List of Australian rules footballers who died during their careers
This is a list of Australian rules football players who have died either during their respective playing careers or due to career-ending injury or disease incurred during their playing career. It includes both on-field and off-field deaths. People who had announced their retirement from playing despite still being at an age when they could still have been active, or who only continued to play in low-level amateur or exhibition matches are not listed.
| Player | Age | Club | Competition | Cause of death | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Allen | 22 | Sunshine | VFA | heart failure (during a practice match) | 1971 |
| Jack Allister | 27 | North Melbourne | VFL | pneumonia | 1946[1] |
| Dave Barry | 24 | North Fremantle (formerly South Melbourne) | WAFL (formerly VFL) |
run over by a train | 1913[2] |
| Rhett Baynes | 25 | Perth (formerly Carlton) | WAFL (formerly VFL) |
suicide (overdose) | 1990[3] |
| Troy Broadbridge | 24 | Melbourne | AFL | drowning (2004 Asian tsunami) | 2004[4] |
| Norm Collins | 29 | Hawthorn (formerly Fitzroy and Carlton) | VFL | suicide (hanging) | 1933[3] |
| Peter Crimmins | 28 | Hawthorn | VFL | cancer (testicular) | 1976[5] |
| Ron Doig | 23 | South Fremantle | WAFL | on-field injury | 1932[6] |
| Lyle Downs | 24 | Carlton | VFL | heart attack | 1921[3] |
| Bill Eastick | 26 | South Melbourne | VFL | illness | 1914[7] |
| Jock Fahey | 24 | Numurkah (formerly South Melbourne) | MFNL (formerly VFL) |
struck by motor vehicle | 1936[8] |
| Ted Fleming | 23 | University (formerly Melbourne) | VFL | sudden illness | 1909[9] |
| Eddie Ford | 28 | Katandra (formerly Richmond) | PDFNL (formerly VFL) |
on-field injury | 1946[10] |
| Arthur Fox | 29 | Rupanyup (formerly South Melbourne) | WFL (formerly VFL) |
motorcycle accident | 1953[11] |
| Ray Gibb | 24 | Richmond | VFL | motorcycle accident | 1953[12] |
| Brian Gilmore | 26 | Footscray | VFL | car accident | 1959[13] |
| Wayne Gordon | 29 | Collingwood, Melbourne | VFL | cancer (Hodgkin's lymphoma) | 1983 |
| Ron James | 19 | Footscray | AFL | waterskiing accident | 1990 |
| Doug Magor | 21 | Footscray | VFL | car accident | 1969 |
| Michael Mascoulis | 20 | Port Melbourne (former West Coast rookie) | VFL (formerly AFL) |
car accident | 2013[14] |
| John McCarthy | 22 | Port Adelaide | AFL | accidental fall in Las Vegas | 2012 |
| Dinny McKay | 29 | South Melbourne | VFL | peritonitis (from burst appendix) | 1897 |
| Darren Millane | 26 | Collingwood | AFL | car accident | 1991 |
| Dan Moriarty | 28 | Melbourne | VFL | railway accident | 1903 |
| Richard Nixon | 26 | Warrnambool (formerly Richmond) | HFNL (formerly AFL) |
car accident | 1992[15] |
| Terry Ogden | 23 | Carlton | VFL | pleurisy | 1935[3] |
| Max Orr | 24 | Ballarat (formerly Melbourne) | BFL (formerly VFL) |
car accident | 1955 |
| Arthur Pearce | 21 | St Kilda | VFL | typhoid fever | 1902 |
| Harry Pears | 34 | Port Melbourne (formerly Collingwood) | VFA (formerly VFL) |
died while playing | 1912[16] |
| Fred Phillips | 27 | Hawthorn | VFL | blood poisoning | 1933 |
| Stanley Poole | 23 | South Fremantle | WAFL | heart failure following on-field injury | 1940[17] |
| Bruce Reid | 20 | South Melbourne | VFL | car accident | 1970 |
| Maurie Sankey | 25 | Carlton | VFL | car accident | 1965[3] |
| Jack Sexton | 35 | Norwood | SANFL | pleurisy | 1935 |
| Jeremy Silcock | 26 | East Perth (formerly North Melbourne) | WAFL (formerly AFL) |
drowning in Bali | 1996[18] |
| Phil Skehan | 26 | Williamstown (formerly South Melbourne) | VFA (formerly VFL) |
pneumonia resulting from an on-field injury | 1921 |
| Jim Stewart | 24 | North Melbourne | VFL | appendicitis | 1942 |
| Denis Strauch | 28 | Port Melbourne (formerly Carlton) | VFA (formerly VFL) |
tetanus | 1965[3] |
| Jamie Tape | 28 | Woodville-West Torrens (formerly Richmond and Collingwood) | SANFL (formerly VFL) |
car accident | 2003[19] |
| Doug Tassell | 24 | Essendon | VFL | car accident | 1970[20] |
| Jock Turner | 26 | Yallourn (formerly Essendon) | GFL (formerly VFL) |
motor bike accident | 1935[21] |
| Peter White | 26 | Kyabram (formerly Carlton) | GVFL (formerly AFL) |
drowning | 1996[3] |
| Anthony Williams | 26 | Port Adelaide | SANFL | building accident | 1988[22] |
| Gerry Williams | 23 | St Kilda | VFL | railway accident | 1901[23] |
| Brian Willis | 21 | Footscray | VFL | Brain haemorrhage | 1951[24] |
| Antonio Loiacono | 20 | Birdwood | HFL | cardiac arrest on-field | 2023 [25] |
| Les Witto | 23 | Carlton | VFL | tetanus | 1926[3] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "WHOLESALE CUTS AT NORTH". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 25 March 1946. p. 12. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
- ^ "A FOOTBALLER'S DEATH". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 31 July 1913. p. 8. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Tragedies in Blue". 16 July 2007. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
- ^ "AFL player's wife comes home". 4 January 2005.
- ^ "CANCER CAUSES PLAYER'S DEATH". The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia. 29 September 1976. p. 36. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ "Footballer's Death". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 19 September 1932. p. 9. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ "The Record". South Melbourne Record. Emerald Hill, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 24 October 1914. p. 2. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ "FOOTBALL COACH KILLED". The Independent. Deniliquin, NSW: National Library of Australia. 2 July 1936. p. 3. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ "Obituary". Riverine_Herald. Echuca, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 19 May 1909. p. 2.
- ^ "FOOTBALLER DIES AFTER COLLISION IN GAME". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 15 July 1946. p. 20. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ "WIMMERA FOOTBALL STAR DIES". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 16 June 1953. p. 14. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ "Footballers rally to Gibb family". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 12 September 1953. p. 31. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
- ^ "Eleven die in road smashes". The Age. 30 November 1959.
- ^ Amy, Paul; Michell, Tim (2 December 2013). "Emotional Gary Ayres pays tribute to Port Melbourne recruit Michael Mascoulis after fatal car crash". Port Phillip Leader.
- ^ "Driver of fatal van read 0.055: court". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 22 July 1992. p. 18. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ^ "WELL-KNOWN FOOT-BALLER". The Daily News. Perth: National Library of Australia. 20 April 1912. p. 12. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ "FOOTBALLER'S DEATH". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 10 August 1940. p. 10. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ^ Butler, Steve (16 September 2012). "Footy family share the pain". The West Australian.
- ^ Quayle, Emma (10 January 2003). "Jamie Tape: unassuming achiever who always looked forward".
- ^ "Wool Board Man Killed In Crash". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 22 June 1970. p. 7. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
- ^ "Road Accidents". The Argus. Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 9 March 1935. p. 30. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
- ^ Thring, Harry (7 September 2013). "How tragedy helped unite Port Adelaide – twice".
- ^ "The Prince's Bridge Fatality". Bendigo Advertiser. Victoria. 15 May 1901. p. 4.
- ^ "Family Notices". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 5 September 1951. p. 14. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
- ^ Wang, Jessica (24 April 2023). "South Australian footballer dies after horror on-field collision".