Lindsay Hudson Head

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 16 September 1935 in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

) is a former

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 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 the ...

(SANFL). He was awarded three

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willia ...

s during his career.

SANFL

Lindsay Head's first experience of state representation came in 1947, when he played in a state schoolboys carnival at the age of eleven. In 1953, he lined up in the senior South Australian state team to play

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 ...

. By the time he was nineteen, he had won the first of his three Magarey Medals in only his fourth league season, with the others being in 1958 and 1963. Lindsay Head 1966 West Torrens Guernsey

Head played at SANFL level for nineteen seasons with West Torrens. His list of achievements for his club was notable: he played the most games for the club (327), won the club

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 ...

award eight times, was club leading goalkicker twice, was captain-coach from 1959–1960 and captain in 1961, coached the club in 1981, and was also club president for five years. In his final season, in 1970, Head played his 320th career game to break Jack "Dinny" Reedman's long-standing South Australian elite football games record. At state level, he represented South Australia on 37 occasions. He captained the state side in 1960, and was named an

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

at the 1956 Perth Carnival. The

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

's description refers to his "magnificent skills on both sides of his body," which is unfortunate as Head never learned to kick with his left foot. Instead he developed a check-side punt for passing and goal-shooting which was very accurate. Head played in a premiership side in only his second ever season, but thereafter his side made the finals barely a handful of times in his remaining 17 seasons. His loyalty to his Eagles was therefore remarkable, particularly given that he was pursued not only by other SANFL clubs, but also by the wealthier

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 ...

competition, notably receiving a big offer from the struggling

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

in 1955.

Other

Head played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for

as a right-hand opening batsman (1957/58–1958/59). In nine matches he scored 425 runs at an average of 28.33. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

1964 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1964 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1964 to celebrat ...

. Lindsay Head is a Life Governor of the

Woodville-West Torrens Eagles Woodville-West Torrens Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). It was formed in 1990 from an amalgamation of the neighbouring Woodville and West Torrens football clu ...

(which is the highest acknowledgement of the modern day Eagles).

References

External links

*
SANFL Hall of Fame

Lindsay Head's MBE record on ''It's an Honour''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Head, Lindsay 1935 births Living people Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees West Torrens Football Club players West Torrens Football Club coaches All-Australians (1953–1988) Magarey Medal winners South Australia cricketers Australian rules footballers from Adelaide South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire