John Somers Gill (19 April 1932 – 3 March 2003) 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 ...
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) from 1951 to 1957.
A highly talented
ruckman with a strong overhead mark, and a delightfully graceful and accurate "palm", he walked straight into the Essendon senior team at 19 years of age.
Recruited from the
Longerenong Agricultural College, in
Horsham, Victoria
Horsham () is a regional city in the Wimmera region of western Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Located on a bend in the Wimmera River, Horsham is approximately northwest of the state capital Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, Horsham ...
, he made his debut, two days after his nineteenth birthday, for Essendon's seniors in the first home-and-away match of the 1951 season, on 21 April 1951, when Essendon defeated
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
13.8 (86) to 10.16 (76) at
Windy Hill Windy Hill or Windy Hills may refer to:
Places
* Windy Hill, Essendon, an Australian rules football ground in the Melbourne area
* Windy Hill Wind Farm, a wind power station near Ravenshoe, Queensland, Australia
* Windy Hill (Pennines), a hill on t ...
.
[ 1951 VFL season#Round 1]
He won the
Crichton Medal
The Crichton Medal is the name given to the best and fairest award for the Australian rules football team the Essendon Football Club. Since 1959 or 1960, it has been known officially as the W. S. Crichton Medal. The naming of the award is in hon ...
in 1954, and finished third in that season's
Brownlow Medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...
count.
He represented
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 ...
in 1955 and 1957.
Having missed the 1951 Grand Final due to illness, he played in his first grand final in 1957 but was on the
losing side. It turned out to be his last game of football as he retired at the age of just 25 to concentrate on his business career.
Fans were shocked at his decision to retire, because he seemed to be just starting to achieve his outstanding potential, and he seemed destined to become one of the all-time great ruckmen. His retirement created the space for the (then) second-string ruckman
Geoff Leek
Geoff Leek (18 February 1932 – 21 February 2008) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL from 1951 to 1962.
First senior match
Recruited from the Preston Boys Club (he had been released by Collingwood to ...
's career to blossom.
References
External links
*
*
Footystats Diary — Obituary: John Somers Gill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, John
1932 births
2003 deaths
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
Essendon Football Club players
Crichton Medal winners
20th-century Australian sportsmen