Len Crane (7 February 1928 – 24 May 2006) 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

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 ...

and Hawthorn 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). Crane made his VFL debut in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

with South Melbourne and played as a half back flanker. After four seasons with South Melbourne he moved to Hawthorn for the

1951 VFL season The 1951 VFL season was the 55th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 21 April until 29 September, and comprised an ...

where he was used at full back and went on to represent

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 interstate football in 1953 and 1954. In

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

Crane finished equal fourth in the

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. From 1958 to 1961, Porta coached Mordialloc in the

Victorian Football Association 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 ...

. He was the brother of footballers

Jack Crane John Edward Crane (26 August 1913 – 5 January 1974) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon, Richmond and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Although recruited from Preston, Crane played originally ...

and Tom Crane.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Len 1928 births 2006 deaths Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Sydney Swans players Hawthorn Football Club players Mordialloc Football Club players Mordialloc Football Club coaches People from South Melbourne