Reginald Francis Coyle (1 October 1917 – 26 April 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
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 ...
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) in the 1930s and 1940s.
Family
The son of Reginald Charles Coyle (1889–1940), and Ellen Cecilia Coyle (1885–1963), née Sullivan, Reginald Francis Coyle was born at
South Melbourne, Victoria
South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local government areas of ...
on 1 October 1917.
He married Annie Veronica Cawley (1918–1989) in 1940. They had six children.
Football
South Melbourne (VFL)
Coyle was recruited from the local club South Melbourne City (he had won the competition's beat and fairest award in 1936), and made his VFL debut for South Melbourne against Carlton at the Lake Oval in Round 12 1937.
A wingman, Coyle had played 53 senior games by the end of the 1941 season, and polled votes in the 1940 and 1941
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 ...
counts.
Second AIF
He enlisted in the Second AIF in 1942, and continued to play football with Army teams during his service. In Queensland, in late June/early July, he was the vice-captain, and one of the team's best players, of a combined Army team (captain
Charlie Van Der Bist) that beat a combined RAAF team (captain
Allan La Fontaine) 17.14 (116) to 14.11 (95).
South Melbourne (VFL)
On his discharge from the army (in 1945), he played a further nine games in the 1945 season.
Port Melbourne (VFA)
He was cleared from South Melbourne to Port Melbourne in April 1946.
Military service
He enlisted in the Second AIF on 18 July 1942, and had gained the rank of Corporal by the time of his discharge on 28 March 1945.
Death
He died at
Heidelberg, Victoria
Heidelberg () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, northeast of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Banyule local government area. Heidelberg recorded a population of 7,360 at the 2021 census.
Once a ...
on 26 April 1998.
Reginald Francis Coyle, at ''Find a Grave''.
/ref>
Notes
References
World War Two Nominal Roll: Corporal Reginald Francis Coyle (VX88343), ''Department of Veterans' Affairs''.
* A13860, VX88343: World War Two Service Record: Corporal Reginald Francis Coyle (VX88343), ''National Archives of Australia''.
* B883, VX88343: World War Two Service Record: Corporal Reginald Francis Coyle (VX88343), ''National Archives of Australia''.
External links
*
*
Reg Coyle, at ''The VFA Project''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coyle, Reg
1917 births
1998 deaths
Australian rules footballers from Melbourne
Sydney Swans players
Port Melbourne Football Club players
Australian Army personnel of World War II
Australian Army soldiers
People from South Melbourne
Military personnel from Melbourne
20th-century Australian sportsmen