William Edward Libbis (2 July 1903 – 15 August 1986) 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 Collingwood and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

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).

Family

William Edward Libbis was born in

Port Melbourne, Victoria Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Port Melbourne recorded a populatio ...

on 2 July 1903. He married Stella Millicent Hannebery (1905-1961) in 1929.

Collingwood

Libbis was a rover and made his debut in 1925. He became a member of the successful Collingwood side which won four consecutive premierships from 1927 to 1930, Libbis the first rover for each grand final.

Gordon Coventry Gordon Richard James Coventry (25 September 1901 – 7 November 1968) was a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Accorded "Legend" status in the Australian Footb ...

called him "the best rover he ever saw". In 1931, he was suspended for eight weeks for striking

Ted Pool Herbert Edwin "Ted" Pool (9 November 1905 – 11 February 1975) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The son of William James Pool (1882-1934), and Harriet Jane Pool (1885- ...

in the match against Hawthorn on 9 May 1931. Returning from his suspension, he only played in three matches before he was hospitalized and operated on for appendicitis. He did not play again that season.

Melbourne

At the beginning of the 1933 season Libbis protested against the player's weekly match payments being reduced and he was cleared to leave the club for Melbourne.

Northcote

Having transferred from being the coach of the State Savings Bank team in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) in 1938, he served as coach of Northcote from 1939 to 1941 (the VFA was in recess due to World war II 1942-1944); he began his tenure as a non-playing coach, but soon returned to the field as a captain-coach.V.F.A. Club Notes, ''The Age'', (Friday, 24 March 1939), p.4W. Libbis to Play, ''The Age'', (Friday, 18 August 1939), p.7Association, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Saturday, 19 August 1939), p.6.
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Footnotes

References

* Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim, ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (9th ed.)'', (Melbourne), Bas Publishing, 2011. * Piesse, Ken, ''The Complete Guide to Australian Football'', (Melbourne), Pan MacMillan Australia Pty Limited, 1993. * 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

*
Biography: Billy Libbis 1925-1933, ''Collingwood Forever''.

Bill Libbis, ''Boyles Football Photos''.

Billy Libbis, ''Australian Football.com''.

Billy Libbis, ''Demonwiki.org''.
1903 births 1986 deaths Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club Premiership players Melbourne Football Club players Northcote Football Club players Northcote Football Club coaches Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Four-time VFL/AFL Premiership players People from Port Melbourne {{AFL-bio-1903-stub