William John Faul (8 June 1909 – 14 September 1974) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the South Melbourne Football Club 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) and for the Subiaco Football Club in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL).

Family

The son of Albert Ernest Faul (1882–1963) and Mary Faul (–1946), née Roberts, he was born at

Boulder, Western Australia Boulder is a suburb in the Western Australian Goldfields, east of Perth and bordering onto the city of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields region. The Boulder (horse) Races were a significant event in early twentieth century goldfields regi ...

, on 8 June 1909. He married Joan Mary Millie on 4 August 1934.

Football

A defender, Faul crossed from Subiaco to South Melbourne in 1932 and finished second in 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 ...

. He won the club's Best and Fairest award in the same year. He was one of a number of South Melbourne players who were given immediate, long-term, secure, paid employment outside of football within the (137 store) grocery empire of the South Melbourne president, South Melbourne Lord Mayor, and Member of the Victorian Legislative Council, Archie Crofts. The collection of players recruited from interstate in 1932/1933 become known as South Melbourne's "Foreign Legion". In 1939, Faul crossed to

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 ...

club

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

without a clearance, serving as playing coach. Faul played for and coached Prahran until the end of 1941. After World War II, Faul served as non-playing coach, first of Northcote, then later of

Moorabbin Moorabbin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Moorabbin recorded a population of 6,287 at the . Most of the ...

. In fifteen seasons of senior coaching (including his time at Prahran), Faul coached 313 games this was the VFA/VFL record until 2014, when passed by Gerard FitzGerald. Faul also coached Association representative teams in Interstate Carnivals. He returned to South Melbourne in 1960 to coach the club for two seasons. He was named in the half back line in South Melbourne/Sydney's 'Team of the Century'. In 2003 he was selected in Prahran's Team of the Century.

Footnotes

References

* 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

*
Bill Faul
at AustralianFootball.com
Boyles Football Photos: Bill Faul
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faul, Bill 1909 births 1974 deaths Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Sydney Swans players Sydney Swans Premiership players Sydney Swans coaches Bob Skilton Medal winners Subiaco Football Club players Prahran Football Club players Prahran Football Club coaches Northcote Football Club coaches Moorabbin Football Club coaches One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players People from Boulder, Western Australia