John Edward Crane (26 August 1913 – 5 January 1974) 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

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

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). Although recruited from Preston, Crane played originally for the

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

seconds. He started his VFL career at Essendon and kicked five goals on his debut, against Hawthorn at Windy Hill. A dispute with a teammate meant that he was cleared to Richmond after just one more league game and he was used as a full-back at his new club. He spent much of the

1940 VFL season The 1940 VFL season was the 44th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 27 April until 28 September, and comprised an ...

as a key forward, kicking 21 goals. In the grand final that season he was Richmond's

centre half-back In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre half-back and left and right half-back flank positions. Centre half-back The role of the centre half-bac ...

, but couldn't prevent a 39-point loss. Crane served with the Australian armed forces during the war, having enlisted in 1943. He returned to football in 1945, playing 17 games for North Melbourne. He later coached the

Caulfield Football Club The Caulfield Football Club, nicknamed Bears, was an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield, Victoria, Caulfield. It competed in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) from 1965 until 1987, when the club fo ...

. Two brothers, Len and Tom Crane, were also league footballers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Jack 1913 births Essendon Football Club players Richmond Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club players Northern Bullants players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne 1974 deaths Caulfield Football Club coaches Australian military personnel of World War II Military personnel from Melbourne