Frank Maher (footballer)

Frank Maher
Personal information
Full name Francis William Maher
Date of birth (1895-09-22)22 September 1895
Place of birth Camberwewll, Victoria
Date of death 7 November 1976(1976-11-07) (aged 81)
Place of death Echuca, Victoria
Original team(s) Lilydale
Debut 11 June 1921, Essendon
vs. Carlton, at East Melbourne Cricket Ground
Height 167.5 cm (5 ft 6 in) (5'6") 70 kg
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1921–1928 Essendon 137 (124)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1921–1928 Victoria 009
Coaching career
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1925–1927 Essendon 056 (32–23–1)
1932–1933 Fitzroy 036 (14–21–1)
1935–1936 Carlton 038 (26–11–1)
Total 130 (72–55–3)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1928.
Career highlights
  • Essendon Premiership: 1923, 1924
  • Essendon Captain: 1925-1928 (77 games)
  • Essendon Vice-Captain: 1924
  • Essendon Best and Fairest: 1927
  • Victoria captain: 1927, 1928.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Francis William Maher MM (22 September 1895 – 7 November 1976)[1] was an Australian footballer, and coach in the Victorian Football League.

Career

Maher served in the army in World War I from 1916 to 1919, and was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry for his actions in France on 19 May 1918.[2] He only began playing football when serving overseas with the AIF. On his return to Australia, he started playing football with two clubs, Shepparton and Lilydale.

Recruited from Lilydale Football Club, he played his first game for Essendon in 1921 at the advanced age of 25, playing against Carlton at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground on 11 June 1921. He went on to play 137 games with Essendon Football Club from 1921 to 1928; and 118 of those games were played consecutively. He was part of the Premiership Team in 1923 (first rover, kicking 2 goals), 1924 (forward flank, kicking four goals in the three matches)

He represented Victoria on nine occasions in 1921, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927 (captain), and 1928 (captain). He polled strongly in the 1925 Brownlow Medal, coming in third place with four votes.[3]

Maher was captain-coach of Essendon in 1927; whilst his application to coach Essendon in 1928 was rejected, he captained Essendon in that year. After leaving Essendon, he went on to coach at Oakleigh in the VFA. He also coached the Fitzroy Football Club and the Carlton Football Club. From 1958 and 1968 he was president of Essendon's past players and officials association.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Frank Maher - Player Bio". Australian Football. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Blueseum profile
  3. ↑ In those days, there was only a single vote available in any one game. The 1925 winner, St Kilda's Colin Watson won the medal with 9 votes (i.e., best on the ground on nine occasions) having played in only 15 matches.

References

  • Fiddian, Marc: Devils at Play. A History of the Oakleigh Football Club, Pakenham Gazette, Pakenham 1982
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