Robert Gartland

Robert Gartland 2025

Robert ('Bob') John Gartland OAM (born 1954)[1] is an Australian businessperson, historian and recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2024.[2]

Business

Gartland founded Gartland Real Estate (Geelong) in 1999.[3] In 2010, Gartland Real Estate won the 'Commercial Services' award at the Geelong Business Excellence Awards.[4]

Collections & Research

After selling Gartland Real Estate, Gartland’s focus moved from commerce to recording and collecting history with a focus on Geelong.[5]

In 2022, the National Trust recognised Gartland for his work in identifying important historical sites in the Geelong region.[6]

The Gartland Collection is a large private collection of historically and culturally important artefacts, objects, images, and sound recordings relating to Australian football. Some of the collection is housed in the Bob Gartland Heritage Centre at Kardinia Park.[7][8]

Curated by Gartland, a further sample of his collection went on public display at Geelong Gallery from September-November 2019.[9][10] [11][12]

In 2015, Gartland published a digital product -The Greatest Team of All - a 15-year project that aimed to document every player of the Geelong Football Club. The Greatest Team of All features 1228 players from 1877.[13][14]

Deakin University lists him as an Affiliate member and on the Advisory Board at the Centre for Contemporary Histories."[15][16]

In 2026, Gartland was a contributor to an initiative 'Geelong Sporting Life', alongside the Geelong Football Club, Geelong Sports Museum, Barwon Sports Academy and Deakin University’s Centre for Contemporary Histories. [17]

Geelong Football Club

As part of recording and collecting history, Gartland spent twelve years as a Director of the Geelong Football Club including documenting its history. During this time, he founded the Geelong Football Club’s History Society, serving as its inaugural Chair.[18] He also chaired the Club's Honouring the Past Committee and its History and Tradition Committee. In 2017, Gartland was inducted as a Life Member and in 2022 as a recipient of the RJ Hickey Award[19][20][21] from the Geelong Football Club.

Community Service

Gartland is the Patron of community hospice Anam Cara House Geelong chaired by Diana Taylor.[22][23]

Gartland is also listed as a contributor assisting in the establishment of the Geelong Sports Museum. [24]

In 2024, Gartland was recognised for his work in service to the Geelong community with a Medal of the Order of Australia[25] and was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Deakin University.[26][27]

References

  1. ↑ Independent, Geelong (10 June 2024). "A Lifetime of Service". Geelong Indy. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  2. ↑ Media, Cats (11 June 2024). "Cats Awarded Kings Birthday Honours". Geelong Cats. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  3. ↑ Delhunty, Kylie (June 11, 2024). "Elite Agent".
  4. ↑ Advertiser, Geelong (22 July 2010). "2010 Geelong Advertiser Business Excellence Award winners". YouTube. Retrieved 10 February 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ Gallery, Geelong (20 September 2019). "Cats from dawn to dark the Bob Gartland collection". Geelong Gallery.
  6. ↑ "Club wins heritage award". geelongcats.com.au. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  7. ↑ "Almanac Footy History and Memorabilia: The Bob Gartland (Geelong FC) Collection". www.footyalmanac.com.au. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  8. ↑ "Geelong Football Club". Victorian Collections. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  9. ↑ "The Greatest Team of All—treasures from the Bob Gartland Collection | Geelong Gallery". www.geelonggallery.org.au. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  10. ↑ Media, Cats (25 September 2019). "The greatest team of all treasures from the Bob Gartland collection". Geelong Football Club.
  11. ↑ Webb, Carolyn (6 September 2019). "How the Geelong Cats got their nickname, and other stories". The Age. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  12. ↑ Admin, Almanac (23 November 2020). "Almanac footy history and memorabilia the bob gartland collection". Footy Almanac. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  13. ↑ Hanlon, Peter (2015-06-04). "A picture of passion: Geelong's Bob Gartland creates the ultimate team photo". The Age. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  14. ↑ Rinaldo, Talia (2019-09-26). "The Greatest Team of All—treasures from the Bob Gartland Collection". Forte Magazine. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  15. ↑ "Bob Gartland". Contemporary Histories. 2022-06-02. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  16. ↑ University, Deakin (19 August 2025). "Centre for Contemporary Histories". Deakin University. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  17. ↑ Sporting Life, Geelong (10 February 2026). "About Us - Geelong Sporting Life Contributors". Geelong Sporting Life. Retrieved 10 February 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ↑ Kardinia Park Chronicles - The Cattery, 24 February 2021, retrieved 2022-10-16
  19. ↑ "Gartland recognised with R.J. Hickey Award". www.geelongcats.com.au. 2022-06-02.
  20. ↑ "Hall Of Fame | Bob Gartland Speech". geelongcats.com.au. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  21. ↑ Taylor, James (2022-06-21). "Cats award life memberships to Blicavs, Cam Guthrie". Bellarine Times. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  22. ↑ Cara House Geelong, Anam (2024). "Anam Cara House Geelong - congratulations to our patron Bob Gartland". LinkedIn. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  23. ↑ Cara House Geelong, Anam (19 August 2025). "Our People". Anam Cara House Geelong. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  24. ↑ Sports Museum, Geelong (10 February 2026). "About us - contributors". Geelong Sports Museum. Retrieved 10 February 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ↑ Hui, Jin (2024-06-10). "A lifetime of service". Geelong Independent. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  26. ↑ "Bob Gartland receives Deakin Honorary Doctorate". www.deakin.edu.au. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  27. ↑ "A Geelong icon who helped build Deakin". Deakin 50 Years. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
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