Thomas Charles Calder (17 December 1917 – 23 June 1997) 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). He is a member of the Queensland Football Hall of Fame. Although born in Victoria, Calder played his early football in Tasmania and started his senior career at

North Hobart North Hobart is a suburb of the city of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. As its name suggests, it lies directly north of the CBD. The main street of North Hobart is Elizabeth Street, which extends northward from the Elizabeth Street Mall in the ...

in 1935. While with North Hobart, Calder suffered a serious on-field injury and had a

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

removed. A centre-half back, he made his way to Queensland Australian National Football League club Ascot in 1940 and joined the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

in the same year, serving as a pilot during the war. Calder was posted at

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1945 and was joined VFL club South Melbourne, with whom he would make five successive appearances from round 14. Although the club went on to make the grand final, Calder wasn't selected in any finals fixtures. When Calder returned to the QANFL in 1946, it was with Mayne, but after just one season he crossed to

Coorparoo Coorparoo is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Coorparoo had a population of 16,282 people. Geography Coorparoo is by road south-east of the Brisbane GPO. It borders Camp Hill, Holland Park, Stones Corner, ...

as captain-coach. He represented Queensland at interstate football regularly post war, until 1953, including matches in the 1947 Hobart and

1950 Brisbane Carnival The 1950 Brisbane Carnival was the 11th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Inter ...

s. In 1948 he was captain-coach of Queensland and had his most successful season with Coorparoo, winning the league's

Grogan Medal The Grogan Medal is an Australian rules football award given to the best and fairest player in home and away rounds of each season's Queensland State League (Australian rules football), QAFL/Queensland State League competition. From 2011 to presen ...

. Calder won the award once more in 1950 and after retiring continued his involvement in Queensland football as an administrator.

References

External links

Mention of Tom Calder's death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calder, Tom 1917 births 1997 deaths Sydney Swans players Australian rules footballers from Tasmania North Hobart Football Club players Mayne Australian Football Club players Coorparoo Football Club players Australian World War II pilots Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II