Cyril Louis Hoft (24 September 1896 – 5 July 1949) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the and

Perth Football Club The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in Lathlain, Western Australia, currently playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Representing the south-east area of the Perth metropo ...

s in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September ...

(WAFL) and the

Glenelg Football Club Glenelg Football Club is an Australian rules football team, which plays in the South Australian National Football League. The club is known as the "Tigers" (or the "Bays"), and their home ground is ACH Group Stadium (formerly Glenelg Oval), l ...

in the

South Australian Football League 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 th ...

(SAFL).

Family and early life

The son of Herman Hoft (-1936), and Amelia Ann Hoft (-1954), née Haley, Cyril Louis Hoft was born on 24 September 1896. He grew up in the South-West region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

, moving to

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

to attend Scotch College, where he played in the school's football team. He married Dorothy Marjorie Davies, in Perth, on 22 June 1925.

Football

North Fremantle (WAFL)

Because his school was located in recruitment zone, Hoft began his career with that club, playing eleven games for North Fremantle in 1914.

Third Divisional team (AIF)

He played for the (winning) Third Australian Divisional team in the famous "Pioneer Exhibition Game" of Australian Rules football, held in London, in October 1916 that had been organised by

Frank Beaurepaire Sir Francis Joseph Edmund Beaurepaire (13 May 1891 – 29 May 1956) was an Australian distance freestyle swimmer from the 1900s to the 1920s, who won three silver and three bronze medals, from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London to the 1 ...

. A news film was taken at the match.

Perth (WAFL)

Hoft resuming his league career with Perth in 1919.

Sandover medal

Hoft tied with 's Tom Outridge, on 14 votes, in the inaugural

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and ...

count in 1921. Prior to 1930, only one vote was given in each game, meaning that both Hoft and Outridge had been best on the ground in 14 matches. Because there was no provision, in that inaugural year, for a tied vote, and it was decided to leave the choice of the single winner to "an adjudicator" that was to be appointed by Messrs. Sandover and Co. (the donors of the medal). It was decided to allow the WAFL president, Alf Moffat, to cast the deciding vote, which he gave to Outridge. In 1997, along with a number of other players who had tied for first, but lost on countback, Hoft was awarded a retrospective medal.

Glenelg (SAFL)

In 1924, Hoft switched to Glenelg in the SAFL. Standing out in a team that had yet to win a match, Hoft was appointed captain two rounds into the season, and won the club's best and fairest in 1924. He was appointed captain-coach in 1925, and guided the club to its first ever win after 56 losses, an upset against reigning premiers West Torrens.

Perth (WAFL)

Hoft returned to Perth in 1928, playing one game in his final season with the club before retiring.

Interstate football

Hoft represented

at the Fourth Australian National Football Carnival, in Perth, in August 1921,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

at the Fifth Australian National Football Carnival, in Hobart, in August 1924, and, once again, South Australia at the Sixth Australian National Football Carnival, in Melbourne, in August 1927.

Military service

Hoft enlisted in the First AIF in February 1915. Serving overseas, as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

, in the 44 Infantry Battalion, he saw action in the

European theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with t ...

, where he was wounded in action on two separate occasions.

Death

He died in July 1949 after a long illness, leaving his wife (Dorothy, née Davies) and six children (June, Kevin, Les, Lois, Maureen, and Peter).Deaths: Hoft, ''The West Australian'', (Thursday, 7 July 1949), p. 1.
/ref>

Footnotes

References

''Pioneer Exhibition Game Australian Football: in aid of British and French Red Cross Societies: 3rd Australian Division v. Australian Training Units at Queen's Club, West Kensington, on Saturday, October 28th, 1916, at 3pm'', Wightman & Co., (London), 1919.

First World War Embarkation Roll: Private Cyril Louis Hoft (785), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.

World War One Nominal Roll: Private Cyril Louis Hoft (785), ''Australian War Memorial''.

World War One Service Record: Private Cyril Louis Hoft (785), ''National Archives of Australia''.
* Photograph a
Glenelg, ''The (Adelaide) Chronicle'', (Saturday, 9 July 1927), p.40
third from right, middle row. * Richardson, N. (2016), ''The Game of Their Lives'', Pan Macmillan Australia: Sydney.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoft, Cyril 1896 births 1949 deaths Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Participants in "Pioneer Exhibition Game" (London, 28 October 1916) Glenelg Football Club coaches Glenelg Football Club players North Fremantle Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia Perth Football Club players Sandover Medal winners Military personnel from Western Australia People educated at Scotch College, Perth

Family and early life

Football

North Fremantle (WAFL)

Third Divisional team (AIF)

Perth (WAFL)

Sandover medal

Glenelg (SAFL)

Perth (WAFL)

Interstate football

Military service

Death

See also

Footnotes

References

External links