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Bill Bourke
Bill Bourke
	Cigarette card of Bourke in 1910
Personal information
Full name	William Bourke
Date of birth	23 July 1882
Place of birth	Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia
Date of death	13 November 1932 (aged 50)
Place of death	Middle Park, Victoria
Original team(s)	Collingwood Trades
Position(s)	Full Forward
Playing career1
Years	Club
1908–1909	Richmond
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1909.
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Bill Bourke (23 July 1882 – 13 November 1932)^[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).^[2]

Bourke had the distinction of topping Richmond's goal-kicking in their first two VFL seasons, in 1908 and 1909, with 25 and 20 goals respectively.^[3]^[4] He along with family members was a strong Collingwood supporter and actually first tried to play for Collingwood. Upon being denied a game as a Magpie he decided to play with Richmond who were just entering the VFL. He retired after just two seasons to drive a taxi as it paid more than his wage as a footballer. He later ran a boot factory, which employed many league footballers and was the largest in the southern hemisphere at the time. He died suddenly of a heart attack in 1932 leaving a family of six children behind.^[5]

References

^ "Family Notices". The Argus. Melbourne. 14 November 1932. p. 1. Retrieved 21 September 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-920910-78-5.
^ Lovett, Michael (2004). AFL 2004 - The Official Statistical History Of The AFL. AFL Publishing. ISBN 0-9580300-5-7.
^ AFL Tables: Bill Bourke
^ The Age,"Love, football, war, tragedy: A tale worth telling", 17 September 2011, Carolyn Webb