Noel Smith (27 November 1918 – 4 September 2008) 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 with
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
*Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
*Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United King ...
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).
Smith started his career as a full-back but was unable to establish a place for himself in the Essendon side. He performed well in the league seconds, winning a
Gardiner Medal
{{Use Australian English, date=January 2018
The Gardiner Medal was an Australian rules football award, formerly awarded to the best and fairest player in the VFL Reserves competition.
Officially named the Seconds prior to 1959 and the Reserves fr ...
in 1939. He didn't make any senior appearances that year and from 1940 to 1942 also wouldn't play a senior game for Essendon, although he did spend some of that time with
Brunswick.
His second stint at Essendon, as a forward, was more successful. He played all 20 games for Essendon in the
1944 VFL season
The 1944 VFL season was the 48th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria.
All twelve of the league's clubs competed, with returning after two years in recess du ...
, including two finals.
His season tally of 40 goals was bettered by only one teammate,
Ray Powell, by a mere three goals.
[
He appeared for Brunswick again from 1946 until 1949 and also played some football in Queensland with Sandgate.]
References
1918 births
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
Essendon Football Club players
Brunswick Football Club players
Sandgate Football Club players
2008 deaths
{{AFL-bio-1918-stub