Charlie Stewart (born 19 March 1939) is a former

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 ...

player and coach. He is most notable for playing for Footscray 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 ...

. Stewart was of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

descent.

Playing career

Charlie Stwart played with the Nathalia Football Club from 1955 to 1957. Stewart played reserve grade for

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

in 1957 before a stint with

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

. In April 1961, Stewart was cleared by Essendon to Footscray. He played 20 matches in the

1961 VFL season The 1961 VFL season was the 65th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 15 April until 23 September, and comprised an ...

. He was a reserve player in the Footscray team that lost the

1961 VFL Grand Final The 1961 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Footscray Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 23 September 1961. It was the 64th annual Grand Final ...

. He was released by Footscray in April 1962.

Coaching career

Stewart was playing coach of Victorian country team

Kyabram Kyabram is a town in north central Victoria, Australia. Kyabram is located in the centre of a rich irrigation district in the Goulburn River Valley, north of Melbourne. It is the second-largest town in the Shire of Campaspe, situated between t ...

until the end of the 1966 season. For the 1967 season he moved to Stanhope where he continued as a playing coach.

Honours

On 26 May 2014, the Western Bulldogs designed an Indigenous guernsey that features the names of all 18 indigenous players that have represented the club in senior VFL/AFL competition. It was worn against

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

at their home Indigenous round match on 1 June 2014. Stewart was one of the 18 players recognised. At the conclusion of the 1961 Grand Final, the players from opposing sides swapped jumpers. Stewart traded jumpers with his opposing wingman, Hawthorn's

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Fisher was executed by o ...

. In 2012, Stewart was cleaning out his house and found Fisher's old jumper in a box. He donated the guernsey to the Hawthorn Football Club museum who said it was a "wonderful gesture" and described the jumper as being "in mint condition".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Charlie 1939 births Western Bulldogs players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Australian rules football coaches Kyabram Football Club players Shepparton Swans Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Living people