John William Grant (24 September 1915 – 1 December 1983) was an

Australian rules 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 ...

footballer who played for the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

and

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of Fitzroy, the club was a member of the Vi ...

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).

Family

He married Dulcie May Ellis (?–1989), in Geelong, on Saturday, 29 April 1939. He died on 1 December 1983, and was buried at Mount Duneed Cemetery,

Mount Duneed, Victoria Mount Duneed is a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is divided between the City of Greater Geelong and Surf Coast Shire local government areas. Mount Duneed itself is an extinct volcano and the remains of the crater can be seen in the ...

Stawell Gift

He had exceptional pace, winning the 1938 130-yard

Stawell Gift The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, St ...

in eleven and eleven-sixteenths of a second, off a handicap of 11½ yards.

Football

Grant usually played on the half forward or half back flank. A member of Geelong's premiership team in 1937, Grant won their

best and fairest award In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

in 1939. He was their leading goalkicker in 1940, with 47 goals. In 1942 he moved to Fitzroy and spent two seasons with the club, topping their goalkicking in 1942 with 43 goals. He returned to Geelong in 1945 and captained them the following season.

War service

He served in the RAAF. LAC Grant enlisted in February 1942, and was discharged, "on compassionate grounds", in June 1945.Jack Grant to Train, ''The Sporting Globe'', (Saturday, 9 June 1945), p.3Taylor, P., "Another Fine Set of VFL Games", ''The Argus'', (Friday, 15 June 1945), p.12.
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Footnotes

References

World War II Service Record: John William Grant (50710), ''National Archives of Australia''.

External links

*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080616181720/http://www.gfc.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=4014 Geelong Football Club Honour Roll {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Jack Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Fitzroy Football Club players Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club Premiership players Carji Greeves Medal winners Stawell Gift winners 1915 births 1983 deaths One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players