Barry Cable

Barry Thomas Cable MBE (born 22 September 1943) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. Considered one of the greatest rovers in the sport's history, he played 379 premiership games in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the Victorian Football League (VFL), and later coached in both competitions.

However, his reputation was significantly impacted following allegations of historical child sexual abuse. This resulted in an unprecedented revocation of his Australian Football Hall of Fame status and his removal from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2023, following an adverse finding in a civil sexual abuse trial.

In 2024, Cable was formally charged by Western Australia Police with multiple criminal counts of historical child sexual assault. Following a criminal trial in 2026, he was found not guilty on all charges.

Born in Narrogin, Western Australia, Cable made his senior debut with the Perth Football Club in the WANFL in 1962 and won the Sandover Medal as the competition's fairest and best player in 1964. He was awarded the Tassie Medal as the best player at the 1966 Australian National Football Carnival and earned selection in the All-Australian team. That same year, he played in the first of three consecutive premierships with Perth, winning the Simpson Medal as best on ground in each Grand Final, as well as a second Sandover Medal in 1968.

Cable left Perth at the end of the 1969 season to join the North Melbourne Football Club in the VFL. In his debut VFL season, he won the club's best and fairest award, the Syd Barker Medal, before returning to Western Australia. After another three years at Perth—during which he captain-coached the club in 1972 and 1973 and won his third Sandover Medal in 1973—Cable returned to North Melbourne for the 1974 season. Over the next four years, he played in two premierships (1975 and 1977) before returning to Western Australia to captain-coach East Perth. Cable retired from playing at the end of the 1979 season after sustaining severe leg injuries in a farming accident.

Cable returned to Victoria in 1981 to serve as the senior coach of North Melbourne, a position he held until 1984. He later worked as an assistant coach with the West Coast Eagles during their initial VFL seasons. Having represented Western Australia in 20 interstate matches during his playing career, Cable also coached the state team at the 1979 State of Origin Carnival, after which he was named coach of the All-Australian team.