Clyde Donaldson (9 June 1894 – 23 May 1979) 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
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
*Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
*Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United King ...
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 George Donaldson (1857-), and Louisa Emma Susanna Donaldson (1858-1932), née Seyler, Clyde Donaldson was born in
Elsternwick, Victoria
Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government areas of Victoria ...
on 9 June 1894. His brother,
Eric Donaldson
Eric Donaldson (born 11 June 1947 in Bog Walk, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter. He originated in Saint Catherine, Jamaica.
Biography
Born in Kent Village, about 2 miles from Bog Walk, Donaldson first recorded for Studio One ...
played for St Kilda.
He married Edith Evelyn Happell (1895-1968) on 16 April 1921. He married Daisy Evans (1905-1981) on 24 September 1969.
Football
Essendon (VFL)
After two seasons playing with Essendon, Donaldson's career was interrupted by World War I when he spent fours years overseas with the Australian Expeditionary Force.
Training Units team (AIF)
While in London he took part in the famous
"Pioneer Exhibition Game" of Australian Rules football, held in London, in October 1916, representing the Australian Training Units team. A news film was taken at the match.
Essendon (VFL)
In 1919 he returned to Essendon and became a regular Victorian interstate representative throughout the 1920s. A
back pocket
In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...
specialist, Donaldson was tough to beat in an aerial contest and was a long kick of the ball. He was a member of Essendon's 1923 and 1924 premiership teams.
Journalist
After retiring in 1926, Donaldson became a noted football journalist for the ''Truth'' newspaper.
Death
He died in
East St Kilda
St Kilda East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Glen Eira and Port Phillip local government areas. St Kilda East recorded a population of 1 ...
on 23 May 1979.
Deaths: Donaldson, ''The Age'', (Thursday, 24 May 1979), p.36.
/ref>
See also
* 1916 Pioneer Exhibition Game
On Saturday 28 October 1916, the former Olympic champion swimmer and the later Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Lieutenant Frank Beaurepaire, organised an Australian Rules football match in aid of the British and the French Red Cross.
Promoted as the ...
Footnotes
References
* Photographs a
''The Sporting Globe'', (Wednesday, 27 June 1923), p.1
and player at extreme right, back row, at :File:Essendon_fc_1923.jpg.
''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.
* Maplestone, M., ''Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996'', Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996.
* Richardson, N. (2016) ''The Game of Their Lives'', Pan Macmillan Australia: Sydney.
First World War Embarkation Roll: Private Clyde Donaldson (251), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
First World War Nominal Roll: Private Clyde Donaldson (251), collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''.
First World War Service Record: Private Clyde Donaldson (251), ''National Archives of Australia''.
External links
*
*
Clyde Donaldson, at ''Boyles Football Photos''.
1894 births
Australian rules footballers from Melbourne
Essendon Football Club players
Essendon Football Club Premiership players
Participants in "Pioneer Exhibition Game" (London, 28 October 1916)
Place of birth missing
1979 deaths
Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players
People from Elsternwick, Victoria
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