Cliff Rankin (4 December 1896 – 12 February 1975) 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 the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

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) from

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

Football career

Nicknamed "Ticker", his father

Teddy Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore. It may refer to: People Nickname * Teddy Atlas (born 1956), boxing trainer and fight commentator * Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olympic epee fencer * Tedd ...

and brother

Bert Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album Here Comes a Son ...

both played football for

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

as well as a number of other members of the

Rankin family The Rankin Family (originally known as The Rankins) are a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three Canadian ...

. Despite making his debut in 1915, Rankin did not play a full season until

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when he served as a gunner in France. While with the army he even represented the Australian Imperial Force in the rival code of

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, playing as the fullback of the Australian team, which defeated the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

. After the war, Rankin kicked 48 goals in 1920 to finish the season as Geelong's top goal-kicker. The following season he again topped their goal-kicking with 63 goals, which set a then club record for most ever goals in a season. It was also the highest tally by any player in the league that year for the home-and-away season and included a bag of ten goals against

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

. In total, Rankin won Geelong's leading goal-kicker award on four separate occasions. During a game in the 1924 season, as Cliff Rankin was shooting for goal, Arthur Hando of

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 t ...

was seen shaking the posts in order to increase the chances of the ball hitting the goal post, an action for which Hando was subsequently censured by the league. Rankin captained-coached Geelong from

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until

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, steering them to 1925 premiership in his first year in charge. He led from the front in the Grand Final with five goals. A regular Victorian interstate representative, Rankin appeared in 14 games for his state, kicking 30 goals. He was captain of the state team in 1926. In that year, he controversially criticised the spiteful play of the Western Australian team. Rankin was named as an emergency in Geelong's official 'Team of the Century'.

Personal life

Rankin married Evelyn Beckham in 1921. He worked as a gas-fitter. His great-grandson, Gary O'Donnell, played for the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

in the 1990s.Callander, S. "80 years of Grand Final Celebrations", ''AFL Grand Final Record'', Australian Football League:Melbourne. 2005, p. 18.

Footnotes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rankin, Cliff 1896 births 1975 deaths Australian rules footballers from Geelong Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club Premiership players Geelong Football Club coaches Geelong Football Club Premiership coaches VFL Leading Goalkicker Medal winners Chilwell Football Club players

Cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army soldiers One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players One-time VFL/AFL Premiership coaches