Charlie Dixon (Australian footballer)
Charlie Dixon (born 23 September 1990) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Gold Coast Football Club as a Queensland zoned selection made available to Gold Coast under the AFL's draft concessions. He scored the first ever goal in the history of the club on 2 April 2011 against . Early life Dixon was born and raised in Cairns, Queensland. His parents both played basketball in their younger years and Charlie began playing basketball at the age of four where he made several junior representative sides through the eight years he played the sport. Junior football Dixon began playing junior football with the Redlynch Lions Football Club in 2003. He would then join the Cairns Saints Football Club and made the seniors team at the age of 16. In his last game for the Saints he played in the 2007 AFL Cairns Grand Final on his 17th birthday; the Saints would finish runners-up. Following graduation from high school at the end of 2007, he and his brother moved to Brisbane, where they were invited to play for the Redland Bombers in the AFL Queensland State League. He worked his way through the Redland ranks before playing for the senior side in 2008. In August 2008, Dixon was the first player ever to sign a contract with the newly formed Gold Coast Football Club for their inaugural year in the TAC Cup. At the beginning of the 2009 TAC Cup season, Dixon was named vice-captain of the club. He played 15 games for the season and also represented the Queensland under 18 teams in the AFL Under 18 Championships 3 times and was a standout. Dixon's efforts in 2009 would see him officially drafted to the Gold Coast team at the start of 2010 by way of the local talent access selection. In the 2010 season with the Gold Coast competing in the Victorian Football League, Dixon was again a standout when he finished the year with 22 goals from 14 games. Halfway through the season Dixon broke the player's code and was sent down to play for the Labrador Tigers for one match before returning to the VFL. He, along with teammate Brandon Matera, were the two leading goalkickers for the Suns in the 2010 VFL season. AFL career Gold Coast He made his debut in Round 2, 2011 in the Gold Coast Suns inaugural AFL match against Carlton at the Gabba, with Dixon kicking two of the Sun's goals in their heavy loss, including the first goal ever for the Suns. Two weeks later it was found that Dixon had been playing half-blind his entire football career and required contact lenses. In Round 5, wearing contacts for the first time, Dixon was part of the Gold Coast Sun's first AFL victory over Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium and kicked two goals during the win. He would continue to play each game until round