Bruce Malcolm Reid (4 April 1946 – 27 October 2020) was an Australian doctor and former
Australian rules footballer. He was the senior medical officer at the
Essendon Football Club and played for
Hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
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).
Early life and career
Reid, who originally played football for the North Balwyn Methodists, played two senior games for Hawthorn in the
1966 VFL season
The 1966 VFL season was the 70th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 23 April until 24 September, and comprised an ...
and one further game the following year.
[AFL Tables: Bruce Reid]
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Reid was a member of Preston's 1968 and 1969 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 ...
premiership teams.
Having graduated from university with a medical degree while at Preston, Reid worked as a club doctor with Richmond from 1976 to 1979.[
]
Essendon Football Club
Reid joined Essendon Football club in 1982 shortly after Kevin Sheedy, a player at Richmond, had joined as coach. From this time until his cancer diagnosis in 2018, he served as senior medical officer for Essendon.
2013 supplements controversy
Following months of rumours and investigations, on 13 August 2013, Reid—along with the Essendon Football Club, senior coach James Hird
James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but ...
, senior assistant coach Mark Thompson, and football manager Danny Corcoran—was charged by the AFL with bringing the game into disrepute in relation to the supplements program at the club in 2011 and 2012. The club was given 14 days to consider the charges and face an AFL Commission hearing on 26 August 2013.
On 27 August 2013, the AFL Commission handed down its decision to exclude Essendon from the 2013 finals series and fine it $2 million. James Hird was banned for 12 months, Danny Corcoran suspended for six months, and Mark Thompson fined $30,000, but the case against Reid continued after his decision to fight the charges against him.
On 18 September 2013, 24 hours before Reid was due back in the Supreme Court, the AFL withdrew all 38 charges against him for his role in the supplements scandal, meaning he was free to resume his work at the Essendon Football Club.
Death
Reid was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and left Essendon after more than 36 years as the club's senior medical officer.[ On 27 October 2020, Reid died of complications from cancer, aged 74.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Bruce
1946 births
2020 deaths
Australian rules footballers from Melbourne
Hawthorn Football Club players
Australian sports physicians
Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia)
Medical doctors from Melbourne
Preston Football Club (VFA) players
Essendon Football Club administrators
Richmond Football Club administrators