Paul Shelton was a Morningside man through and through, starting his football career in the red, white and black as a four-year-old and finishing it 26 years later when he was chaired from the ground a senior premiership captain in 2014.
Along the way he stamped himself as a standout in the QAFL and the VFL, represented Queensland with great distinction, and spent time in the AFL with Brisbane and Hawthorn.
A State regular through the junior ranks, he made his senior debut at 17, won a Reserves premiership with Morningside in 2001,in 2002, captained a Queensland Under 18 side which included future AFL players David Hale, Daniel Merrett and Joel Macdonald, and won All-Australian Under-18 honours.
In 2003 he was a rookie with the Brisbane Lions as they iced an extraordinary period of success with a third consecutive flag before a serious health scare cruelled a rookie stint with Hawthorn in 2004. He played at Williamstown in the VFL in 2005, sharing in a Reserves flag, and Coburg in 2006-07-08, finishing second, first, and third respectively in the best and fairest, and skippering the then Tigers in ’08.
After 82 games in the VFL he returned ‘home’ to Morningside in 2009 and added 125 QAFL/NEAFL games in six years, highlighted by premierships in 2009-10-14. He won the Syd Guildford Trophy as the AFLQ Record Player of the Year in 2009, was Morningside best and fairest in 2012 and captain 2012-13-14. A wonderfully consistent and creative midfielder, he played eight times for Queensland, enjoying a special moment when best afield in Queensland’s win over Tasmania at Southport in 2010 to win the coveted Zane Taylor Medal.
It all ended in the 2014 AFLQ grand final – his last outing in the colors of the club that was like a second home. Concussed early in the game, he battled on bravely to kick a crucial goal right on half-time and lead his side a memorable win.
Post-retirement, the father of three worked in real estate and later in a software/technology business, and coached his sons in the Morningside juniors.
