George Smeaton (footballer)

George Smeaton
Personal information
Full name George Frederick Smeaton
Nickname(s) Brown Bomber
Date of birth 27 May 1917
Place of birth Carlton, Victoria
Date of death 9 June 1978(1978-06-09) (aged 61)
Place of death Heidelberg, Victoria
Original team(s) Brighton Street School
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 85.5 kg (188 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1935–1946 Richmond 149 (36)
1948–1950 Oakleigh (VFA)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
Victoria 1
Coaching career
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1947 Latrobe (NWFU)
1948–1954 Oakleigh (VFA)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1950.
Career highlights
  • Richmond life membership 1944
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

George Frederick Smeaton (27 May 1917 – 9 June 1978)[1][2] was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1935 and 1942 and then again from 1944 to 1946.

Smeaton was nicknamed the "Brown Bomber", a nickname borrowed from Joe Louis, and was described by Jack Dyer as the toughest player he played with.[3]

He left Richmond in 1947 to take up a coaching position with Latrobe in Northern Tasmania.[4]

He later returned to Victoria and had a successful coaching career in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) where he led Oakleigh to three Grand Finals, winning premierships in 1950 and 1952 and losing the 1949 Grand Final due to a late goal by Williamstown.

He was also an established cricketer, captaining the Victorian school boys cricket team.

Notes

  1. ^ "Football Loses Four Identities". Football Record (Round 12): 13. 24 June 1978.
  2. ^ "George Smeaton – Player Bio". Australian Football. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  3. ^ Flanagan, Martin (30 October 2010). "Richo has never changed... thankfully". The Age. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  4. ^ Coach for Latrobe, Examiner, 10 March 1947, pg5

References

  • Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996
  • Fiddian, Marc: Devils at Play. A History of the Oakleigh Football Club, Pakenham Gazette, Pakenham 1982
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