John Birt (born 29 January 1937) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with

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 VFL and West Torrens in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as t ...

(SANFL). Birt was a rover and, after being recruited to

from Ballarat, he made his VFL debut in 1957. The following year he had one of his finest seasons, finishing 6th in the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...

and topping

's goalkicking list with 31 goals. He was a premiership player in 1962 and 1965, as well as playing in two losing

Grand Finals Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

, and won the W. S. Crichton Medal for his club's Best and Fairest in 1961, 1965 and 1967. Birt was playing coach for West Torrens in the SANFL from 1968 to 1970. He returned to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

to coach

in 1971.He had beaten two other applicants for the vacant coaching position: Mal Pascoe and Bob Syme. (Mapleston, 1996, p.216). However, Essendon only won four games in the 1971 season. In 1972, he was replaced by Des Tuddenham. Footscray then picked him up and he served as their assistant coach between 1972 and 1976. In 2002, an

panel selected Birt as number twenty-one of the 25 ''

Champions of Essendon The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their ...

''.

Footnotes

References

* Maplestone, M., ''Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872-1996'', Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996.

External links

* * *
Champions of Essendon Profile: John Birt

''Boyles Football Photos'': John Birt.
1937 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Ballarat Essendon Football Club players Essendon Football Club Premiership players Champions of Essendon Essendon Football Club coaches West Torrens Football Club players West Torrens Football Club coaches Crichton Medal winners Ballarat Football Club players Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players {{AFL-bio-1930s-stub