Neville Huggins (11 September 1906 – 29 December 1987) 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

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

and

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). Huggins started his football career in the Ovens and Murray League where he took the field for

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

. He then spent some time at Williamstown before being signed by Fitzroy for the

1929 VFL season The 1929 VFL season was the 33rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 27 April until 28 September, and comprised an ...

. His stint at Fitzroy wasn't successful, ending after just four matches owing to a dispute with the committee. Huggins, a ruck-rover, was also a policeman by profession. The North Melbourne team of the early 1930s was particularly weak and in his initial season with the club he didn't experience a win. It wasn't until 1932 that he played in a winning side, ending a streak of 22 consecutive losses, which stretched back to his time at Fitzroy. Having left the VFL for good, Huggins returned to Williamstown, where he was appointed captain-coach and said to be the highest paid one in the country. A dual Club best and fairest winner in 1936 and 1937, he won the VFA Medal in 1936 and tied for it in 1937 and also took out the

Recorder Cup The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded annually to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football Association). It is named after J.J. Liston, a businessman, civic leader and sports administrato ...

in 1937. He also captained a VFA representative side against the VFL at St Kilda in May 1937. He was overlooked as captain-coach in 1938 in favour of former North Melbourne teammate, George Jerram, but was made vice-captain. He transferred to Prahran after round 8 of the 1938 season after suffering a knee injury and then crossed to Essendon in 1939 but failed to make a senior appearance. He played a total of 36 games for Williamstown and kicked 6 goals. Huggins coached

Shepparton Football Club The Shepparton Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Bears'', is an Australian rules football and netball club in the Goulburn Valley Football League. The Shepparton Bears, a local football team, play their home games at Deakin Reserve, Sheppa ...

in their 1940

Goulburn Valley Football Association The Goulburn Valley Football Association (GVFA) is an Australian rules football competition that was first established in 1888 in the Goulburn Valley of Victoria, Australia, with the foundation clubs being Cobram, Muckatah, Nathalia, Numurkah, ...

grand final loss to

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

. Huggins was known to be playing cricket for Shepparton Cricket Club in the 1939/40 season. Huggins was vice-captain of the Border United FC that played in the Murray Valley Patriotic Football League in 1944. Huggins was captain / coach of the

South Corowa Football Club South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

in the

Coreen & District Football League The Coreen & District Football League was an Australian rules football competition in the Coreen district of the Riverina in New South Wales, initially formed in 1909. The netball competition commenced in 1972 in line with the football fixture ...

in 1947.

References

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

* *
1932 - North Melbourne FC team photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huggins, Neville 1906 births 1987 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Fitzroy Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club players Williamstown Football Club players Williamstown Football Club coaches Rutherglen Football Club players