George Hugh Holden (15 April 1889 – 21 July 1959) 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
West Melbourne Football Club
The West Melbourne Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA). Its senior side competed in the VFA from 1878 through 1908, its peak as a club coming after it won the 1906 premie ...
in the
Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the
Fitzroy in the
Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
The son of William Fullerton Holden (1860–1917), and Christina Braud Holden (1867–1949), née Balfour, George Hugh Holden was born at
Fitzroy North, Victoria
Fitzroy North is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Merri-bek, Merri-bek and City of Yarra, Yarra Local government areas of Victo ...
on 15 April 1889.
He married Olive Myrtle Browne (1887–1945) in 1915. They had one child, a daughter.
Football
West Melbourne (VFA)
He played in the last two matches of the 1907 VFA season for West Melbourne: the Semi Final, against Richmond, on 21 September 1907, and the Grand Final, against Williamstown, on 28 September 1907,
Fitzroy (VFL)
Recruited from West Melbourne, Holden was both a centreman and wingman during his career with Fitzroy, which began in 1908. He was
club champion in his debut season, winning the
best and fairest
In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...
award for the second time in 1915.
One of Fitzroy's best in their
1913 Grand Final win over St Kilda, Holden was named as the club's coach in 1916, and was also a
premiership player, against Carlton, in 1916, his first year as coach.
Continuing as Fitzroy's coach, he was also the team's captain in 1917, and in 1918; but had to retire at the start of the 1919 season after suffering a serious thigh injury in the
match against Carlton, at Princes Park, on 3 May 1919.
Death
He died at his residence in
Forest Hill, Victoria
Forest Hill is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Whitehorse local government area. Forest Hill recorded a population of 10,780 at the 2021 census.
...
on 21 July 1959.
Deaths: Holden, ''The Age'', (Wednesday, 22 June 1959), p. 21.
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Notes
References
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External links
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George Holden's playing statistics
from ''The VFA Project''.
1889 births
1959 deaths
Australian rules footballers from Melbourne
Mitchell Medal winners
Fitzroy Football Club coaches
Fitzroy Football Club premiership coaches
Fitzroy Football Club players
Fitzroy Football Club premiership players
West Melbourne Football Club players
VFL/AFL premiership players
VFL/AFL premiership coaches
People from Fitzroy, Victoria
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