Ron "Smokey" Clegg (17 November 192723 August 1990) was an
Australian rules footballer in the (then)
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 ...
.
Clegg was recruited from the South Melbourne Under 19's after winning the 1944 Melbourne Boys Football League's best and fairest award and was best on ground in the 1944 grand final for South Melbourne.
Richmond were very keen to secure Clegg's signature in 1944, before he settled on South Melbourne.
Clegg debuted in 1945 and from early on South Melbourne knew they had a star in the making and he played in South Melbourne's losing
1945 VFL grand final.
By the time Clegg was 18 years old he had established himself as a gifted senior player in the VFL in 1946.
A brilliant key position player at either centre half-forward or centre half-back, he was awarded the
Brownlow Medal
The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...
in 1949 while playing with the then
South Melbourne Football Club and was runner up in the Brownlow in 1951.
He won the club's
Best and Fairest award three times, in 1948, 1949 and 1951 and was runner in the 1953 award to follower,
Jim Taylor and again in 1954 to
Eddie Lane.
Clegg sought a clearance to New Norfolk in early 1951 and was refused a clearance, then was later appointed as vice captain of South Melbourne FC in 1951. Clegg won the 1951 London Stores Best Player Award in the VFL.
In 1951, Clegg took an incredible 32 marks against Fitzroy at the Lakeside Oval.
Clegg was appointed as club captain in 1953 and also lead the club in 1954 too.
In 1955, Clegg was captain-coach of the
North Wagga Football Club in the
Albury & District Football League
The Albury & District Football League was established at a delegates meeting in Culcairn in 1930 from the following Australian Rules Football clubs - Albury Rovers, Culcairn, Henty and Holbrook and folded after the 1957 football season.
History
Th ...
, winning the £50 - Border Mail Newspaper / Albury & DFL Footballer of the Year Award, before returning to South Melbourne in 1956.
Clegg represented Victoria on 15 occasions in the key positions at either half forward or half back.
In 1961 and 1962, Clegg was captain-coach of the
Brunswick Football Club.
Clegg played 42 first eleven games of Victorian Premier Cricket for South Melbourne between 1942 and 1947 before giving it away to concentrate on VFL football. Clegg made his debut in round one, 1942 as a 14 year old left hand bat.
In 1996, Clegg was inducted into the
Australian Football Hall of Fame.
In 2003, Clegg was named at centre half back in South Melbourne's Team of the Century.
References
*
External links
AFL Hall of FameRon Clegg's profileat Australian Football.com
Ron Clegg's profileat Boyles Football photos
1951 - South Melbourne FC team photoNorth Wagga FC websiteVictorian Representative Football Teams
1927 births
1990 deaths
Sydney Swans players
Sydney Swans coaches
Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
Brownlow Medal winners
Bob Skilton Medal winners
Brunswick Football Club players
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)
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