John Frederick Leach (6 March 1878 – 14 April 1908) 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 the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

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 son of Thomas Leach (1847-1916), and Emma Bunkin Leach (1847-1893), née Stuckey, John Frederick Leach was born in Heidelberg, Victoria on 6 March 1878.

Brothers

His two brothers, Arthur Thomas Leach (1876–1948) and Edward Hale "Ted" Leach (1883-1965) also played for Collingwood.

Football

Leach was a centreman in the losing Grand Final side of 1901, but played at centre half-back in the 1902 premiership team.

1899 team of "champions"

At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player", the football correspondent for ''The Argus'', Reginald Wilmot ("Old Boy"), selected a team of the best players of the 1899 VFL competition: * Backs:

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(Essendon),

Bill Proudfoot William Henry Proudfoot (11 June 1868 – 11 January 1931) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in both the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The so ...

(Collingwood), Peter Burns (Geelong). * Halfbacks: Pat Hickey (Fitzroy), George Davidson (South Melbourne), Alf Wood (Melbourne). * Centres: Fred Leach (Collingwood),

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(Geelong),

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(Essendon). * Wings: Charlie Pannam (Collingwood),

Eddie Drohan Edward Patrick Drohan (17 July 1876 – 28 July 1938) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) before becoming an umpire and a coach. Footbal ...

(Fitzroy),

Herb Howson Herbert Howson (11 August 1872 – 8 May 1948) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in both the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The son of Harry Josiah Howso ...

(South Melbourne). * Forwards: Bill Jackson (Essendon),

Eddy James Edwin Ernest James (14 February 1874 – 16 September 1937) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the years before and following the formation of the VFL. Football James started his career as a backman, playing a game ...

(Geelong),

Charlie Colgan Charles Edward Colgan (9 February 1878 – 25 July 1935) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The youngest of the seven children of the tailor Patrick Colgan (1833� ...

(South Melbourne). * Ruck:

Mick Pleass George Victor "Mick" Pleass (12 November 1874 – 27 August 1925) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne and Essendon in the VFA and Victorian Football League (VFL). Football Pleass was a follower and played his e ...

(South Melbourne),

Frank Hailwood Frank Hailwood (3 April 1873 – 21 May 1944) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family One of the eight children of Joseph Hailwood (1834–1912), and Ellen ...

(Collingwood),

Joe McShane Joseph Francis McShane (29 November 1868 – 26 July 1950) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and the Carlton Football Club between 1887 and 1904. Family The son of Philip McShane (1835-1908), and Mar ...

(Geelong). * Rovers: Dick Condon (Collingwood), Bill McSpeerin (Fitzroy), Teddy Rankin (Geelong). From those he considered to be the three best players — that is, Condon, Hickey, and Pleass — Wilmot selected Pat Hickey as his "champion player" of the season.

Death

He died of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

at his father's residence in Surrey Hills on 14 April 1908.Death at Surrey Hills, ''The (Box Hill) Reporter'', (Friday, 24 April 1908), p.4.
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Footnotes

References

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

* * 1878 births 1908 deaths Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club premiership players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Deaths from typhoid fever in Australia VFL/AFL premiership players People from Heidelberg, Victoria Infectious disease deaths in Victoria (state) 19th-century Australian sportsmen 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1870s-stub