Colin Carter was born and raised in Perth, but moved, with his family, to Melbourne as a teenager. Deciding which VFL team to follow was resolved when Western Australia’s most famous player, Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer came to Geelong. Then, after completing school and university in Melbourne and more study and work in the US and Europe, he returned to Melbourne for what became a long career as a management consultant In 1985, he was asked by the newly formed VFL Commission to assess the struggling state of the VFL and many of its clubs. His report, informally known as ‘The Blue Book’ provided the roadmap to the national competition along with its key support strategies—‘equalisation’ measures such as the draft, salary cap, reduced list sizes and revenue-sharing as well as the need for ‘ground rationalisation’. In 1987, the MCC committee engaged him to review its strategy. A key outcome was the return of VFL members to the MCG and the building of the Great Southern Stand.
