George Henry Esmond Stafford (21 October 1930 – 30 July 2010), 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 with

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 (VFL), and with

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).

Family

George Henry Esmond Stafford was born on 21 October 1930. He was the younger brother of Carlton footballer

Fred Stafford Frederick Raymond Stafford (3 August 1926 – 10 July 2009), the older brother of George Stafford is a former Australian rules footballer; a talented schoolboy footballer, who played for Northcote in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) ...

. He married Betty Harper in 1952. He died on 30 July 2010 at Doncaster, Victoria.

Carlton (VFL)

Playing either on the half-back flank or back pocket, Stafford was recruited from Northcote in 1949. He was a member of the Carlton Under 19s 1949 premiership team, the 1951 Reserves premiership team (winning the team's "most consistent player award" in 1951), and the 1953 Reserves premiership team. He played his first senior match for Carlton in the round 16 match against Fitzroy, on 18 August 1951, and played the last of his 25 senior matches when he was selected in place of an injured Bruce Comben in the round 16 match against Essendon on 14 August 1954. Stafford was injured during that match, and was unable to be selected in the next week's team. His last game for the Carlton Football Club was in the round 18 Reserves match against Geelong on 29 August 1954, in which he kicked 5 goals (he was not selected in the Carlton Reserves Second Semi-Final team that thrashed Geelong, 19.22 (136) to 9.8 (62) on 11 September 1954).

4 September 1954

On Tuesday, 21 September 1954, Carlton First XVIII half-back flanker Stafford, a spectator at the match, was convicted at Carlton Court of jumping the fence and assaulting both of the boundary umpires (John Joseph McNiff, and Desmond Nicholas Fitzgerald) who had officiated at the VFL Third XVIII Grand Final between Carlton and Footscray at Princes Park, on 4 September 1954. He was found guilty on both charges and was fined £5 on each charge, with £4/15/- costs (in default 10 days jail).

Suspension

On Wednesday, 10 November 1954, a VFL Investigation Committee, after considering the evidence, found Stafford guilty of striking both boundary umpires, and suspended him for the first four games of the 1955 season. Although his name appears in Carlton's Final 1955 Training List as "to be considered when available", Stafford did not play for Carlton ever again.

Brighton (VFA)

Once his VFL suspension had been served, he started playing for the VFA club, Brighton, where he had been training whilst suspended. His clearance from Carlton was approved on 18 May 1955, and he played his first match for Brighton in round 6 of the 1955 season, on Saturday, 20 May 1955.Welch, B., "Teams for Association", ''The Age'', (Friday, 20 May 1955), p.11

Notes

External links

* *
George Stafford's profile
at Blueseum
George Stafford: ''VFA Project''.

George Stafford: ''Boyles Football Photos''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, George 1930 births Carlton Football Club players 2010 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Northcote Football Club players