Douglas James Gillespie (13 December 1887 – 6 January 1947) 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

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

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

One of the eight children (five boys and three girls) of James Gillespie (1856–1913), and Mary Gillespie (1859–1924), née Gallagher, Douglas James Gillespie was born at the

Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo is a zoo in Melbourne, Australia. It is located within Royal Park in Parkville, approximately north of the centre of Melbourne. It is the primary zoo serving Melbourne. The zoo contains more than 320 animal species from Austra ...

, in Royal Park, in

Parkville, Victoria Parkville is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Merri-bek, M ...

on 14 December 1887. His younger twin brother, Dave Gillespie, also played for Carlton (90 games from 1906 to 1912, including the 1906 and 1907 premierships). All five Gillespie brothers served in the First AIF: David Francis Gillespie (1887–1917), Douglas James Gillespie (1887–1947), Gordon Charles Gillespie (1890–1937), Robert Bruce Gillespie (1895–1969), and William Wallace Gillespie (1898–1967).First World War Service Record: Private Wallace William (sic) Gillespie (3043), collection of the ''National Archives of Australia''.
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Football

Gillespie was discovered by

Jack Worrall John Worrall (20 June 1861 – 17 November 1937) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club in the VFA, and a Test cricketer. He was also a prominent coach in both sports and a journalist. A small, nugge ...

when the Carlton coach saw him kicking the ball with some friends at Princes Park. He was used at full-back by Carlton and played in premiership teams in 1906 and 1907, his first two seasons. Gillespie missed out on being part of Carlton's third successive premiership in 1908 due to injury. He was embroiled in controversy during the

1910 VFL season The 1910 VFL season was the 14th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured ten clubs, ran from 30 April until 1 October, and comprised an 18-gam ...

when he was implicated in a bribery scandal at Carlton. Along with

Alex Lang Alex Lang (12 March 1888 – 9 July 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Despite being a three-time premiership player, Lang will be remembered by history as t ...

and Doug Fraser, Gillespie was dropped for the semifinal against South Melbourne while the club and league investigated the allegations that they had been paid to play poorly. However, unlike his two teammates, Gillespie was exonerated and picked for the Grand Final. For the second year in a row he finished the premiership decider on the losing team. The full-back spent the 1911 football season with Brunswick in the VFA before returning to Carlton the following year, where he made his tenth finals appearance before retiring. Out of Gillespie's 90 VFL matches at Carlton, he finished in the winning side 75 times. His twin brother David Francis Gillespie (1887–1917) also played at Carlton but was killed in World War I. Gillespie was head keeper at the Melbourne Zoo for many years, having been born there and working there for most of his life.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Doug 1887 births Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club Premiership players Brunswick Football Club players Australian twins Twin sportspeople 1947 deaths Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Zookeepers People from Parkville, Victoria