Bernard George Andrew Naylor (19 April 1923 – 26 September 1993) 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 was one of the most successful

full-forward Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals. The Coleman Medal is awarded to the player, often a full-forward, who has kicked the most goals in an Australian Football League seaso ...

s in the history of the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

. The WAFL now awards the leading goalscorer each year the

Bernie Naylor Medal The Bernie Naylor Medal is an Australian rules football award which is given to the leading goalkicker at the end of each home and away season in the West Australian Football League. It is named after South Fremantle full-forward Bernie Naylor. Be ...

Naylor began his football career with Fremantle Christian Brothers College Old Boys of the WAAFL in 1940‘Another in our series of Football Stars: Bernie Naylor’; ''Western Mail'', 6 August 1953, p. 1S and made his debut for South Fremantle in 1941. Naylor kicked sixty goals in his debut season, including nine in the first semi-final against Claremont, but the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

caused the WANFL to revert to an underage competition for three seasons. Owing to military service in Darwin Naylor did not wear the red and white again until

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

,Devaney, John; ''Full Points Footy’s WA Football Companion''; pp. 261-262. when he scored 131 goals to head the WANFL goalkicking for the first of six occasions. The following season, Naylor played in the first of six South Fremantle premiership teams over an eight-year period that is generally regarded as the strongest team in WA(N)FL history, being one of three players present in all six Grand Final victories. Naylor naturally became the first choice full-forward for interstate games, but after having injury problems during the 1949 season was surprisingly played as a half-forward flanker for part of the next two seasons. In 1952, however, Naylor asserted himself as one of the greatest goalkickers in the history of Australian Rules with a tally of 147 goals, which beat George Doig's

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

record of 144. Included in this was a haul of nineteen goals against East Fremantle that put the blue and whites out of the finals for the first time in thirty-seven seasons. The following season was even more brilliant as Naylor won South Fremantle's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award, an achievement none of the WANFL's previous great full forwards had ever managed, and broke his own record with 167 goals including eight in the Grand Final against West Perth. Against lowly Subiaco Naylor kicked a total of 48 goals in three games, including a still-standing WANFL record of 23 (including 12 in a quarter) in their third meeting, plus eighteen in their first despite leg problems. After the Grand Final South Fremantle played twice against the champion Footscray defence. The teams won one game each; with Naylor kicking a further 7 goals. In 1954, Naylor was again leading goalkicker with 133, but his work as a property developer meant he intended to retire after the season. In ten seasons and 194 games with South, Naylor kicked 1034 goals, as well as another 45 goals in 16 games for Western Australia. He was the leading goalkicker for South Fremantle in all ten seasons that he played at the club, kicking over 100 goals on five occasions.South Fremantle Leadership List at WAFootball.com.au
/ref> He was only held goalless in a match on four occasions.Hothersall, James

/ref> Naylor relied for his success on long torpedo punts and extremely fast leading to space: unlike his successor John Gerovich he was not a spectacular high mark but had a safe pair of hands and considerable strength from his frame. He was inducted to the Fremantle Football Hall of Legends in 1996 and the

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise and enshrine those who have made a significant contribution to Australian rules football in Western Australia. People eligible for inclusion are players, coaches, umpires, ...

in 2004.2004 WAFL Hall of Fame Inductees
He was inducted into the WA Hall of Champions in 2005. WAIS
Without Compromise
; Summer 2005–06

Notes

Footscray's home-and-away average of 53.28 points "Against" per match in 1953 is the lowest in the VFL/AFL since 1920.

References

External links

*
Bernie Naylor
player profile page at WAFL FootyFacts
Profile
at the

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

AFL Hall of Fame - Players

Profile
at WA Football Hall of Fame website {{DEFAULTSORT:Naylor, Bernie 1923 births 1993 deaths Australian people of English descent South Fremantle Football Club players West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian military personnel of World War II Australian rules footballers from Fremantle Military personnel from Western Australia