David "Dolly" Christy (3 July 1869 – 2 July 1919) 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 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). Christy was a highly successful ruckman and centre half-forward who was one of the founders of football in Western Australia. He began his career with Ballarat, who resigned from the VFA in 1888; after two years of local premiership matches, he crossed to

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 VFA, playing there from 1891 until 1896. He became a driving force in establishing football in Western Australia, playing sixteen of his twenty-six seasons there. He played with

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

and with

Imperials The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 until ...

, and upon the latter club's dissolution, was a co-founder of the

East Fremantle Football Club The East Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Sharks, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The team's home ground is East Fremantle Oval. East Fremantle are the ...

in 1898. Christy retired midway through the 1912 season, a week before his 43rd birthday, and his career total of 345 games remained an elite Australian rules football record until it was broken by Graham "Polly" Farmer in Round 11 of the 1971 WANFL season. Christy also played 20 interstate football matches for Victoria and Western Australia; if these are included, then he played a total of 365 senior career games, which remained an elite Australian rules football record until it was broken by Farmer in Round 17 of 1970. Christy's 26 career seasons and ten career premierships (equal with Alfred "Topsy" Waldron) are both records for elite Australian rules football as of 2022; given the nature of the modern game, these records are highly unlikely to ever be broken. In 1996, Christy was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

, and in 2004 he was inducted to the WA Football Hall of Fame.

References

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David Christy
on Demonwiki 1870 births 1919 deaths Australian rules footballers from Ballarat East Fremantle Football Club players Fremantle Football Club (1881–1899) players Ballarat Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Imperials Football Club players West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Melbourne Football Club (VFA) players {{AFL-bio-1870s-stub