BIO

John 'Bubba' Tye was born in Darwin in 1951, the second son of George and Mavis Tye. John's older brother Arthur Tye played 63 games with West Torrens from 1965 to 1970. 

John Tye joined Norwood in 1974 and while he only played a handful of league games, he impressed as a clever and skilful rover/half forward. Home sickness led him to return to Darwin after just one season at The Parade.
 
He was an important member of the 1974 Reserves team. Named on a half forward flank in the Grand Final, Tye kicked five goals and was high in Norwood's best players in its 34 point defeat of Glenelg at Football Park.
 
In 1975 he was cleared to Griffith in New South Wales. Back in the Northern Territory he played for Darwin and Nightcliff, as well as being a Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) representative. He won the NTFL Best and Fairest in 1978-79 whilst playing for Nightcliff, and won the Chaney Medal for the best player on the ground in a Grand Final.

In the Darwin off seasons he played with Port Lincoln South, West Gambier and Sandgate in the Queensland AFL.

In all, he played 138 games for Nightcliff  and 129 for Darwin Football Club. In 1990, a special NTFL panel named him the best player since Cyclone Tracy.

In 2010 he was inducted into the AFL Northern Territory Hall of Fame and in 2016 he was named in the NTFL's Team of the Century.

John Tye passed away in Darwin on 20 September 2014 aged 63.

Video: John Tye is named in the NTFL Team of the Century 

R Cialini June 2014, W Heading January 2026