Reg Date
Reg Date (26 July 1921 – 11 August 1995) was an Australian football (soccer) player who plied his trade after the Second World War.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Reginald Date | ||
| Date of birth | 26 July 1921 | ||
| Place of birth | Wallsend, New South Wales, Australia | ||
| Date of death | 11 August 1995 (aged 74) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1938 | Plattsburg Public School | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1938–1944 | Wallsend Football Club | ||
| 1945–1947 | Canterbury-Bankstown | ||
| 1948–1949 | Wallsend Football Club | ||
| – | Career Total: | (664) | |
| National team | |||
| Australia | 5 | (8) | |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Biography
Date went to Plattsburg Public School in Wallsend who he first turned out for, attracting the attention of scouts of Canterbury-Bankstown in the state league. In time he was coached by the great Alf Quill, Wallsend Football Club's legendary goalscorer of the inter-war years.
At his peak Date was a prolific goal scorer for Canterbury-Bankstown in the New South Wales Division 1, earning state and international recognition and captaining Australia for a single game on 31 May 1947 against South Africa. That game formed part of a five-game home series against that nation; Date scoring 8 goals. (He scored another 3 in two warm-up matches for the 'B' side prior to the official tour. There was consternation when Date, for whatever reason, was not selected on international tours of New Zealand in 1948 and, most surprisingly, South Africa in 1950 but he did score in a representative match on the national side's return from the Cape for New South Wales against Australia on Saturday 2 September 1950 and did appear for the 'B' side in the famous 0-17 defeat to an English XI on 30 June 1951.
In 2000, he was selected as a member of the Australian team of the century by respondents to a rsssf.com vote, beating Frank Farina into second place for the number 10 shirt.[1]