Francis Michael "Frank" Bourke (3 February 1922 – 27 December 2011) 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

during the 1940s. He played one game during the 1943 season while on leave from the

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

. After the war Bourke joined the club for the 1946 season playing in 9 games before a knee injury. He would come back to play in 1947 for 6 games before retirement. Bourke coached Ganmain Football Club in the

South West Football League (New South Wales) The South West District Football League was a major Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 until 1981 in the Riverina region of New South Wales. History The first recorded Australian Rules Football match in the Riverina area wa ...

to the 1950 premiership, kicking 8 goals in the grand final against Griffith. Bourke also kicked 6 goals in the 1950 second semi final against Griffith too. Frank Bourke is best known for being the start of the Tigers only three-generation family at the club being the father of Richmond Immortal

Francis Bourke Francis William Bourke (born 2 April 1947) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach who represented Richmond in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1967 and 1981, and coached the club in 1982 and 1983. A key figure in a succ ...

and grandfather of David Bourke.Greenberg, Tony (4 January 2012
Farewell Frank

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bourke, Frank Richmond Football Club players Nathalia Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) 2011 deaths 1922 births Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Military personnel from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian sportsmen