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{xtypo_dropcap}S{/xtypo_dropcap}wan Districts are known as the high flying Swans, but one of their favourite sons was almost lost to them in the seventies when he was involved in a piece of low flying. 

Stan Nowotny related his experience.  “It was on a plane trip to Esperance, which was our country zone.  The starboard motor stopped as the aircraft was approaching Esperance Airport.  The pilot obviously was unable to gain altitude so he zipped under some powerlines, not too far off the ground.  We made a crash landing, and when we scrambled out feeling lucky to be in one piece, the pilot was sitting stockstill in his seat with a young work experience lad white as a sheet beside him.”

As the plane burned in front of them, the pilot found his voice and said:”Every one you walk away from is a good one”

After another scare on a plane carrying the State side home from Adelaide Nowotny got the temporary nickname of Evil Kneivel for the remainder of the flight from coach John Todd, who was aware of the Esperance near miss.

Swan Districts have had many fine players over the years, but none exemplified the Black and White fighting spirit more than Stan Nowotny. 

If stars like Walker and the Narkles were the showcase for the Swan Districts Football Club, Nowotny was the engine room.

A rugged no-nonsense customer, he displayed tremendous recuperative powers in his fourteen year career and though he played it tough, he rarely missed a match through injury.

Stan Nowotny made 277 appearances for Swan Districts between 1969 and 1983, spending the first half of them as a hard at it half back flanker, but later blossoming into a damaging midfielder.  To cap off a jack of all trade career, he made the change to key forward during his last two years, which both resulted in premierships.

Runner up for the Sandover Medal in 1974, a year he also won Swan Districts Fairest and Best Award, Nowotny was an automatic choice for Western Australia during the seventies, not only for his defensive qualities as a half back, but his versatility around the ground.

He was a popular choice as vice captain in Swan Districts official Team Of The Century, where he was a natural selection for a half back flank.

When chatting to Stan about his life in football, you immediately realise that the man cherishes the good times off the field as much as the onfield highlights. He recalled the controversial 1982 Escort Cup, when Swans defeated Glenelg and Collingwood to qualify for the quarter finals.  “ First of all, we got a couple of players reported. They had to hear the cases that night and we didn’t get out of there till after1 am.”he said.


“Gordon Casey, a former Footscray player, linked us up with the Bulldogs boys, who were on our side anyway, seeing that we were playing the Pies, and a good time was had by all”

That was followed by the competition organisers making an unscheduled change to the programme, which involved Swan Districts and put them at a distinct disadvantage in the WAFL fixtures, where they were fighting for a spot in the grand final. John Todd and John Cooper responded by sending a seconds team to front Richmond at Waverley, and the Tigers won easily, as expected. 


Swans were promptly banned from the Escort Cup for five years, but when the boys from Bassendean won the WAFL premiership a few weeks later the Escort Cup was the furthest thing from their minds.

After retiring from league football, Nowotny was a selector for the Western Australian Teal Cup team.  He coached Mandurah and Waroona in later years after settling down on the coast South of Perth, where he is a keen windsurfer and enjoys getting out in the boat as often as possible. 

Stan named Brian Peake and Ken Hunter as two tough opponents and, forced to choose between his Swans team mates listed Leon Baker, Phil and Keith Narkle, Graeme Melrose, Bill Walker and Ron Boucher as the best he played with.

Nowotny is not a big fan of the AFL game today:”There’s too much flooding, they hang onto the ball too long, it’s boring when blokes rack up stats kicking and handballing backwards, it’s often uninteresting, and it’s too defensive”

Swans have never had a more dedicated, team-oriented player in their ranks than Stan Nowotny, and the boy from Ashfield can take his place among the greatest to don the black and white.

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