Edward Charles Rippon (29 April 1914 – 12 December 1991) was an Australian rules footballer who played for

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 Ki ...

—and for St Kilda after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

began to draw to a close—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).

Family

The son of Edward Charles Rippon (1869–1946), and Florence Georgina Rippon (1876–1964), née Kenney, Edward Charles Rippon was born on 29 April 1914. He married Jen Brenda Watson on 26 November 1938.

Football

Ted Rippon was recruited by Carlton from Cheltenham; however, a series of injuries prevented him from breaking into Carlton Seniors. He moved to Essendon in 1933, and made his senior debut against St Kilda on 22 July 1933 (Round 13 of the home-and-away season). He was a good, hard-working, reliable player for Essendon, winning Essendon's Most Serviceable Player award in 1935, who played most of his 69 senior games in the ruck. He was often referred to as "Autumn Leaves" because of his propensity to fall over after contesting the ball in the air; Carlton's John Benetti (played 1958–1965) was also known as "Autumn Leaves Benetti" for a similar reason. Rippon played a number of games for the Carlton Second XVIII in 1939 and 1941, but he never played with the First XVIII. Employed as a policeman from 1935 to 1945, Rippon played for the Police Force team in the Wednesday competition. Ted Rippon later spent two seasons with St Kilda (1944–1945) and played 17 senior games.

Essendon

Rippon served on the Essendon Football Club Committee as vice president from 1950 to 1956. He was a

pallbearer A pallbearer is one of several participants who help carry the casket at a funeral. They may wear white gloves in order to prevent damaging the casket and to show respect to the deceased person. Some traditions distinguish between the roles o ...

at his business associate John Coleman's funeral on 9 April 1973.Miller, Petraitis & Jeremiah, (1997), p.132.

Media

Rippon was also a football commentator on both radio (

3AW 3AW is a talkback radio station based in Melbourne. It broadcasts on 693 kHz AM. It began transmission on 22 February 1932 as Melbourne's fifth commercial radio station. The station is owned and operated by Nine Entertainment Co. Hist ...

) and television ( HSV 7 Melbourne's ''World of Sport'').

Footnotes

References

Dunn, J., "Barefoot Boy "Picked On" — Profile: Ted Rippon", ''The Argus'', (Tuesday, 21 August 1951), p.11.
* Maplestone, M., ''Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996'', Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. * Miller, W., Petraitis, V. & Jeremiah, V., ''The Great John Coleman'', Nivar Press, (Cheltenham), 1997.

External links

* *
Profile at Essendon's official website

Ted Rippon, ''Boyles Football Photos''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rippon, Ted 1914 births Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Essendon Football Club players St Kilda Football Club players 3AW presenters Australian rules football commentators 1991 deaths People from Cheltenham, Victoria