William 'Buns' Fraser (29 March 1867 – 21 February 1938)[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL), and for both South Melbourne and Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association.
| Bill Fraser | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | William Fraser | ||
| Date of birth | 29 March 1867 | ||
| Place of birth | Merton, Victoria | ||
| Date of death | 21 February 1938 (aged 70) | ||
| Place of death | Mansfield, Victoria | ||
| Original team(s) | Port Melbourne (VFA) | ||
| Position(s) | Utility | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1889–1893 | Port Melbourne | 98 (137) | |
| 1895–1896 | South Melbourne (VFA) | 35 (30) | |
| 1897–1904 | South Melbourne | 88 (18) | |
| Total | 221 (185) | ||
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1904. | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Fraser joined Port Melbourne in 1889, and established himself as a forward. He was Port Melbourne's leading goalkicker each year from 1890 to 1893, including kicking 40 goals in the 1892 season.[2] Highly sought after, he joined the neighbouring South Melbourne Football Club – at that time a bitter rival of Port Melbourne – in 1894; but Port Melbourne refused to transfer him, and he ultimately stood out of football for the whole of the 1894 season.[3]
Prior to 1895, he was finally cleared to South Melbourne,[4] where he played in both the VFA and VFL until 1904. Fraser captained South Melbourne in its first two VFL seasons. He could play a variety of positions and was used as a winger, forward and centreman during his career. Fraser was a forward pocket in the 1899 VFL Grand Final loss to Fitzroy.
References
edit- ^ "Bill Fraser - Player Bio". Australian Football. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
- ^ "Close of the Football Season". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 26 September 1892. p. 6.
- ^ Keenan, Terry (2001), "Keeping out the riff-raff – Port Melbourne's exclusion from the Victorian Football League in 1896", Sporting Traditions, 17 (2): 1–16
- ^ "Football". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 3 May 1895. p. 3.
- Bill Fraser's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
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