Graham Joseph Ramshaw (7 August 1945 – 15 September 2006) was a leading

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, playing for

Perth Football Club The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in Lathlain, Western Australia, Lathlain, Western Australia, currently playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). R ...

in the

Western Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

(WAFL),

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of City of Fitzroy, Fitzroy, the club is base ...

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) and Central District in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

(SANFL).

Early years

Born in

North Fremantle North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

to a long-serving Perth committee member, Ramshaw was a student at Manning Primary School and Applecross High School, and was a star junior footballer, being awarded the best player of the national State schoolboys' football carnival in Brisbane in 1959.Reid, R. (2006) "Players pay tribute to premiership star", ''The West Australian'', 9 October 2006.

Career

Ramshaw made his senior debut for Perth aged 17 in 1963 as a full forward and impressed to the extent that VFL club Fitzroy sought to recruit him for the

1964 VFL season The 1964 VFL season was the 68th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 18 April until 19 September, and comprised an ...

. Perth were reluctant to clear him but, after threats from Ramshaw to step down from football, cleared him to Fitzroy just prior to the 30 June clearance deadlineStocks, G. (2000) "Demon Relished Change Of Role", ''The West Australian'', 20 June 2000. and Ramshaw played six games and kicked four goals for Fitzroy before returning to Perth for the 1965 season.stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/players/G/Graham_Ramshaw.html Accessed 10 April 2008 Ramshaw was a premiership player with Perth in 1966, 1967 and 1968, the first as a full forward while the latter two as a full back. Ramshaw was awarded life membership of Perth in 1972 and finished with 178 games for Perth. In 1974 Ramshaw transferred to SANFL club Central District, where he spent two injury riddled years, playing just three games for no goals. Following his retirement from football, Ramshaw returned to Western Australia and worked in the concrete and waste management industries.

Death

Ramshaw died from cancer in

North Beach, Western Australia North Beach is a northern coastal suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia from Perth's central business district via Mitchell Freeway and Reid Highway. Its local government area is the City of Stirling. History The name North ...

, aged 61. He was survived by his wife Kaye, three sons and seven grandchildren. One son, Darrin Ramshaw, played cricket for

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and football for Perth, while another, Troy, played three games for Perth.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramshaw, Graham 1945 births 2006 deaths Australian rules footballers from Fremantle Central District Football Club players Fitzroy Football Club players Perth Football Club players People educated at Applecross Senior High School 20th-century Australian sportsmen