Colin Niven (6 September 1903 – 1 December 1968) 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

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 ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

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).

Family

The son of Colin Niven (1870-1938), and Ida Bell Niven (1875-1947), née Lewis, Colin Leslie Niven was born at

Bealiba Bealiba is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. The town is located in the Central Goldfields Shire local government area, north-west of the state capital, Melbourne, and from the regional city of Bendigo. At the , Bealiba and the surro ...

, Victoria on 6 September 1903. His cousin once removed, Gordon Jones, also played for Melbourne. He married Ada Dorothy Smith in 1934.

Footballer

Niven, a follower, played in the

Ballarat Football League The Ballarat Football League (BFL) is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia. The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football ...

prior to joining Fitzroy. He captain-coached Fitzroy in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

and

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

before crossing to Melbourne, which he captained in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

. His brother Ray, who played beside Colin in 1931, later reunited with him at Melbourne where they again appeared together in the same side. After six months out of the game, Niven was appointed playing coach of Donald in 1936 and he led the team to premierships in 1936, 1937 and 1939 before retiring as a player.

Military service

Niven later served in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II.

Death

He died at

Cowes, Victoria Cowes is the main township on Phillip Island in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is about two hours' drive from Melbourne and can also be reached by coach, or passenger ferry from Stony Point on the Mornington Peninsula. Cowes is l ...

on 1 December 1968.Deaths: Niven, ''The Age'', (Monday, 2 December 1968), p.18.
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Footnotes

References

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

* *
Colin Niven
at ''Demonwiki''.
Colin Niven
at ''Boyles Football Photos''. 1903 births 1968 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Fitzroy Football Club players Fitzroy Football Club coaches Melbourne Football Club players Melbourne Football Club captains Maryborough Football Club players Military personnel from Victoria (state) Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force airmen {{AFL-bio-1903-stub