Clarence Lloyd "Clarrie" Lethlean (12 July 1900 – 18 July 1969) 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

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 ...

and Hawthorn 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).

Family

The sixth of eight children born to Alexander Lethlean (1868–1943) and Emily Lethlean (1869–1943), nee Prisk, Clarence Lloyd Lethlean was born at Port Melbourne on 12 July 1900. Clarrie Lethlean married Elva Margaret Roemus in 1925 and they had three sons together.

Football

Lethlean, who started his career at Oakleigh, made nine appearances for Melbourne in the

1921 VFL season The 1921 VFL season was the 25th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs and ran from 7 May to 15 October, comprising a 16-match h ...

.AFL Tables: Clarrie Lethlean
/ref> He switched clubs during the 1922 season, joining Hawthorn 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 ...

. In 1925 he made a return to the VFL, with Hawthorn entering the competition. An in-and-out 1925 season as a forward turned around when Lethlean was placed in defence and used as a relief follower. His bulk, guile and tenacity made him well suited to the role, and he became a key contributor over the next few seasons. Lethlean was elected captain of the side in 1927, where he gave good service as a ruckman during an injury crisis, despite missing four games through suspension. The

1927 VFL season The 1927 VFL season was the 31st season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs and ran from 30 April to 1 October, comprising an 18-ma ...

was his final year at Hawthorn.

Later life

In 1928 Lethlean and his family moved to

Perenjori, Western Australia Perenjori is a townsite in the northern agricultural region, north of Perth and south-east of Morawa. It is located on the Wongan Hills to Mullewa railway line which was opened in 1915. Perenjori was approved as the name of a siding in Apr ...

to become farmers, but returned to Victoria about five years later after his brother's death. Lethlean worked as a public servant after his return to Victoria and was living in East Malvern at the time of his death in 1969. He was cremated at Springvale Botanical Cemetery on 22 July 1969.

Honours and achievements

Individual * Hawthorn captain: 1927

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lethlean, Clarrie 1900 births Melbourne Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club players Oakleigh Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne 1969 deaths People from Port Melbourne 20th-century Australian sportsmen