Keith Alexander McKenzie (26 April 1922 – 8 January 2018) 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 for

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

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

The son of Thomas Frederick McKenzie (1896–1955) and Olive Frances McKenzie (1896–1991), née Solly, Keith Alexander McKenzie was born at South Melbourne on 26 April 1922.

War Service

McKenzie enlisted to serve in the Royal Australian Air Force with his parents' permission in June 1941, aged 19. He served in Darwin and then New Guinea as a flight rigger with the 77th Squadron before moving back to Melbourne so serve at the 1st Aircraft Depot at Laverton in early 1944.

Football

McKenzie started his football career with the North Melbourne Colts before he enlisted, and joined North Melbourne at the start of the 1944 season. He won the Syd Barker Medal, awarded to North Melbourne's

best and fairest 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 ...

player for the season, in his third year at the club and went on to represent

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 ...

five times. After finishing his playing career, McKenzie went on to coach both North Melbourne and

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 ...

References

External links

* *
Keith McKenzie's playing statistics
from The VFA Project 1922 births 2018 deaths North Melbourne Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club coaches Carlton Football Club coaches Moorabbin Football Club players Syd Barker Medal winners Australian rules footballers from Melbourne People from South Melbourne Military personnel from Melbourne {{AFL-bio-1920s-stub