Bill Twomey Jr. (28 September 1927 – 1 October 1996) 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 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). Often described as an "enigma", Twomey was, for a time, considered the best centreman in the game. He combined freakish natural talent with exceptional speed, a vice-like grip and spectacular leap. His often perplexing career can be summed up by a three-week stretch during the latter part of the 1948 season. Twomey, having gone unsighted during the first half of Collingwood's semi-final clash versus Footscray, kicked 8 goals in the second half to single-handedly win the match for the Magpies. Such was his impact the Sporting Globe declared Twomey "their greatest match-winning forward since Ron Todd". Two weeks later the star Magpie had little to no influence in Collingwood's Preliminary final loss to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Twomey played 189 games for the Magpies over 14 seasons in a career that spanned a

Copeland Trophy The E.W. Copeland Trophy is an Australian rules football award given by the Collingwood Football Club to the player adjudged best and fairest for Collingwood during the year. The Copeland Shield, as it was formerly known, was donated by Ern Cop ...

in 1956, Premiership glory in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, captaincy in 1957 and regular selection for

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 ...

. His time as a Magpie however was ultimately dogged by niggling injuries as well as personal setbacks, during an era when little thought was given to the mental welfare of footballers. Bill's brother

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

played 157 games for the Woods between 1951 and 1961, while Pat had two brief stints with the club which amounted to 55 games. The three brothers' nephew

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

– the son of a fourth brother, Peter TwomeyGossip from League Club-Rooms, ''The Argus'', (Wednesday, 7 April 1954), p.25Youngest Twomey injured, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Wednesday, 30 June 1954), p.4.
/ref> – later played with the Magpies. Bill's father Bill Twomey Sr. had also played with them during the 1920s.

References

External links

* *
Bio at Collingwood Forever
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club premiership players Copeland Trophy winners 1927 births 1996 deaths VFL/AFL premiership players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1920s-stub