John Vincent Regan (12 September 1912 – 11 August 1988) 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 represented Collingwood 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) during the 1930s and 1940s.

Playing career

Recruited from Northcote, Regan struggled in his first few seasons and was tried in a variety of positions before he established himself at full-back. Taking on and matching full-forwards like

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 ...

Bob Pratt Harold Robert "Bob" Pratt (31 August 1912 – 6 January 2001) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans, South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL) and ...

(whom Regan regarded as his most difficult opponent), Carlton's

Harry Vallence Henry Francis "Soapy" Vallence (4 June 1905 – 25 July 1991) was a champion Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the Victorian Football Association (VFA). He played at full-forward for the VFL's Carlton Footbal ...

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 ...

Jack Titus Jack "Skinny" Titus (9 March 1908 – 19 April 1978) was an Australian rules football player who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1926 and 1943 for the Richmond Football Club. In the 1930s, Titus was one of the great forwa ...

and St Kilda's

Bill Mohr Wilbur T. "Bill" Mohr (29 June 1909 – 29 March 1971) was an Australian rules footballer who represented St Kilda Football Club, St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1930s. Early ...

, Regan earned his title as the "Prince of Full-backs". He was a magnificent mark and a superb kick. Archival footage shows him using the now defunct drop kick for his kick-ins. In slow motion they demonstrate his perfect balance and timing. Regan was among the best players in the Magpies'

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

premiership victories, both against

. In May

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

, during a match against Carlton, Regan fell heavily and suffered a double dislocation of an elbow. He spent a week at St Vincent's Hospital, and ended up missing nine matches. He recovered in time to play a part in Collingwood's finals campaign, but again for the second successive year was on the losing end as Carlton emerged victorious with the

pennant. In January 1942 Regan announced his retirement from football to join the

Salesian The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

community at Sunbury as a lay brother. In February 1943, with Australia now involved heavily in the Second World War, Regan enlisted with the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF) and served as a

leading aircraftman Leading aircraftman (LAC) or leading aircraftwoman (LACW) is an enlisted rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Leading air ...

. He returned in

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

to captain Collingwood. In April 1946, shortly after being discharged from military service, Regan returned to Collingwood and trained so well that he was selected for their Round 1 match of the 1946 season against Hawthorn. In March 1947, it was announced that Regan had been appointed coach of Kalgoorlie City Football Club in

Goldfields Football League The Goldfields Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Goldfields-Esperance, Goldfields region of Western Australia. Founded in 1896 as Hannans District Football Association, the league enjoyed a seat and full voting ...

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 ...

champion

Dick Reynolds Richard Sylvannus Reynolds (20 June 1915 – 2 September 2002) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Reynolds is one of four footballers to have won three Brownlow ...

considered Regan the best full-back he ever saw. In an article for Melbourne newspaper '' The Argus'' Reynolds recounted watching Regan play state football against the likes of

Ken Farmer Kenneth William George Farmer (25 July 1910 – 5 March 1982) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the North Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Dubbed the ' Bradman of football' in S ...

from

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

and

George Doig George Ronald Doig (25 May 1913 – 27 November 2006) was an Australian rules footballer who played for and later coached the East Fremantle Football Club in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL). A member of the Doig sporting ...

from

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 ...

and said:

'' made them earn every goal they kicked against him. It was great to see the way in which he shadowed them or marked or punched the ball away, and then, with great dash and a beautiful kick, sent the ball in the right position for an attack. His quick thinking and unruffled style at critical moments made him a star full-back.''

During his playing career, Regan had worked as a clerk for the Commonwealth Social Service in Melbourne. After returning to Melbourne from Kalgoorlie he continued to serve at Collingwood for many years, and was club secretary from 1969 to 1977.

Posthumous honours

Regan was among the first players inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

in 1996. He was considered for the full-back position in the VFL/AFL

Team of the Century In team sport, team of the century and team of the decade are hypothetical best teams over a given time period. For the century team, it can be either 100 years, or for a century (always the 20th). Similarly the team of the decade can be for 10 y ...

, although that honour ultimately went to Carlton's

Stephen Silvagni Stephen Silvagni (born 31 May 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Coming second in three generations of Silvagnis to represent the Blues, he is regarded a ...

. In 1997, when the Collingwood Team of the Century was announced, Regan was named at full-back. In 2004, at the launch of the Collingwood Hall of Fame, Regan was one of 18 inducted players. The Collingwood player who finishes fifth in the club's best-and-fairest count is awarded the Jack Regan Trophy.

Notes

References

Renn, Ronald Percy, "Renn looks on Saturday's games", ''The Age'', (Monday, 26 April 1937), p.6.
* * * *

External links

Collingwood Team of the Century
*
Profile
at Australian Football
Jack Regan's Service Record
at the RAAF (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Regan, Jack 1988 deaths 1912 births Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club premiership players Copeland Trophy winners Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Northcote Football Club players Kalgoorlie City Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force airmen VFL/AFL premiership players People from Northcote, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne 20th-century Australian sportsmen