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Jim Cleary (Australian footballer)

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Jim Cleary
Personal information
Full name James Leslie William Cleary
Nickname(s) Gentleman Jim[1]
Date of birth (1914-07-13)13 July 1914
Place of birth Carlton, Victoria
Date of death 2 May 1993(1993-05-02) (aged 78)
Original team(s) Thornbury CYMS
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 89 kg (196 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1934–1948 South Melbourne 222 (6)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1948.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Jim Cleary (13 July 1914 – 2 May 1993) was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Cleary played as a fullback and won two best and fairest awards for South Melbourne, in 1942 and 1944. He was a highly regarded player, and attracted lucrative offers – an undisclosed amount from Brighton in 1940,[2] and £400 from Camberwell in 1945[3] – to cross to the Victorian Football Association during the throw-pass era, but chose to remain with South Melbourne.

Cleary's reputation as a fair player earned him the nickname "Gentleman Jim";[4] this did not stop him from being suspended for eight matches for a striking offence in the notoriously violent 1945 VFL Grand Final – in an incident team-mate Laurie Nash later described as "one of the few honest accidents in the game".[5]

He left the club in 1949 and went on to become captain and coach of Victorian Football Association club Port Melbourne; he coached there from 1949 until 1952, leading the club to consecutive minor premierships and Grand Final losses in 1951 and 1952; he then coached at fellow VFA clubs Brunswick (from 1953 until 1958) and Dandenong (from 1959 until 1961), coaching a total of 267 VFA games.[6] He remained involved in the game even after retiring as a coach, becoming a regular panelist on World of Sport.

References

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  1. ^ 1945 VFL Grand Final
  2. ^ "J. Cleary and South Melbourne". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 3 April 1940. p. 16.
  3. ^ "Jim Cleary to remain". The Record. South Melbourne, VIC. 10 March 1945. p. 1.
  4. ^ "Jim Cleary retires". The Record. South Melbourne, VIC. 17 July 1948. p. 1.
  5. ^ Laurie Nash (21 May 1955). "I clocked Chitty". The Sporting Globe. Melbourne, VIC. p. 11.
  6. ^ Marc Fiddian (2003), The Best of Football Trivia, Hastings, VIC: Galaxy Print and Design, p. 23
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