John Cole Reedman (9 October 1865 – 29 March 1924) was a leading Australian sportsman of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Australian football career

Reedman began to make his mark as 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 in 1884, whilst playing parklands football for Medindie. He went on to join Hotham who were in the Adelaide Suburban Association (ASA) competition, and was a key member of the club's 1885 premiership side. He captained Hotham when they again won the ASA premiership in 1886. Hotham joined the South Australian Football Association (SAFA) in 1887, with Reedman as captain. Just prior to the 1888 football season, Hotham changed their name to North Adelaide (no connection to the current club) and again Reedman was captain. When Hotham/North Adelaide amalgamated with the

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

club in 1889, Reedman moved to South Adelaide, where he was appointed captain, a position he held until 1898, playing 172 consecutive matches (bringing his total to 200) and leading South to five premierships in seven years before the introduction of electorate football (whereby footballers had to play for their local team) forced his move to North Adelaide in 1899. Reedman led

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

from 1901 to 1905, and in that time the club won premierships in 1902 and 1905, with Reedman also being part of the 1900 premiership team. He also captained

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 ...

in 1903, and in 1907 played both his 300th game - only the second ever player in elite Australian rules football to do so - as well as his 306th game to break the elite Australian rules football games record held by Victorian Peter Burns. Following his retirement from playing, Reedman was appointed coach of the lowly

West Adelaide Football Club West Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Nicknamed the Bloods and commonly known as the Westies, the club's home base is Richmond Oval (currently known as Hisens ...

in 1908. To the end of 1907, West Adelaide had won only 23 and drawn 1 of the 145 SAFA matches they had played, and had been perennially close to or on the bottom of the ladder. Reedman coached West Adelaide to its first ever premiership in 1908, and then defeated

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) premiers

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

to become Champions of Australia. Reedman promptly left West Adelaide to return to North Adelaide for one last season as a player at the age of 43, but it was an inauspicious finale, as the red and whites finished second last. Reedman played 115 matches for North Adelaide, bringing his career total to 319 matches, which remained a record in South Australian elite football until it was broken by Lindsay Head in 1970, while his 200 consecutive matches was a record in elite football until it was broken by

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 ...

in 1943. His brother Sid also captained South Adelaide.

Cricket career

Reedman made his

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

debut for

on 17 February 1888 against

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 ...

at the

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

. An all-rounder, Reedman made a duck in his only innings of the match and did not bowl as South Australia won by an innings and 113 runs. Despite this inauspicious start, Reedman went on to captain South Australia and represent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in one Test match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

(SCG) during the 1894/95 Ashes series. Reedman made 17 and four and produced bowling figures of 1/12 and 0/12. In addition to his football and cricket exploits, Reedman was also a leading long-distance swimmer of the period.

Honours

Reedman has been selected as a back pocket and change ruckman in South Adelaide's official "Greatest Team". In 1996, he was 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 ...

and in 2002, he was inducted into the

South Australian Football Hall of Fame The South Australian Football Hall of Fame enshrines those who have made a most significant contribution to the game of Australian Football. The Hall of Fame was established in 2002 when 114 outstanding individuals became inaugural inductees. S ...

Personal life

Reedman lived on Gilbert Street, Gilberton and worked as a letter sorter in Adelaide with the Postal Department. He also coached the cricket and football teams at

Prince Alfred College Prince Alfred College is a private, independent, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, South Australia, Kent Town, near the Adelaide city centre, centre of Adelaide, South Australia. One of th ...

for many years. He died in the morning on 29 March 1924 aged 58 following an operation at a private hospital, after several years of ill-health, leaving a widow, three sons and a daughter.

References

Sources

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External links

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Australian Football Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reedman, John 1865 births 1924 deaths Australian cricketers Australia Test cricketers South Australia cricketers South Adelaide Football Club players North Adelaide Football Club players West Adelaide Football Club coaches South Adelaide Football Club coaches Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian rules footballers from Adelaide Cricketers from Adelaide West Torrens Football Club coaches