Phil Walsh tributes
Tributes to the Crows' late head coach Phil Walsh are left outside AAMI Stadium on in Adelaide Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

The Australian sports world was in shock today (3 July) after the popular coach of an Adelaide Australian rules football team was knifed to death and his son arrested and charged with murder.

The death of Phil Walsh, 55, the manager of the Adelaide Crows team, generated a wave of condolences throughout the country, with players, fans and public figures expressing their grief on social media.

Walsh was stabbed to death at his home in the southern city after a domestic dispute, in which his wife Meredith also received non-life threatening wounds.

The head coach's 26-year-old son Cy, who lived with his parents, was arrested and charged with murder. He is due to undergo a psychiatric assessment. Police said they retrieved the knife used in the attack at the premises.

"This is a crisis unprecedented, there is no rule book, and we are dealing with it," Adelaide Crows chairman Rob Chapman said. "The point is just to get people through today."

The team's next fixture against Geelong scheduled for Sunday in Adelaide has been cancelled.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said: "The sorrow and the stress felt today touches many in our industry because Phil Walsh gave such a lot to our game.

"He was a man of boundless energy, enthusiasm and great intelligence. He was part of the AFL family for 32 years and there are not many words of comfort today for those who feel his terrible loss in these most difficult of circumstances."

Phil Walsh
Adelaide Crows head coach Phil Walsh, who has been stabbed to death at his home Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images
More about Australia