Edward Laurence Freyer (20 May 1910 – 22 April 1984) was an

Australian rules 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 ...

footballer who played with

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

in the VFL during the 1930s.

Family

The sixth of the seven children of Peter Henry Freyer (1869-1945), and Mary Freyer (1871-1928), née Suffolk, Edward Laurence Freyer was born at

Port Melbourne, Victoria Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...

on 20 May 1910. He married Elsie Olivia Holmes (1911-2001) in 1930. His brother, Bill Freyer, played VFL football with South Melbourne and Footscray in the mid-1920s, and his son, Robert Alan Freyer (1937-2011), played for Port Melbourne in the VFA between 1958 and 1965.

Football

Essendon (VFL)

Freyer usually played in the

forward pocket In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...

and topped Essendon's goalkicking in consecutive seasons from 1931 until 1934 and again in 1936. He kicked 12 goals in one match in 1935 he kicked 12.1 (73) against Melbourne, at the MCG, on 27 April 1935Essendon Outpace Melbourne: Freyer's Remarkable Accuracy at Goal Front, ''The Age'', (Monday, 29 April 1935), p.4.
/ref> 8 goals once (1934), 7 goals four times (1931, 1934, 1935, and 1937), and 6 goals seven times (1931 (twice), 1933, 1936 (3 times), and 1937).

Port Melbourne (VFA)

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

, Freyer transferred

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...

in the VFA without a clearance, at the start of the VFA's throw-pass era. He was a prolific goalkicker at Port Melbourne, and in 84 games managed 464 goals. In

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

, Freyer kicked 157 goals for Port, including 12 goals in the second semi-final and the Grand Final, to lead the VFA goalkicking for the season.

Military service

He served with the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

World War Two World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisi ...

Death

He died at

Smeaton, Victoria Smeaton is a rural town in the state of Victoria, Australia, near the town of Creswick. At the , Smeaton had a population of 231. The found that of the 231 population, 117 were male, and 115 were female. Their median age was 53, compared to th ...

on 22 April 1984.

Notes

References

* Maplestone, M., ''Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996'', Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996.
World War Two Nominal Roll: Private Edward Lawrence (sic) Freyer (VX126742), ''Department of Veterans' Affairs''.
* B883, VX126742: World War Two Service Record: Private Edward Lawrence (sic) Freyer (VX126742), ''National Archives of Australia''.

External links

* *
Ted Fryer, at ''The VFA Project''.
1910 births 1984 deaths Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Essendon Football Club players Port Melbourne Football Club players People from Port Melbourne Australian military personnel of World War II Military personnel from Melbourne 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1910-stub