Bert Smedley

Ernest Edward "Bert" Smedley (1 April 1905 – 30 November 1979)[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the late 1920s.[2]

Bert Smedley
Personal information
Full name Ernest Edward Smedley
Date of birth 1 April 1905
Place of birth Richmond, Victoria
Date of death 30 November 1979(1979-11-30) (aged 74)
Place of death St Kilda, Victoria
Original team(s) Castlemaine
Position(s) Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1928–29 St Kilda 19 (55)
1929,1931 Prahran (VFA)
1930 Corowa (OMFL)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1931.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Smedley debuted in the 1928 VFL season and finished the year with exactly 50 goals, a tally which included six goal haul in just his second VFL game and a high of eight goals which he kicked in a win over North Melbourne at Arden Street.

The Castlemaine recruit was involved in a controversial incident in St Kilda's round 17 encounter with Melbourne.[3] In the dying seconds, a pass from Horrie Mason had found Smedley, who played on and was running into an open goals when the bell rang.[3] The umpire however had failed to hear it and only after Smedley had kicked the goal, which put his team one point up, did the game end.[3] Melbourne unsuccessfully appealed the result but the win wasn't enough to put St Kilda into the finals as they missed out through percentage.

During the 1929 season Smedley transferred to Prahran and then, in 1930, Smedley was appointed as Captain / Coach of the Corowa Football Club in the Ovens and Murray Football League,[4] before being cleared back to Prahran in April 1931.[5]

References
  1. "Bert Smedley - Player Bio". Australian Football. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  2. Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
  3. Devaney, John. "Saints edge home after the bell". AustralianFootball.com. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  4. "1930 - Corowa FC - Appoint Coach". Trove Newspapers. The Corowa Free Press.
  5. "1931 - Football". The Argus. 18 April 1931. p. 15. Retrieved 25 June 2021.


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