Arthur Thomas Leach (2 March 1876 – 1 October 1948) was 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

and Collingwood during the early years of the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL).

Family

The son of Thomas Leach (1847-1916), and Emma Bunkin Leach (1847-1893), née Stuckey, Arthur Thomas Leach was born in

Heidelberg, Victoria Heidelberg () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, northeast of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Banyule local government area. Heidelberg recorded a population of 7,360 at the 2021 census. Once a ...

on 2 March 1876.

Brothers

His two brothers, John Frederick "Fred" Leach (1878–1908) and Edward Hale "Ted" Leach (1883-1965) also played for Collingwood.

Football

Leach was used either on the ball or up forward.

Essendon VFL)

He joined Essendon in 1897 (the inaugural VFL season). His first match was Essendon's defeat of Collingwood (the team included his brother Ted) 6.10 (46) to 5.7 (37) at Victoria Park on 3 July 1897. In all he played in four games for Essendon and kicked 2 goals.

Collingwood VFL)

In 1898 crossed to Collingwood where he would spend the next 11 seasons. Leach played in a total of four Grand Finals, for premierships in 1902 and 1903. He captained Collingwood for part of the 1906 season and for all of 1907.

Law

On 15 July 1897, the Full Court ("consisting of the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Holroyd, and Mr. Justice Hood") admitted Leach to practice as a barrister and solicitor in Victoria; and, along with William Rogers Thomson (1872-1932) — who was also treasurer of the

Moonee Valley Racing Club The Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) was founded by William Samuel (W.S.) Cox), in 1883 is located at The Valley Racecourse on McPherson Street, Moonee Ponds (a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia). It is one of three racing clubs in the Mel ...

and, later, Lord Mayor of Malvern (in 1914/15) — Arthur Thomas Leach was a partner in the firm of Leach and Thomson, Solicitors, 386 Bourke Street, Melbourne.

Death

He died at Camberwell on 1 October 1948.Deaths: Leach, ''The Age'' (Monday, 4 October 1948), p.9.
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Footnotes

References

* Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. * Maplestone, M., ''Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996'', Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996.

External links

* *
Essendon Football Club profile

Arthur Leach, ''Collingwood Forever''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Arthur 1876 births Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Essendon Football Club players Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club premiership players 1948 deaths VFL/AFL premiership players People from Heidelberg, Victoria 19th-century Australian sportsmen 20th-century Australian sportsmen