Rod McGregor (19 October 1882 – 2 August 1962) was an Australian rules footballer for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of ...

in the (then)

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). I ...

and, later, a broadcaster.

Family

Son of Alexander McGregor and Eliza McGregor, he was born on 19 October 1882. He married Alice May Bickford (1885–1963), the sister of

Albert Bickford Albert Bartlett Bickford (24 August 1887 – 23 December 1971) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton and Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Playing career Originally from Essendon Association, Bickford ma ...

and

Edric Bickford Edric Dillon Bickford (30 March 1894 – 15 November 1956) was an Australian rules football player and World War I veteran. He was born in Kensington, Victoria and recruited from Brougham Street Methodists. Biography Before leaving for th ...

, in 1911.

Football

Equally skilled with both feet, and an outstanding centreman with the ability to pass accurately to team-mates and elude opponents, he played his first senior match with Carlton against Collingwood on 13 May 1905 (

round 2 Round 2 may refer to: * ''Round 2'' (J. Holiday album), 2009 * ''Round 2'' (The Stylistics album), 1972 * Round 2 (company), a toy company based in Indiana, United States {{disambiguation ...

), aged 22, and played his 236th and last senior match, against St Kilda, on 1 May 1920 (

round 1 Round 1 may refer to: * ''Round 1'' (EP), a 2011 EP by C-REAL * "Round 1" (song), a 2010 song by Dalmatian * ''Round 1'', an album by Eraser vs Yöjalka Eraser vs Yöjalka (also known as EvsY) are Julius Lehmuskallio (Eraser) and Simo Ojala ...

), aged 37, when he was forced to retire following a serious knee injury.

1905-1912

He played in the 1906 and 1908 winning grand final sides, missed the 1907 premiership triumph over

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local government ...

after breaking his nose in the previous week's Semi-Final against St Kilda.

1913

During the 1912 Preliminary Final, McGregor was not playing well, and Carlton captain Jack Wells asked him to play on the forward line. McGregor refused; for disobeying the captain, the Carlton Committee suspended McGregor from the Carlton team for 12 months and refused to grant him a clearance for 1913. ::"Late in the

912 Preliminary Final 91 may refer to: Years * 91 BC * AD 91 * 1991 * 2091 * etc. Transportation * List of highways numbered A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an ...

Carlton skipper Jack Wells told McGregor to push forward, but cGregorrefused and the pair argued heatedly. Later, the matter was raised at committee level, and it was decided to make an example of one of the club’s favourite sons. McGregor was suspended for twelve months, sparking a furore within, and outside the club. To his immense credit, McGregor refused to inflame the issue, and while he did train for some time at

FA club FA, Fa or fa may refer to: People * Fa of Xia, King of China 1747–1728 BC * Fa Ngum (1316–1393), founder and ruler of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang Places * Fa, Aude, a commune of the Aude ' in France * Falmouth Academy, a private colleg ...

North Melbourne, his heart was always with the Blues and he was back again, aged 30, in 1914."

1914–1920

Following his suspension, he played his first match (his 146th career game) against South Melbourne in

round 4 Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the numbe ...

). His 236 career matches for Carlton was a club record until it was broken by John Nicholls in Round 16 of 1970.

Broadcaster

Working on-air with Melbourne radio station

3LO ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR. Most Local Radio stations in Victoria simu ...

as early as 1927,McGregor to Describe Football, ''The (Adelaide) Register'', (Saturday, 14 May 1927), p.6.
/ref> McGregor was a pioneer of football radio broadcasts.

Australian Football Hall of Fame

In 1996 McGregor was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, co ...

Footnotes

References

Blueseum: Rod McGregor Profile

'Lynx', "How to Become a Champion Footballer", ''The Weekly Times'', (Saturday, 30 June 1917), p.20.

'Rover', "The Man Who Will Lead Carlton", ''The Weekly Times'', (Saturday, 31 August 1918), p.20.

Shelton, J.N., "Unforgettable Characters in Football: A Carlton Champion, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Saturday, 13 September 1941), p.5.
* Ross, J. (ed), ''100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported'', Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. (p. 124) * Ross, J. (ed.), ''The Australian Football Hall of Fame'', HarperCollinsPublishers, (Pymble), 1999. (p. 94)

External links

* *
Boyles Football Photos: Rod McGregor.
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Rod 1882 births 1962 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club Premiership players Essendon Association Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Four-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Australian radio personalities Australian rules football commentators