John Cornelius "Con" McCarthy (10 February 1893 – 19 June 1975) was an Australian rules footballer who played with

Collingwood Collingwood, meaning "wood of disputed ownership", may refer to: Educational institutions * Collingwood College, Victoria, an Australian state Prep to Year 12 school * Collingwood College, Durham, college of Durham University, England * Collingw ...

and Footscray in the VFL. He was known during his career as Con McCarthy. Originally from Western Australia, McCarthy was a ruckman and started his league career in 1915 with Collingwood. He was a premiership player with them in 1917 and 1919, the latter as captain. He also captained Victoria during his career, leading the VFL to victory at the

1921 Perth Carnival The 1921 Perth Carnival was the fourth edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition, staged in August 1921. It was the first carnival to take place in Perth and was won by the home sta ...

. In 1922, McCarthy joined Footscray in the VFA in 1922 as captain-coach on a lucrative deal, which saw him earn £10 per week, compared with the £2/10/– per week he had earned at Collingwood. Footscray at the time was a rich and ambitious club attempting to gain admission to the VFL, and it made several aggressive recruiting plays like this to further its case; ''the Sporting Globe'' commented that McCarthy was the first "big money" player in the game. As captain-coach, McCarthy led Footscray to back-to-back VFA premierships in 1923 and 1924. When Footscray was admitted to the VFL in 1925, McCarthy was their inaugural captain and coach; he continued as captain in 1926, before retiring at the end of the 1926 season.

References

External links

*
Con McCarthy's coaching record
at AFL Tables * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Con 1893 births 1975 deaths Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Brunswick Football Club players Footscray Football Club (VFA) players Western Bulldogs players Western Bulldogs coaches Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club Premiership players Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players