Lawrence Sidney Mithen (15 April 1934 – 2 February 2022) 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

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 ...

in the VFL during their successful period in the late 1950s under

Norm Smith Norman Walter Smith (21 November 1915 – 29 July 1973) was an Australian rules football player and coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After more than 200 games as a player with and , Smith began a twenty-year coaching career, inc ...

Education

He was awarded a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne in April 1964.

Ormond (VAFA)

Playing for the

Ormond Amateur Football Club Ormond Amateur Football Club is an Australian rules football club, located 14 km south east of Melbourne in the suburb of Ormond. Ormond is the second-oldest suburban club in the Victorian Amateur Football Association. The club was founded ...

in the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division 4. In addition there ...

, Mithen was the Association's best and fairest A Grade player in 1953.

Melbourne (VFL)

Recruited from Ormond, he played in three consecutive premierships from 1955 to 1957 and was a premiership player again in 1959 and 1960 to finish with five. Mithen played as a half forward early in his career before moving into the centre. It was as a centreman that he had most success, winning Melbourne's best and fairest in 1958 and 1959.

VFL representative

He was selected to play for Victoria in the 1958 ANFC Melbourne Carnival. In the only match (of a possible four) that he played in — the 7 July 1958 match against the VFA — he was completely outclassed by the VFA centreman,

Bob Withers Robert Withers is a former Australian rules footballer who played in Tasmania and for Port Melbourne, noted for his selection in the 1961 All-Australian team. Withers was a regular member of the Port Melbourne side during the 1950s and represe ...

Team of the Century

He was named on the interchange bench in the Melbourne's official 'Team of the Century'.

Port Melbourne (VFA)

In 1963, he moved to the

Port Melbourne Football Club The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne. The club was founded in 1874 and has been competing in the Victorian Football Association/Leag ...

in the VFA and was the team's captain-coach from 1963 to 1965, during which time, he played 52 games, and the club won the 1964 Premiership.

Claremont (WAFL)

He played for

Claremont Football Club The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in Claremont, Western Australia, that currently plays in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Its official colours are na ...

in the WAFL in 1966 and 1967 for a total of 34 games.

Death

On 4 February 2022, it was announced that Mithen had died, at the age of 87.

Footnotes

External links

*
Laurie Mithen's playing statistics
from The VFA Project
Laurie Mithen's playing statistics
from WAFL Footy Facts
''Boyles Football Photos'': Laurie Mithen

Laurie Mithen, ''demonwiki.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mithen, Laurie 1934 births 2022 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Melbourne Football Club players Port Melbourne Football Club players Claremont Football Club players Port Melbourne Football Club coaches Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners Ormond Amateur Football Club players Five-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Melbourne Football Club Premiership players