Ron "Smokey" Clegg (17 November 192723 August 1990) was an Australian rules footballer 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 ...

. Clegg was recruited from the South Melbourne Under 19's after winning the 1944 Melbourne Boys Football League's best and fairest award and was best on ground in the 1944 grand final for South Melbourne. Richmond were very keen to secure Clegg's signature in 1944, before he settled on South Melbourne. Clegg debuted in 1945 and from early on South Melbourne knew they had a star in the making and he played in South Melbourne's losing

1945 VFL grand final The 1945 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the South Melbourne Football Club and Carlton Football Club, held at Princes Park in Melbourne on 29 September 1945. It was the 47th annual Grand Final of the Vi ...

. By the time Clegg was 18 years old he had established himself as a gifted senior player in the VFL in 1946. A brilliant key position player at either centre half-forward or centre half-back, he was awarded the

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 ...

in 1949 while playing with the then South Melbourne Football Club and was runner up in the Brownlow in 1951. He won the club's

Best and Fairest award 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 ...

three times, in 1948, 1949 and 1951 and was runner in the 1953 award to follower, Jim Taylor and again in 1954 to

Eddie Lane Esmond James Lane (25 June 1929 – 28 May 2018) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the VFL during the 1950s. Lane was a 168 cm rover and handy goalkicker. His best season came in 1954 when he won the S ...

. Clegg sought a clearance to New Norfolk in early 1951 and was refused a clearance, then was later appointed as vice captain of South Melbourne FC in 1951. Clegg won the 1951 London Stores Best Player Award in the VFL. In 1951, Clegg took an incredible 32 marks against Fitzroy at the Lakeside Oval. Clegg was appointed as club captain in 1953 and also lead the club in 1954 too. In 1955, Clegg was captain-coach of the

North Wagga Football Club North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

in the Albury & District Football League, winning the £50 - Border Mail Newspaper / Albury & DFL Footballer of the Year Award, before returning to South Melbourne in 1956. Clegg represented Victoria on 15 occasions in the key positions at either half forward or half back. In 1961 and 1962, Clegg was captain-coach of the

Brunswick Football Club Brunswick Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) from 1897 until 1991. Based in Brunswick, Victoria, for most of their time in the Association they were known as the Magp ...

. Clegg played 42 first eleven games of Victorian Premier Cricket for South Melbourne between 1942 and 1947 before giving it away to concentrate on VFL football. Clegg made his debut in round one, 1942 as a 14 year old left hand bat. In 1996, Clegg 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 ...

. In 2003, Clegg was named at centre half back in South Melbourne's Team of the Century.

References

External links

AFL Hall of FameRon Clegg's profile
at Australian Football.com
Ron Clegg's profile
at Boyles Football photos
1951 - South Melbourne FC team photoNorth Wagga FC websiteVictorian Representative Football Teams
1927 births 1990 deaths Sydney Swans players Sydney Swans coaches Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Brownlow Medal winners Bob Skilton Medal winners Brunswick Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) {{AFL-bio-1920s-stub