Clayton Crieve 'Candles' Thompson (11 December 1929 – 28 June 2010) was an

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

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

VFL 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 ...

during the 1950s and had a noted career with Sturt. Thompson was one of the giants of his era, standing at 198 cm and could play both forward or as a ruckman. He started out at Sturt in 1948 and played with the South Australian club before being recruited to Hawthorn for the 1954 season. Thompson spent three seasons with Hawthorn where he was used mostly as a forward and kicked 24 goals in both of his first two seasons. After his stint was over he returned to Sturt where, as a ruckman, he finished second in the 1959 Magarey Medal to his teammate

Len Fitzgerald Len Fitzgerald (7 May 1929 – 17 April 2007) was an Australian rules footballer of exceptional talent in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and South Australian National Football League (SANFL). At various time he played in the key positions ...

. He was Sturt's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

winner twice and topped their goalkicking on three occasions. An

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

and top goalkicker at the

1953 Adelaide Carnival The 1953 Adelaide Carnival was the 12th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It took place from 8 to 18 July at Adelaide Oval. Home state South Australia was joined by the two ...

, Thompson played a total of 11 interstate games with South Australia for 25 goals. In 2005 Thompson was inducted into the

South Australian Football Hall of Fame The South Australian Football Hall of Fame enshrines those who have made a most significant contribution to the game of Australian Football. The Hall of Fame was established in 2002 when 114 outstanding individuals became inaugural inductees. S ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Clayton 1929 births Australian rules footballers from South Australia Hawthorn Football Club players Sturt Football Club players All-Australians (1953–1988) South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees 2010 deaths