Louis William Schmidt (29 December 1887 – 23 October 1975) 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 for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

in the

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) in 1907 then 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) from 1908 to 1911 and again in 1921. He played for the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

between 1912 and 1914 and again from 1918 until 1920. In 1913, Schmidt kicked a goal after the siren to destroy Carlton's chances of making the finals; it is the first recorded instance of a VFL player kicking a goal after the siren to win the match. Schmidt, who was known for his accurate kicking using the

drop kick A drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player dropping the ball and then kicking it as it touches the ground. Drop kicks are used as a method of restarting play and scoring points in rugby union and rugby league ...

or the place kick, steered the ball through the goals from 45 yards. At the end of 1914 season, Schmidt was found guilty of striking Les Fairbairn of and was suspended for the first 10 rounds of the 1915 season. Schmidt was later reprimanded for swearing at a stewart after the tribunal. Schmidt opted not to play that year and the following two years St Kilda were in recess because of the war. In 1918 St Kilda recommenced and so did Billy. Schmidt became closely aligned with

Warracknabeal Warracknabeal ( ) is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee d ...

. He was first lured to the town mid-season in 1919 with an offer to coach for the rest of the year. He was still coaching Warracknabeal during the week when he returned to play for St. Kilda in the 1920 season. He again crossed back to Richmond in 1921 but he realised he was getting too old for the VFL standard required and he returned to Warracknabeal. Cleared from Richmond he help Warracknabeal to the premiership. Locals considered him responsible for raising the level of play across the Wimmera. He led the town to three premierships between 1921 and 1930. In 1932 he took up an offer to coach North Gambier after they had a poor start to the season. He got the team to lift to finish third for the year. He then coached Richmond for one season, 1933, where they lost 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 ...

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 ...

. The following year Richmond appointed their club captain,

Percy Bentley Percy Bentley (13 December 1906 − 25 March 1982) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then) Victorian Football League. Bentley was a strong ruckman and great tactician who was a key player and coach for the Richmond Football Club duri ...

as playing coach to ward off outside clubs offers. Schmidt returned to the

Wimmera The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Austral ...

where he had set up a business. He coached Minyip in 1934, and they won the Mid Wimmera FL premiership. The Wimmera FL had split in 1932 and the larger clubs were playing in a Ballarat base competition. In 1939, he was re-appointed coach of Minyip Football Club.

Notes

References

* Hogan P: ''The Tigers Of Old'', Richmond FC, (Melbourne), 1996.

External links

* 1887 births 1975 deaths Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Warracknabeal Football Club players Richmond Football Club players St Kilda Football Club players Richmond Football Club coaches Richmond Football Club (VFA) players People from Richmond, Victoria {{AFL-bio-1887-stub