John Somers Gill (19 April 1932 – 3 March 2003) 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

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 King ...

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) from 1951 to 1957. A highly talented ruckman with a strong overhead mark, and a delightfully graceful and accurate "palm", he walked straight into the Essendon senior team at 19 years of age. Recruited from the Longerenong Agricultural College, in

Horsham, Victoria Horsham () is a regional city in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia. Located on a bend in the Wimmera River, Horsham is approximately northwest of the state capital Melbourne. As of the 2021 Census, Horsham had a population of 2 ...

, he made his debut, two days after his nineteenth birthday, for Essendon's seniors in the first home-and-away match of the 1951 season, on 21 April 1951, when Essendon defeated

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 ...

13.8 (86) to 10.16 (76) at

Windy Hill Windy Hill may refer to: Places * Windy Hill, Essendon, an Australian rules football ground in the Melbourne area * Windy Hill Wind Farm, a wind power station near Ravenshoe, Queensland, Australia * Windy Hill (Pennines), a hill on the Pennines w ...

. 1951 VFL season#Round 1 He won the

Crichton Medal The Crichton Medal is the name given to the best and fairest award for the Australian rules football team the Essendon Football Club. The naming of the award is in honour of Wally Crichton, a former administrator for Essendon (who was a committe ...

in 1954, and finished third in that season's

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 ...

count. He represented Victoria in 1955 and 1957. Having missed the 1951 Grand Final due to illness, he played in his first grand final in 1957 but was on the losing side. It turned out to be his last game of football as he retired at the age of just 25 to concentrate on his business career. Fans were shocked at his decision to retire, because he seemed to be just starting to achieve his outstanding potential, and he seemed destined to become one of the all-time great ruckmen. His retirement created the space for the (then) second-string ruckman

Geoff Leek Geoff Leek (18 February 1932 – 21 February 2008) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL from 1951 to 1962. First senior match Recruited from the Preston Boys Club (he had been released by Collingwood to w ...

's career to blossom.

References

External links

* *
Footystats Diary — Obituary: John Somers Gill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, John 1932 births 2003 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Essendon Football Club players Crichton Medal winners