Aboriginal Australian rules football forward who played for the Carlton (2005-2013, 2020-2021) and Adelaide (2014-2019) clubs in the Australian Football League. Betts has won Goal of the Year on a record four occasions – thrice playing for Adelaide (2015, 2016 and 2019) and once for Carlton (2006).
Betts was raised by his mother in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. He played junior football for the Mines Rovers Football Club, before moving back to Port Lincoln, where his father lived, to play for the Mallee Park Peckers. While in Port Lincoln, Betts’ off-field behaviour was an issue, which included smoking, drinking, drugs and truancy. As a result, his mother arranged for the 15-year-old Betts to move to Melbourne and begin a TAFE program run by Indigenous former footballer Phil Krakouer.
Betts was originally drafted by Carlton with pick No. 3 in the 2004 Pre-Season Draft, where he played for nine years before Adelaide signed him as a free agent at the end of 2013. He moved back to Carlton at the conclusion of the 2019 season, where he would finish his career at the end of the 2021 season having played a total of 350 games and kicked 640 goals. Betts now works as a development coach at the Geelong Football Club.
When Eddie Betts entered the Australian Football League (AFL) at 17 years of age, he was unable to read or write and knows the challenges and disadvantage this can cause young people. Now a respected leader and positive role model, Betts has created a series of educational books for children. The books aim to help kids read with confidence and enjoyment and give them the chance to express their own personality into the story.
His first book My Kind is about spreading kindness and helping kids understand acceptance and equality. Since the release of MY KIND the kindness movement has grown with kids (and adults) of all ages joining the tribe and helping to spread kindness. My People, Eddie Betts’ second book for children, is all about sharing and educating kids on Aboriginal culture and Australia’s First Nations people.
As a proud Aboriginal Australian, Betts wants all kids to be educated and have an understanding of First Nations culture. Eddie is often asked to visit schools to share his knowledge and experience.
Betts married his long-term partner, Anna Scullie, in a surprise wedding in August 2015, after several years’ engagement. They have five children, three boys and twin daughters.
Link to Wikipedia biography