Ernie "Sonny" Coward (27 January 1916 – 5 April 1985) was an
Australian rules footballer 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 Ki ...
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).
Coward was originally from
West Perth and along with his teammate
Wally Buttsworth
Wallace Francis Buttsworth (21 January 1917 – 22 May 2002) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
Wally had 2 younger brothers Fred and Brian Buttsworth. Fred Buttsworth wa ...
had to spend the 1938 season on the sidelines while waiting for a clearance to Essendon. He soon established himself as a wingman in
Dick Reynolds
Richard Sylvannus Reynolds (20 June 1915 – 2 September 2002) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Reynolds is one of four footballers to have won three Brownlow ...
's strong Essendon side of the early 1940s and appeared in three consecutive Grand Finals from 1941 to 1943, with a premiership in 1942. The Western Australian was runner-up in the 1944 Essendon
Best and Fairest count. A VFL representative in 1945, Coward played a total of 11 finals matches with Essendon during his career.
Tasmanian club
Scottsdale secured his services as captain-coach in 1949, after he had played three seasons at
Maryborough.
References
*
*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
1916 births
1985 deaths
Essendon Football Club players
Essendon Football Club Premiership players
Scottsdale Football Club players
Scottsdale Football Club coaches
West Perth Football Club players
Australian rules footballers from Western Australia
Maryborough Football Club players
Place of birth missing
One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players
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