William Spehr Koop (21 March 1906 – 14 April 1950) 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 for Carlton in 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) during the 1920s. Koop did not make much of an impact at Carlton in his first three seasons and left Carlton in 1927 to coach

Culcairn Football Club Culcairn () is a town in the south-east Murray (New South Wales), Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. Culcairn is located in the Greater Hume Shire Local government in Australia, local government area on the Olympic Highway between Albu ...

, NSW, before returning to Carlton in 1928. Koop played in two VFL Reserves premierships with Carlton in 1926 and 1928. Koop then had a successful career in the

Victorian Football Association 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 ...

as a key position defender, he was a centre half-back in Northcote's 1929 premiership team. He was appointed as captain / coach of Prahran in January, 1931, but had to resign in March, 1931 at the request of the Police Commissioner. Koop then enjoyed some individual success at

Prahran Prahran ( , also colloquially or ), is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a population ...

, winning the 1931

Recorder Cup The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded annually to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which was formerly known as the Victorian Football Association (VFA). It is named after J.J. Liston, a businessman, civic ...

. Koop was also a premiership player with Prahran in 1937. The 146 game Prahran veteran was named, in 2003, on the interchange bench in their official 'Team of the Century'.

References

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
1927 - Culcairn
The Corowa Free Press (NSW). 9 April 1927.

External links

* *
Bill Koop's Profile
at Blueseum 1906 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Carlton Football Club players Northcote Football Club players Prahran Football Club players Dimboola Football Club players 1950 deaths 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1906-stub