Charles Norman Laird (20 May 1893 – 14 December 1968) 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

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

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). Laird spent five seasons with South Melbourne and is best known for his performance in the 1918 VFL Grand Final. Playing in the

forward pocket In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...

, Laird kicked three goals in the match including the match winner in the final minute when he soccered the ball through for a goal.Atkinson, p. 40. Earlier in the season, Laird kicked three goals in the last five minutes of the match to help South Melbourne defeat

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

. His twin brother Frank Laird also played for South Melbourne.

References

Sources

* Atkinson, G. (1982) ''Everything you ever wanted to know about Australian rules football but couldn't be bothered asking'', The Five Mile Press: Melbourne. .

External links

* * 1893 births 1968 deaths Sydney Swans players Sydney Swans premiership players Australian rules footballers from New South Wales Paddington Australian Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1893-stub