Donald 'Don' Wilfred Gale (20 February 1935 – 22 August 2002) 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 ...
player who played for Wynyard and Burnie in the
NWFU and
Hobart
Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
in the
TFL. He was selected in regional and state representative teams.
Wynyard
Gale began his senior career with Wynyard in 1953, debuting against Penguin on 18 April 1953. He performed so well in his first season that he finished fourth in the club best and fairest award.
Unable to move to VFL
He was signed by South Melbourne at the end of the 1954 season, but over the next couple of years was unable to obtain a clearance.
Hobart and back to Wynyard
Gale played with Hobart in 1957, but then returned to Wynyard in 1958. At the
Melbourne Centenary Carnival that year, Gale achieved
All Australian
The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...
selection,
[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IEkRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JpUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3385%2C2074797 ''The Age'', 14 July 1958, page 16] becoming the first player from the
NWFU to do so.
Burnie
Don Gale was captain-coach of Burnie for the 1961 and 1962 seasons, leading his team to the premiership in the latter year. He then announced his retirement at the age of 27.
Family connections to football
His father,
Jack Gale
Jack Gale (28 August 1899 – 5 April 1975) was an Australian rules footballer who played three games in the VFL for Richmond Football Club in 1924.
He returned to Tasmania and was Captain/Coach of the Wynyard Football Club from 1927 and 192 ...
, played three games for the
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...
in the
VFL in 1924 and his two sons,
Michael Gale and
Brendon Gale
Brendon Gale (born 18 July 1968) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
As a qualified lawyer, he practised law with a commercial law firm for some time after ...
, had lengthy
AFL
AFL may refer to:
Education
* Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity
* Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi''
* Assessment for learning
Military
* ...
careers throughout the 1990s.
References
External links
*
* https://afltashalloffame.com.au/inductees/69-don-gale/
Burnie Football Club players
Hobart Football Club players
Wynyard Football Club players
All-Australians (1953–1988)
Australian rules footballers from Tasmania
Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees
1935 births
2002 deaths
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