Geoffrey Bernard "Paddy" Martin (16 July 1927 – 12 June 2020) was an Australian rules footballer who played in Tasmania with Launceston, Sandy Bay, Ulverstone and

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popu ...

. He was a half back flanker in Launceston's official 'Team of the Century' and in 2005 was inducted into Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame as a coaching legend. Martin also represented Tasmania once in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

. Martin was born in Launceston, Tasmania. He made an immediate impression on his debut for Launceston in 1946, and was selected that year to play with the Northern Tasmanian Football Association's representative team. The following season he crossed to Sandy Bay but returned to Launceston in 1948 where he stayed until 1954, despite getting an offer to go to

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 ...

club

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 1951 he appeared with the Tasmanian interstate side for the first time and also appeared for his state at the 1953 Adelaide Carnival. After 116 games at Launceston, he joined Ulverstone and participated in three premierships. He also won Ulverstone's ' best and fairest' in 1955. His next port of call was as playing coach of Burnie and he steered them to successive premierships from 1958 to 1960. For the next six years he was the non-playing coach of the

North West Football Union The North West Football Union (NWFU) was an Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 to 1986. In its time it was one of the three main leagues in Tasmania, with the Tasmanian Football League and Northern Tasmanian Football As ...

's representative team for intrastate games. He coached Devonport in a non-playing capacity in 1970 and 1971. Martin came from a strong cricketing family. His father, also named Geoffrey, was a decent batsman for Tasmania for over a decade while his uncle Gordon represented Queensland at cricket. Martin himself made an appearance in a first-class cricket match for Tasmania, against Victoria at the

North Tasmania Cricket Association Ground The North Tasmania Cricket Association Ground, better known as the NTCA Ground, is the oldest first-class cricket ground in Australia. It is a multi-use sports venue situated in Launceston, Australia. In 1851, the ground hosted Australia's fi ...

in Launceston during the 1950/51 season. He batted at seven in both innings but could only manage four and a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

, dismissed by Thomas Perrin on each occasion.

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Cricinfo: Geoffrey Martin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Geoffrey 1927 births 2020 deaths Burnie Football Club players Launceston Football Club players Sandy Bay Football Club players Ulverstone Football Club players Devonport Football Club coaches Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian cricketers Tasmania cricketers Australian rules footballers from Launceston, Tasmania Cricketers from Tasmania Launceston Football Club coaches

See also

References

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