Marty McDonnell

Martin Joseph McDonnell (28 December 1920 – 22 December 2005) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He was born in New Zealand.[1]

Marty McDonnell
Personal information
Full name Martin Joseph McDonnell
Date of birth 28 December 1920
Place of birth Wellington, New Zealand
Date of death 22 December 2005(2005-12-22) (aged 84)
Place of death Perth, Western Australia
Original team(s) West Footscray
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 80 kg (176 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1939–41, 1944, 1946–50 Footscray 92 (2)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1960–1963 South Fremantle 86 (37–47–2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1950.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1963.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Recruited from West Footscray, McDonnell was a defender, used often at full-back.[2] He was only a regular in the team after the war, having missed the entire 1942, 1943 and 1945 seasons due to service in the Pacific War. From 1947 to 1949, McDonnell missed just three games and he received the equal most votes by a Footscray player in the 1947 Brownlow Medal count. He represented the VFL eight times during his career.[3]

He retired after the 1950 season and applied for the job of Footscray coach but after missing out joined Yarrawonga and coached them in the Ovens & Murray Football League, until 1954.

McDonnell was signed by South Fremantle as coach in 1960 and remained in that role for four years to mixed results: the club played finals for the first time in four seasons in 1960 and did so again in 1962, but in 1961 and 1963 the red and whites won just six matches in each season for last and second-last placings, so that his contract was not renewed after 1963 in favour of Ray Sorrell.

References
  1. "World War II Roll: Martin Joseph McDonald". Department of Veterans Affairs.
  2. Ruban, L. (11 May 2013). Club History Page - West Footscray Football Club. WRFL Footy Record, 5, 47.
  3. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. p. 574. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.
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