Alfred Quill (born 1910) was an Australian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player and played for the Australia national team. Often considered one of the best soccer players in New South Wales, he scored 868 goals in all NSW competitions in his 24-year senior career.

Early career

Quill was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He first showed his signs as a footballer, whilst attending Globe Public School. At the age of 12, he represented New South Wales as a schoolboy against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. For three seasons he played for Wentworth Juniors before joining the senior side of Pyrmont.

Club career

Beginning in his teens, Quill played 24 seasons.

Pyrmont

Quill began his career with Pyrmont at age 17 in the New South Wales State League in 1927.

Leichhardt-Annandale

While contracted at Leichhardt-Annandale, English club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

wanted to sign Quill on 25 April 1931, which was rejected.

Wallsend

He made a return to Wallsend on a three-year contract on 6 January 1937. Quill did not have any intentions on leaving Wallsend at the end of the 1939 season, as he signed a form to stay with Wallsend. At the start of the 1943 season, he left Wallsend top play for Lake Macquarie, and returned to Wallsend on 22 May 1943 to play the remainder of the season. In the 1937 season, he scored a record 78 goals for Wallsend as a state record for most goals in a season. He proposed a retirement from football at the end of the 1945 season, but he came back to Wallsend's squad in April 1946 to play a home match against Lysaght's-Orb the next week. Over his career he scored 802 goals in 477 league and cup matches, but some sources state that he retired in 1949 with 1,002 goals in total, although these numbers probably include goals in

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

and unofficial matches. In total, he scored 271 top-tier goals after turning 30 years old in 1940, which makes him one of the most prolific top-tier goalscorers in that age bracket in the history of football.

International career

Quill played twice in full international matches for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, both against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in September 1938, scoring twice in the former to help his side to a 5–3 win.

Coaching career

After finishing playing he coached Wallsend before a stint as coach of

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

* NSW State League: 1932, 1933, 1938, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944 * NSW State League Cup: 1937, 1942, 1944 * NSW Robinson Cup: 1938, 1939 * NSW Daniels Cup: 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1949 Individual *NSW Top Scorer: 1932, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1943, 1945

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quill, Alf Australian men's soccer players 1910 births Year of death missing Men's association football forwards Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian sportsmen