William Leslie Stillman (born 5 October 1949) is a former Australian

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 ...

er who 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 ...

and

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 ...

. He also played

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 ...

for

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 ...

and Footscray 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).

Football career

Originally from

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

, where he won the 1963 and 1964 Waranga North East Football Association Thirds best and fairest award. During his time as a VFL footballer Les Stillman played mainly as a half forward. After making his league debut in 1968, Stillman was a semi regular in the Essendon team in 1969 and 1970. His best performance in a game came against Carlton in the opening round of the

1970 VFL season The 1970 VFL season was the 74th season of the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, and ran from ...

when he kicked six goals. Stillman crossed to Footscray in 1971 and played three senior games there. He then captained Williamstown 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 ...

(VFA) until 1975, twice placing in the

J. J. Liston Trophy The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded annually to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League (VFL), which was formerly known as the Victorian Football Association (VFA). It is named after J. J. Liston, J.J. Liston, a busine ...

count (third in 1973 and second in 1974), and winning the club best and fairest in 1972 and 1973. He resigned the captaincy during 1975 after a disagreement with club hierarchy over the ongoing tenure of coach

Ted Whitten Edward James Whitten Sr. Order of Australia, OAM (27 July 1933 – 17 August 1995) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL). Bo ...

, and was cleared to

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

, where he played the rest of his VFA career.

Cricket career

His cricket career had begun with a solitary first-class match in 1970/71 but it was not until after leaving the VFL that he established a place in the Victorian

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

team. A right-handed middle order batsman, he broke into the side again in 1974/75 and had a solid season with 451 runs at 30.06. He remained with Victoria for a further two Shield seasons but failed to register his maiden first-class hundred, although he managed a half century against a strong West Indian pace attack in a tour game. Stillman did not play any top level cricket from February 1976 to November 1977 and when he came back it was with South Australia, who he represented in the 1977/78 Sheffield Shield season. He would later return to Victoria as coach and also coached at English club

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stillman, Les 1949 births Living people Australian cricketers Victoria cricketers South Australia cricketers Australian cricket coaches Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Coburg Football Club players Essendon Football Club players Western Bulldogs players Williamstown Football Club players People from Alexandra, Victoria Cricketers from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian sportsmen