Ronald James Durham (11 June 1921 – 25 June 1961) 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 was recruited from

Bacchus Marsh Bacchus Marsh ( Wathawurrung: ''Pullerbopulloke'') is a town in Victoria, Australia, located approximately north-west of the state capital Melbourne, at a near equidistance to the major cities of Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong. As of the ...

after winning the 1939 and 1941 Bacchus Marsh & Melton Football Association best and fairest award, the C C Jones Medal. Durham was also runner up in the 1938 and 1940 Bacchus Marsh & Melton Football Association best and fairest award, the C C Jones Medal too. Durham played in the VFL in between 1943 and 1944 and then from 1946 to 1948 for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

. He played at full back in Richmond's 1943 VFL premiership and also won the club's best and fairest in 1943 (in his first year in the VFL) He missed the 1944 VFL finals series through injury, but did play in the 1947 VFL finals series. Durham did not play VFL football between Rd.7, 1944 to Rd.6, 1946 due to constant injuries. His career was eventually cut short in 1949 by a serious knee injury.

Death

Ron Durham died while using an electric drill to install a heating plant in a greenhouse at his property in

. He received an electric shock and was found unconscious. He was taken to the local hospital but was unresponsive. Doctors decided to transfer him to the larger Footscray District Hospital. He died in an

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

whilst being transferred.

References

* Hogan P: ''The Tigers Of Old'', Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996

External links

* *
Ron Durham's profile
via TigerlandArchive.org
1939 - W. H. Moore, Border Inn Hotel Trophy, Bacchus Marsh. Won by R Durham

1944 - Richmond FC team photo
1921 births 1961 deaths Richmond Football Club players Richmond Football Club premiership players Jack Dyer Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) VFL/AFL premiership players Accidental deaths in Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1920s-stub