal, amid limited opportunities (he was an emergency 13 times in their 1982 premiership year). The half-back flanker then moved to St Kilda, where he played 51 games including one final, with 32 goals, between 1986 and 1991, but Nixon was never really able to establish himself with the club. A contractual dispute with the Saints in March 1992 saw him move to the Hawthorn Football Club, where he played eight games, including one final, for six goals, before his retirement in 1993.

Sports agent career

Possibly the most high-profile sports agent in Australia, Nixon established his sports management company, Flying Start, in 1994 after eight years of teaching physical education at Carey Grammar. Since then the company has grown considerably to become one of the leading sports management companies in Australia. Nixon was a pioneer of group marketing of prominent athletes in Australia with his Club 10 team of AFL players, which included Gary Ablett, Sr., Wayne Carey, Jason Dunstall, Tony Lockett and Garry Lyon. He is widely acknowledged as a major leader in the innovative marketing of athletes and has been rated by The Age newspaper as the fourth most influential person of the past decade in the AFL. Flying Start’s players includes Matthew Richardson, Ben Cousins, Nick Riewoldt and Tom Hawkins. Nixon started a fitness club at Docklands Stadium, where he also co-owns the Locker Room Bar and Cougars Sports Bar with Michael Gudinski. He also commentates AFL on radio station Triple M and has been awarded the Australia Day Sports Medal for services to sport by the prime minister. He has entered the education business with Flying Start providing online courses, including "How to be a Sports Agent".

In 2008 Nixon began a well-publicised campaign to escalate the Irish experiment and set up a formal system for recruiting promising young Irish Gaelic footballers for AFL teams. The plan was criticised by many Gaelic football officials and players, including Sydney's Tadhg Kennelly. Some consider that the campaign, which included screening camps in Ireland in August 2008, will result in a talent drain from Ireland to Australia, something that Nixon refutes.

Controversies

On 19 February 2011, it was claimed by a number of press agencies that Nixon had an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old girl. The girl had previously been embroiled in a series of controversies involving players from the St Kilda Football Club, including one of Nixon's major clients, Nick Riewoldt. Nixon admitted to visiting the girl at her hotel room on at least three occasions – including Valentine's Day – and providing her with alcohol. The girl characterised the relationship as an "affair" and indicated that she was unaware at the time that Nixon was married. The controversy follows Nixon's drink driving charge in 2009 when he left the scene of an accident that he was involved in.

He was given a two-year suspension by the AFL Players' Association Accreditation Board, on 18 March 2011.

In July 2012 Nixon was charged with five offences following an alleged assault. In March 2013 Nixon pleaded guilty to charges of assault against his former fiancee and attempting to flee the police. He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service.

In May 2013 Nixon was pulled over by police for speaking on his mobile phone while driving; he was found to also be driving while intoxicated and with a suspended licence.