Harvey Johnson (Australian footballer)

Harvey Johnson
Personal information
Full name Harvey David Johnson
Date of birth (1907-08-26)26 August 1907
Place of birth Delegate, New South Wales[1]
Date of death 6 October 1948(1948-10-06) (aged 41)
Place of death Drouin, Victoria
Original team(s) Toongabbie / Sale
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1932 Hawthorn 14 (2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1932.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Harvey David Johnson (26 August 1907 – 6 October 1948) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[2]

Biography

Johnson was born in Delegate, New South Wales and played his early football in Gippsland, with Toongabbie.[3] In 1926 he began playing for Sale in the Gippsland Football League, after the Toongabbie club became defunct.[4]

Late in the 1927 season, Johnson was involved in controversy when prior to Sale's semi-final against Stratford it was revealed that he had made an appearance with another team during the season without a clearance, which prompted Sale to withdraw him from their team to avoid losing the game on protest.[5] During an October meeting of Gippsland Football League delegates, Johnson admitted to playing, under an assumed name, with a club called the Stuart Mill, which was held in a competition outside the radius of the league.[6] He was disqualified for the entire 1928 season.[6]

Johnson, a follower, joined Hawthorn from Sale in the 1932 VFL season.[7] His early appearances for Hawthorn showed promise and he did not miss selection for the first 12 rounds.[8][9] Johnson ended up playing 14 games in what would be his only season of VFL football.[9] He returned to Sale in 1933.[10]

Following the Second World War, in which he served overseas, Johnson continued to live in Sale and made a living as a telephone linesman, for the Postmaster-General's Department.[11][12] Johnson was one of three linesmen who died near Drouin on 6 October 1948, when the line they were taking down came into contact with a 2,200 volt high tension wire.[13] He was killed instantly from the electric shock.[14]

References

  1. ^ "World War Two Nominal Roll (Johnson, Harvey David)". Government of Australia. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  2. ^ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 9781920910785.
  3. ^ "Football Opens". Gippsland Times. Vic. 26 April 1926. p. 3. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Cowwarr Competition". Traralgon Record (Morning ed.). Traralgon, Vic. 27 April 1926. p. 4. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Football Premiership". Gippsland Times. Vic. 12 September 1927. p. 5. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ a b "Gippsland Football League". Gippsland Times. Vic. 20 October 1927. p. 7. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Hawthorn Pleased". Sporting Globe (Final ed.). Melbourne. 23 April 1932. p. 6. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "St. Kilda's "Reputation"". The Referee. Sydney. 11 May 1932. p. 16. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ a b "AFL Tables – Harvey Johnson – Games Played". AFL Tables. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Football Notes". Gippsland Times. Vic. 3 April 1933. p. 7. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Home Again". Gippsland Times. Vic. 21 December 1942. p. 1. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Sale Resident Killed". Gippsland Times. Vic. 7 October 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Three Linesmen Killed: Wire Hit Power Line". The Argus. Melbourne. 7 October 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "Three P.M.G. Linesmen Killed By 22,000-Volt Charge". The Mercury. Hobart, Tasmania. 7 October 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 4 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.