Lindsay Hudson Head MBE (born 16 September 1935 in North Adelaide,

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 ...

) is a former

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 West Torrens in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He was awarded three Magarey Medals during his career.

SANFL

Lindsay Head's first experience of state representation came in 1947, when he played in a state schoolboys carnival at the age of eleven. In 1953, he lined up in the senior South Australian state team to play Victoria. By the time he was nineteen, he had won the first of his three Magarey Medals in only his fourth league season, with the others being in 1958 and 1963. Lindsay Head 1966 West Torrens Guernsey

Head played at SANFL level for nineteen seasons with West Torrens. His list of achievements for his club was notable: he played the most games for the club (327), won the club

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 ...

award eight times, was club leading goalkicker twice, was captain-coach from 1959 to 1960 and captain in 1961, coached the club in 1981, and was also club president for five years. In his final season, in 1970, Head played his 320th career game to break Jack "Dinny" Reedman's long-standing South Australian elite football games record. At state level, he represented South Australia on 37 occasions. He captained the state side in 1960, and was named an

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

at the 1956 Perth Carnival. The Australian Football Hall of Fame's description refers to his "magnificent skills on both sides of his body," which is unfortunate as Head never learned to kick with his left foot. Instead he developed a check-side punt for passing and goal-shooting which was very accurate. Head played in a premiership side in only his second ever season, but thereafter his side made the finals barely a handful of times in his remaining 17 seasons. His loyalty to his Eagles was therefore remarkable, particularly given that he was pursued not only by other SANFL clubs, but also by the wealthier

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 ...

competition, notably receiving a big offer from the struggling South Melbourne in 1955.

Other

Head played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for

as a right-hand opening batsman (1957/58–1958/59). In nine matches he scored 425 runs at an average of 28.33. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 1964 New Year Honours. Lindsay Head is a Life Governor of the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles (which is the highest acknowledgement of the modern day Eagles).

References

External links

*
SANFL Hall of Fame

Lindsay Head's MBE record on ''It's an Honour''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Head, Lindsay 1935 births Living people Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees West Torrens Football Club players West Torrens Football Club coaches All-Australians (1953–1988) Magarey Medal winners South Australia cricketers Australian rules footballers from Adelaide South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire