Robert Francis "Choc" Bignall (14 March 1922 – 11 August 2013), commonly referred to as Bob Bignall, 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 who was the

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 ...

captain at the 1956 Olympic Games held in

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 ...

, Australia. Bignall started his career in 1939 and played over 400 matches in

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

for

Corrimal Corrimal is a suburb north of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Corrimal's CBD is situated on the Princes Highway, and several streets adjacent to it. The main shopping centres are Lederer Corrimal and Corrimal Park Mall next ...

Rangers, Woonona, North Shore and South Coast United as a defender before going on to represent both NSW and national sides as captain in the 1950s. He was inducted to the Football Federation of Australia Hall of Fame in 1999.

Playing career

Bignall played for North Shore in 1945, then the Corrimal Rangers from 1950 to 1953 and for South Coast United in 1960 and 1961. All clubs were part of the NSW Division 1. He was a small stature man who had lightning speed and a tenacious will to win.

International career

Bignall played eight matches for the Australian national team between 1954 and 1956, and he was the 127th player to debut for his nation against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

on 28 August 1954. He became the 16th captain of the national team against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in Sydney on 24 September 1955. He was also the captain for both of the 1956 Summer Olympic games.

Later life and death

After retiring from soccer, Bignall became a greyhound trainer. Bignall died 11 August 2013 at the age of 91.

References

External links

*Obituary i
Goal Weekly
*Obituary a
Football South Coast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bignall, Bob 1922 births 2013 deaths Australian men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players for Australia Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Men's association football fullbacks Soccer players from Wollongong 20th-century Australian sportsmen