Herb Burleigh (14 June 1892 – 2 November 1975) 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 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). Burleigh made his debut for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

in Round 3 of the 1914 season. In 1915 he played as centre half forward and was Carlton's leading goalkicker for the season. He enlisted during the 1915 season but deferred his call up until after Carlton had won the

1915 VFL Grand Final The 1915 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and Carlton Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 18 September 1915. It was the 18th annual Grand Fi ...

. In September 1917 his right forearm was severely injured and, despite surgery, it was clear that his front-line military service was over. In January, 1918, he returned to Australia and was later discharged from the army as medically unfit. Despite his injury, Burleigh was determined to return to football and he managed three more games in the 1919 season before his war injury forced him into retirement. Burleigh returned to his original career of teaching in 1920, and spent the rest of his life teaching, mainly in rural communities.

External links

Herb Burleigh
a
Blueseum
1892 births 1975 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club premiership players Morwell Football Club players Australian military personnel of World War I VFL/AFL premiership players {{AFL-bio-1892-stub