John Goodwin Leith (12 August 1872 – 24 April 1935) 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

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

in the early years of 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). Leith was a forward and prior to joining Melbourne in the last Victorian Football Association (VFA) season in 1896 played with Carlton. He was a centre half forward in Melbourne's 1900 premiership team and topped the club's goalkicking on five occasions in his career: 1896, 1897, 1899, 1902 and 1907. When having a set shot at goal he used the place kick and once, in a game against St Kilda, kicked five goals from place kicks. He retired at the end of the 1908 season but returned to the league in 1911 when Melbourne were struggling, this time playing as a defender.

References

External links

* * 1872 births 1935 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Carlton Football Club (VFA) players Melbourne Football Club (VFA) players Melbourne Football Club players VFL Leading Goalkicker Medal winners Melbourne Football Club premiership players VFL/AFL premiership players {{AFL-bio-1870s-stub