Ernest Benjamin 'Tich' Utting (31 October 1897 – 21 November 1948) 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 the Collingwood Football Club and

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

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 tenth of thirteen children born to Thomas Edward Utting (1862–1942) and Emily Esther Utting (1863–1943), nee Bartley, Ernest Benjamin Utting was born at Collingwood on 31 October 1897.

War service

In 1915, shortly before turning 18, Utting enlisted to serve in World War I. After completing training at Broadmeadows and then serving for five months overseas, Utting was returned to Australia from Egypt after he was diagnosed with a heart condition.

Football

Ern Utting started his football career with the Collingwood District in the Victorian Junior Football League. Success as a forward in that team led to his selection by the Collingwood VFL (senior) team but he struggled to get consistent game time in what was a strong side, although he managed to top their goalkicking in 1920 with 23 goals. After four years with Collingwood he left the club and joined Hawthorn who were then in the

Victorian Football Association 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 ...

(VFA). Utting played for two seasons with Hawthorn in the VFA and was a member of Hawthorn's inaugural VFL side when they joined that competition in 1925. The Club Champion in 1927 and 1929, Utting was also the first Hawthorn footballer to play 100 VFL games. Playing mainly in the

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 ...

, he polled well in the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

during his career and finished in the top 10 on three occasions. He left the senior side at the end of 1932 but captained the seconds side in 1933, winning the

Gardiner Medal {{Use Australian English, date=January 2018 The Gardiner Medal was an Australian rules football award, formerly awarded to the best and fairest player in the VFL Reserves competition. Officially named the Seconds prior to 1959 and the Reserves fr ...

for the reserve league's best and fairest player.

Death

Utting died suddenly at his home in Hawthorn in 1948 and is buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery.

Honours and achievements

Individual * 2× Hawthorn best and fairest: 1927, 1929 * Collingwood leading goalkicker: 1920 *

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

Hall of Fame *

life member

References

External links

*
Ern Utting's playing statistics
from The VFA Project 1897 births 1948 deaths Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Collingwood Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club (VFA) players Hawthorn Football Club players Peter Crimmins Medal winners People from Collingwood, Victoria Australian military personnel of World War I Military personnel from Melbourne Burials at Melbourne General Cemetery {{AFL-bio-1897-stub