Leonard Harris "Barrow Boy" Toyne (12 July 1922 – 17 March 1998) 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

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, Fitzroy and

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 ...

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 1940s. Toyne, from Terang, made his way into the Geelong seniors for the first time in 1940 after serving his apprenticeship in the reserves. He spent the 1942 season at Fitzroy, as Geelong were forced into recess as a result of the war, but was out of action for the next two years due to his service with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Returning to Geelong in 1945, Toyne finished third in the club's '

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

'. After getting married, Toyne moved to Sandringham in 1946 to live and work. Geelong granted him a clearance which allowed him to be appointed captain-coach of the

Sandringham Football Club The Sandringham Football Club, nicknamed the Zebras, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Sandringham, Victoria, Sandringham. It currently competes in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the VFL Women's (VF ...

. The club had finished 11th the previous VFA season and had never reached the finals but Toyne steered them to a seven-point Grand Final win over

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

. Sandringham were runners-up in 1947 but struggled the following season, with Toyne getting suspended for three matches during the year after an altercation. Five rounds into the 1949 season, Toyne resigned, citing that he was being victimised by the umpires. He finished the year at Melbourne before crossing to Sturt, which he captain-coached in 1950 and 1951. His final port of call was Launceston for the 1953 Northern Tasmanian Football Association season.

References

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toyne, Len 1922 births 1998 deaths Geelong Football Club players Fitzroy Football Club players Melbourne Football Club players Sandringham Football Club players Sandringham Football Club coaches Sturt Football Club players Sturt Football Club coaches Launceston Football Club players Terang Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Launceston Football Club coaches Australian Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Victoria (state)