William James Strang (7 October 1883 – 9 May 1937) was an Australian rules footballer 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 ...

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

He married Frances Eleanor Collins in 1905. Four sons played senior football in the VFL; Allan and Colin as well as Richmond premiership stars of the 1930s Doug and

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

. Two grandsons were members of the Tiger's premiership team in 1967, Geoff Strang (son of Doug) and John Perry (son of his daughter Edna "Bob" Perry, née Strang), with Geoff backing up again in 1969. Strang was also a Justice of the Peace (J.P.) in Albury.

Football

Strang was a strong aerialist from Albury, used as both a follower and forward. He kicked three of South Melbourne's six goals, from

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 ...

, in their

1907 VFL Grand Final The 1907 VFL Grand Final, originally known as the 1907 VFL Final, was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and South Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 21 Sept ...

loss to Carlton.AFL Tables. Strang spent the next period of his career in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. After returning to

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

to start a business, he played for the

Albury Football Club The Albury Football Club, nicknamed the ''Tigers'', is an Australian rules football and netball club based in Albury, a major regional city in New South Wales. Albury football and netball squads compete in the Ovens & Murray Football League. C ...

. Strang returned to South Melbourne in

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...

and was the club's leading goal-kicker with 29 goals.

Military service

He served overseas with the First AIF in the 1st Light Horse Field Ambulance.

Death

He died (suddenly) at

on 9 May 1937.

Footnotes

References

* Hogan P: ''The Tigers Of Old'', Richmond FC, (Melbourne), 1996. *
First World War Nominal Roll: Private William James Strang (2165), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.

First World War Embarkation Roll: Private William James Strang (2165), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.

First World War Service Record: Private William James Strang (2165), ''National Archives of Australia''.

External links

* * 1883 births 1937 deaths Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Albury Football Club players Sydney Swans players Australian military personnel of World War I Australian rules footballers from Albury Military personnel from New South Wales {{AFL-bio-1883-stub