Bernard Francis McCarthy (21 August 1943 – 16 February 2019) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played with

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL). McCarthy was the eldest of three brothers from Yea who played in the VFL. The youngest,

Shane Shane may refer to: People * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born 1946) * iamnotshane (born 1995), formerly known as Shane, American singer * Shane (name), a masculine given name and a sur ...

, played at

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

and the other,

Gavan McCarthy Gavan McCarthy (born 16 May 1945) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). McCarthy, who was recruited from Yea, made two appearances for North Melbourne in the 1965 VFL se ...

, made two appearances for North Melbourne, one of them with Bernie in round five of the

1965 VFL season The 1965 VFL season was the 69th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 17 April until 25 September, and comprised an ...

.AFL Tables: Bernie McCarthy
/ref> A nephew,

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

, was also a Geelong footballer and another,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, played at Collingwood and

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

. A

centre half-forward In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a centre half-back. Royce Hart of the Richmond Football Club and Wayne Carey of the North Melbour ...

, McCarthy partnered John Dugdale as North Melbourne's key forwards throughout the 1960s. He finished the 1971 season at

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFA) club Preston and was one of the club's best players in the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

loss to

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...

that year. His career then continued in the

Bendigo Football League The Bendigo Football Netball League (previously known as the Sandhurst Football Association, Bendigo and District Football Association, Bendigo Football Association and Bendigo Football League) is an Australian rules football and netball compe ...

, where he captain-coached South Bendigo. He won the Michelsen Medal in 1973 and led his side to a premiership in 1974. McCarthy died on 16 February 2019, aged 75.

References

External links

Bernie Francis's playing statistics
from The VFA Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Mccarthy, Bernie 1943 births 2019 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) North Melbourne Football Club players Preston Football Club (VFA) players South Bendigo Football Club players Australian rules football coaches