Chris Groom (born 28 August 1973) 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 ...

er who played for the

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since ...

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of ...

and

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL).

Career

After a very successful junior career for

South Adelaide The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University Stadium SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

premiership and the 1991 reserves premiership (aged 17), Chris was selected by Adelaide during the moratorium where the club had the first 8 picks of South Australian players before other clubs could select (

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

). At the age of 18, Groom made his debut for South Adelaide's Seniors in round 1, 1992 playing against Glenelg and kicked 5 goals. He finished the year with 42 goals from 25 games in a year where South Adelaide made the finals. In

, Chris made his AFL debut in round 1 against , kicking 2 goals. After being plagued by illness and injury he was traded to Fremantle for the 1995 season and played in Fremantle's first ever game, kicking 3 goals. In exchange for Groom, Fremantle traded the rights to

Andrew McLeod Andrew Luke McLeod (born 4 August 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the games record holder for Adelaide, having played 340 games. ...

to Adelaide, a move for which Fremantle have been roundly criticised, as a result of McLeod's glittering career when compared to Groom's. Despite kicking 18 goals in 7 games for Fremantle, Groom was surprisingly dropped 4 times. When not selected he played for West Perth, kicking 70 goals in 14 games including 5 goals in their premiership win over Subiaco. After being delisted by Fremantle at the end of the 1995 season, he was selected by North Melbourne in the 1995 AFL Draft. However a week before the 1996 season started, he sustained a knee injury requiring a total knee reconstruction. Unfortunately 5 months later the same knee buckled again and a second reconstruction was required; this in a season which saw North Melbourne take out both the reserves and senior premiership. After missing the he managed to play Senior football with North Melbourne and was a member of the 1998 Ansett Australia Cup winning team. He retired from AFL football at the end of 1998 due to injuries but went on to play. He firstly played for the

West Preston Lakeside Football Club West Preston Lakeside Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Reservoir, Victoria, currently competing in the Northern Football League. History The West Preston F.C. was formed in 1948 in the CYMS competition. It remained there unt ...

in the Diamond Valley League, and then the

Melbourne University Football Club Melbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University, is an Australian rules football club based at the University of Melbourne. The club fields two teams, known as the "Blacks" and "Blues", who both compete in the Victorian Amat ...

in the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division 4. In addition there ...

(VAFA). In 2011, he came out of retirement to play three games for the Chicago United Football Club in the Mid American Australian League 2011 Madison Invitational Tournament. He played in games against the Milwaukee Bombers, Minnesota Freeze, and Cincinnati Dockers, finishing with 10 goals and at least 10 behinds, helping Chicago United to a 2-1 record and 3rd-place finish.2011 Madison Tournament Chicago Results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Groom, Chris Adelaide Football Club players Fremantle Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club players South Adelaide Football Club players West Perth Football Club players 1973 births Living people Australian rules footballers from South Australia University Blacks Football Club players Christies Beach Football Club players