Thomas Vincent Bollard (16 October 1890 – 18 March 1920) 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
South Melbourne
South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...
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).
Career
Bollard, a North Melbourne Junior, started at South Melbourne in the
1914 VFL season
The 1914 VFL season was the 18th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured ten clubs, ran from 25 April until 26 September, and comprised an 18- ...
. He debuted in round 13 as a replacement for
Dick Mullaly
Richard Thomas Mullaly (19 June 1892 – 11 June 1971) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
The son of William Patrick Mullaly (-1936), and Emma Mullaly, née Dillon, ...
as South Melbourne's centreman and performed well enough that he kept that position when Mullaly returned.
It was as a centreman that he lined up for South Melbourne in the
1914 VFL Grand Final against
Carlton
Carlton may refer to:
People
* Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname
* Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy
* Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...
, before he got injured and was forced to play the rest of the game as a forward. In the final moments, with South Melbourne behind by six points,
Jim Caldwell kicked the ball towards Bollard who looked set to take a mark in front of the goal posts, before Carlton's
Ernie Jamieson
Ernest Michael Jamieson (4 June 1888 – 8 September 1983) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
A key member of Carlton's defence in a successful era, Jamieson played in 14 finals wit ...
took a game saving mark by springing onto the South Melbourne player's back.
The marking contest was deemed by the umpire to have been fair, a view endorsed by the match report in ''
The Australasian
The ''Australasian Post'', commonly called the ''Aussie Post'', was Australia's longest-running weekly picture magazine.
History and profile
Its origins are traceable to Saturday, 3 January 1857, when the first issue of ''Bell's Life in Victoria ...
''.
[ Carlton held on to win by the one goal margin.
In 1915, Bollard made nine league appearances for South Melbourne, in a season which included a stint on the sidelines when he was found guilty of "slinging" Carlton player Ted Brown during South Melbourne's round 11 loss at Princes Park.][ He returned in round 18, the final round of the season.][
After missing the entire ]1916 VFL season
The 1916 VFL season was the 20th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria.
Played during the peak of World War I, the season was the smallest and shortest in the ...
, Bollard returned to the side midway through the 1917 season, by now playing as a defender.[ His final appearance for South Melbourne was that year's semi final loss to Collingwood.][
]
Death
Bollard died on 18 March 1920, aged 29, in an industrial accident at a skin store on Queen Street in West Melbourne.[
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bollard, Tom
1890 births
Australian rules footballers from Melbourne
Sydney Swans players
Industrial accident deaths
Accidental deaths in Victoria (Australia)
1920 deaths
People from North Melbourne