About Martin Pike (Australian footballer)
Martin Pike (born 14 November 1972) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played in four Australian Football League (AFL) premiership sides. A tough, versatile wingman, Pike has been described as a "natural player" of the game. Highlights of his career included a premiership with the North Melbourne Football Club, three more with Brisbane, the final AFL best-and-fairest winner with Fitzroy in 1996, and selection in the 1998 South Australian State-Of-Origin side. == Early career == Pike was born in Glenelg, South Australia, and made his senior debut with South Australian National Football League (SANFL) side Norwood in 1990. He was drafted by Melbourne Football Club with their first choice (ninth overall) in the 1992 AFL draft. Pike made his AFL debut in 1993, playing eight games at centre half-back and a further 16 matches in 1994, including three finals. Despite his strong on-field performance, Melbourne traded Pike to Fitzroy Football Club at the end of 1994 due to his off-field problems with alcohol. After playing 14 games for Fitzroy in 1995, Pike played all 22 games in 1996, winning Fitzroy's best-and-fairest award, beating later Port Adelaide captain Matthew Primus for the honour. However, in late 1996, via a deal with the administrator of the Fitzroy Football Club at the time, the Brisbane Bears took over Fitzroy's AFL operations. Pike was not selected as one of the eight Fitzroy players to move north to Brisbane at the end of 1996, largely due to his poor off-field reputation.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.