John Cole "Jack" Reedman (9 October 1865 – 29 March 1924) was a leading Australian sportsman of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Australian football career

Reedman began to make his mark as an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er in 1884, whilst playing parklands football for Medindie. He went on to join Hotham who were in the Adelaide Suburban Association (ASA) competition, and was a key member of the club's 1885 premiership side. He captained Hotham when they again won the ASA premiership in 1886. Hotham joined the

South Australian Football Association The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SAFA) in 1887, with Reedman as captain. Just prior to the 1888 football season, Hotham changed their name to North Adelaide (no connection to the current club) and again Reedman was captain. When Hotham/North Adelaide amalgamated with the Adelaide club in 1889, Reedman moved to

South Adelaide The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University Stadium in 1899. Reedman led

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

from 1901 to 1905, and in that time the club won premierships in 1902 and 1905, with Reedman also being part of the 1900 premiership team. He also captained

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

in 1903. Following his retirement from playing, Reedman was appointed coach of the lowly West Adelaide Football Club in 1908. To the end of 1907, West Adelaide had won only 23 and drawn 1 of the 145 SAFA matches they had played, and had been perennially close to or on the bottom of the ladder. Reedman coached West Adelaide to its first ever premiership in 1908, and then defeated

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) premiers

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...

to become

Champions of Australia The Championship of Australia was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested between football clubs from the Victorian, South Australian, Western Australian and Tasmanian football leagues. The Championship took place three time ...

. Reedman promptly left West Adelaide to return to North Adelaide for one last season as a player, but it was an inauspicious finale, as the red and whites finished second last. Reedman played 115 matches for North Adelaide, bringing his career total to 319 matches at his retirement at the age of 43, with his 319 career matches remaining a record in South Australian elite football until it was broken by

Lindsay Head Lindsay Hudson Head MBE (born 16 September 1935 in North Adelaide, South Australia) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with West Torrens in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He was awarded three Magarey Me ...

in 1970, while his 200 consecutive matches was a record in elite football until it was broken by Jack Titus in 1943. His brother Sid also captained South Adelaide.

Cricket career

Reedman made his

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

debut for

on 17 February 1888 against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby l ...

. An all-rounder, Reedman made a duck in his only innings of the match and did not bowl as South Australia won by an innings and 113 runs. Despite this inauspicious start, Reedman went on to captain South Australia and represent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in one Test match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and association f ...

(SCG) during the 1894/95 Ashes series. Reedman made 17 and four and produced bowling figures of 1/12 and 0/12. In addition to his football and cricket exploits, Reedman was also a leading long-distance swimmer of the period.

Honours

Reedman has been selected as a back pocket and change ruckman in South Adelaide's official "Greatest Team". In 1996, he was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coac ...

and in 2002, he was inducted into the

South Australian Football Hall of Fame The South Australian Football Hall of Fame enshrines those who have made a most significant contribution to the game of Australian Football. The Hall of Fame was established in 2002 when 114 outstanding individuals became inaugural inductees. S ...

Personal life

Reedman worked as a letter sorter in Adelaide. He also coached the cricket and football teams at

Prince Alfred College , motto_translation = Do Brave Deeds and Endure , established = 1869 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , headmaster = David Roberts , chaplain = Reverend ...

for many years. He died in March 1924 aged 58, after several years of ill-health, leaving a widow, three sons and a daughter.

References

Sources

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External links

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Australian Football Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reedman, John 1865 births 1924 deaths Australian cricketers Australia Test cricketers South Australia cricketers South Adelaide Football Club players North Adelaide Football Club players West Adelaide Football Club coaches South Adelaide Football Club coaches Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian rules footballers from Adelaide Cricketers from Adelaide West Torrens Football Club coaches