Gilbert Vaughan "Bert" Beard (a.k.a. "Blue" Beard; "Bluey" Beard) (5 July 1909 – 8 November 1983) 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 from Western Australia who played with

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

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) during the 1930s. He also played first-grade cricket for the South Melbourne Cricket Club.

Family

The son of John Beard (1848-1924), and Sarah Beard (1866-1951), née Gibson, Gilbert Vaughan Beard was born at

Northam, Western Australia Northam () is a town in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about east-northeast of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2016 census, Northam had a population of 6,548. Northa ...

on 5 July 1909. He married Olive Eva Murphy (1909-1961) on 17 August 1935. Their son, Neville played in 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, ...

and won the

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and be ...

in 1961.

Football

He was powerfully built ruckman, and was a fine high mark and a good long kick of the ball.

South Fremantle

Beard was recruited to South Melbourne from the South Fremantle in the

(WANFL).

South Melbourne

He made his VFL debut for South Melbourne in 1932. He was one of a number of South Melbourne players who were given immediate, long-term, secure, paid employment outside of football within the (137 store) grocery empire of the South Melbourne president, South Melbourne Lord Mayor, and Member of the Victorian Legislative Council, Archie Crofts. The collection of players recruited from interstate in 1932/1933 become known as South Melbourne's "Foreign Legion". In 1933, he was 19th man in the club's premiership side; he replaced injured half-back flanker Hugh McLaughlin in the second quarter.

Fitzroy

He stayed at South Melbourne until the 1935 season when after one game he decided to cross to Fitzroy to play out the season.

South Fremantle

Accepting the offer of lucrative employment from a West Australian bakery firm, Beard left Melbourne and returned to Perth in March 1936. Once his clearance from Fitzroy had been obtained, He played his first match, in his return season, on 4 July 1936. By early 1937, he had returned to Victoria.

Bairnsdale

In 1938 he was appointed captain-coach of the Bairnsdale Football Club, in the

Gippsland Football League The Gippsland League (formerly known as the West Gippsland Latrobe Football League) is an Australian rules football and netball league in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is considered the only AFL Victoria major league in Gippsla ...

, as a replacement for

Fred Gilby Frederick William Gilby (6 November 1907 – 6 November 1991) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Gilby, a half back flanker, played at Coburg in 1925 when they were in their first ...

who has been appointed elsewhere. Despite Beard's efforts ("For Bairnsdale the most outstanding performers were B. Beard (whose marking was superb), …"), Bairnsdale were defeated by the Maffra Football Club, 13.13 (91) to 10.13 (73).

South Melbourne Districts

He was appointed captain-coach of the South Melbourne Districts Football Club (in the Sub-District Football League) in 1939."Blue" Beard to Coach South Districts, ''The (Emerald Hill) Record'', (Saturday, 18 March 1939), p.3
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Footnotes

References

* Ross, J. (ed), ''100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported'', Viking, (Ringwood), 1996.

External links

* *
Boyles Football Photos: Bert Beard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Bert 1909 births 1983 deaths Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Sydney Swans players Sydney Swans premiership players Fitzroy Football Club players South Fremantle Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players People from Northam, Western Australia