Peter Daicos

Peter Daicos: My family's journey is about a migrant family doing well, Peter’s parents left Macedonian for Australia in the 1950s and built a new life in Melbourne.

They worked hard in their adopted country, but Saturdays were a time Peter and his dad spent together, when they went to watch South Melbourne play Australian Rules football. Peter grew to love the game and played his first game for Collingwood in 1979. A hugely successful football career followed with Peter retiring from the game in 1993.

Peter is still considered one of the Collingwood Football Club’s greatest ever players: kicking 549 goals and playing 250 games in his 15 year career at the club and earning a host of awards including playing in the drought-breaking 1990 Collingwood premiership. With a passion for the game, Peter followed his father's lead and shared that passion with his own children: from going to games, to sharing a kick of the football.

Peter's two sons have followed in their father's footsteps and joined Collingwood, with Josh drafted in 2016 and Nick in 2021, both joining the club under the Father/Son rule. Both sons were in the Premiership team of 2023, and are considered stars at the Collingwood Football Club.

In Peter Daicos: My family's journey Peter explores his migrant heritage, his football career, his love of family, his enjoyment of the game and how that has shaped his family's journey.

A truly great story of a sporting family that has created its own traditions and a legacy through the generations.

About the Author

Peter Daicos was the son of hardworking Macedonian migrants who came to Australia seeking a better life. Growing up in Melbourne's inner suburbs, he was part of a close-knit migrant community where family, hard work and opportunity shaped everyday life. It was Peter's father who first introduced him to Australian Rules football, taking him to South Melbourne matches and passing on a love of the game that would change the course of his son's life.

That passion soon revealed an extraordinary talent. As a gifted junior footballer, Peter progressed through the ranks before joining the Collingwood Football Club, where he would become one of the club's most celebrated players. Across a remarkable 15-year career, he played 250 games and kicked 549 goals, earning a reputation for brilliance, creativity and seemingly impossible goals. His achievements include the 1990 Premiership, Goal of the Year, two Collingwood Best and Fairest awards, selection in three VFL/AFL Teams of the Year, five club leading goalkicker awards, induction into the Hall of Fame, and a place in Collingwood's Team of the Century.

Retirement did little to diminish Peter's connection to the game. He remained involved through coaching, mentoring and football-related business ventures, while focusing on family life with his wife and their three children. Today, the Daicos name has become synonymous with football excellence. Sons Josh Daicos and Nick Daicos followed in their father's footsteps, developing into stars in their own right at Collingwood and helping establish one of Australian football's most admired family legacies.