Immortalised Crows great Blight reveals he stole his first footy

AFL legend Malcolm Blight has been immortalised with a bronze statue in his honour, hours after revealing he stole his first footy as a child.

Blight, who coached Adelaide to back-to-back AFL premierships in 1997 and 1998, was clearly stunned as the statue was unveiled at Adelaide Oval today.

He admitted that it had made his entire journey in football flash before his eyes, including the moment he stole his first football as a child.

"We didn't actually have a footy in those days. We had socks, you know, fill up socks with paper and kick them," he told ABC radio earlier on Friday.

"After watching all my heroes play at Woodville [oval], I finally got one. I got the guts to go out to the back of the goals and waited and waited and waited and when I got mine I ... just bolted."

"I hid it in the wheat drum underneath the wheat for about three weeks waiting for the coppers to come but they never did."