Brian Gleeson (born 3 November 1934) is a former
Australian rules footballer in the
VFL.
Gleeson attended
St Patrick's College,
Ballarat and later played with
St Kilda at
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 Melbourne ...
initially. He developed into a skilful and agile
ruckman, winning the
Brownlow medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...
in 1957. In the Melbourne evening paper
The Herald, 29 August 1957 Gleeson said:
''"We are just like a family at St Kilda," he said. "We depend on teamwork and we bring each other into the game. Coach
Alan Killigrew
Robert "Alan" Killigrew (27 January 1918 – 10 June 2001) was an Australian rules footballer who went on to a celebrated career as senior coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL), South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and West ...
is responsible for that and the officials and supporters have given us encouragement and confidence."''
Appointed club captain in 1958, he injured a knee in a practice match and never played VFL football again.
Gleeson and 1961
Brownlow Medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...
winner John James, (who also finished third to Gleeson in 1957), played in the same school team.
References
St Kilda Hall of Fame ProfileSaints honor roll
External links
*
St Kilda Players Encyclopedia
Brownlow Medal winners
Trevor Barker Award winners
1934 births
Living people
St Kilda Football Club players
Australian rules footballers from New South Wales
People educated at St Patrick's College, Ballarat
{{AFL-bio-1930s-stub