Gary Williamson (footballer)

Gary Williamson (25 September 1941 – 28 March 2009) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond and South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Gary Williamson
Gary Williamson in 1961
Personal information
Full name	Gary Williamson
Date of birth	(1941-09-25)25 September 1941
Date of death	28 March 2009(2009-03-28) (aged 67)
Original team(s)	Alvie
Height	198 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Position(s)	ruck
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1961–1964	Richmond	42 (24)
1965	South Melbourne	08 0(3)
Total		50 (27)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1965.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

A ruckman, Williamson spent four seasons at Richmond, after arriving from Alvie.[1] He played 15 games in 1961, the most he would play in a single season.[2] Crossing to South Melbourne in 1965, he would only appear in eight rounds, but it was enough to bring up 50 league games.[2]

For the rest of the 1960s and until his retirement in 1978, Williamson played in a total of 205 games for Wodonga in the Ovens & Murray Football League (OMFL). He joined Wodonga in 1967 and at the end of his debut season was awarded both the club's "Best and Fairest" award as well as the OMFL's Morris Medal. An achilles injury cost him a spot in Wodonga's 1967 premiership side but in 1969, when he won his second club "Best and Fairest", he was a member of their grand final winning team. He also came close to securing another Morris Medal in 1969, finishing second to Jeff Hemphill.[3]

Williamson, who continued to serve Wodonga off the field after his retirement, was named in 2004 as the club's Team of the Century ruckman and two years later was inducted into the OMFL Hall of Fame. [4]

Williamson passed away in 2009 and a very nice tribute article was written in the Border Mail newspaper via this link.